“The local and foreign mafia tried several times to sabotage the Petroleum refinery from coming to fruition.”
This statement was made by Aliko Dangote, the President and CEO of the Dangote Group, during the Afreximbank annual meetings (AAN) and AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Nassau, The Bahamas, on Wednesday.
He said that several entities did everything possible to prevent the 650,000 barrels per day facility; $19 billion refinery from coming to life.
Dangote said that he was aware that resistance would always exist, but he did not anticipate it being so harsh.
“Well, I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know that the mafia in oil; they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell you that. Yes, it’s a fact.
The businessman, who tagged himself a fighter throughout his life, said the mafias had tried several times to defeat him.
“But I’m a person that has been fighting all my life, you know. So I think it’s part of my life to fight,” he added.
Asked if he was receiving enough crude oil as feedstock for his refinery from the international oil companies (IOCs), Dangote said: “In a system where for 35 years people are used to counting good money, and all of a sudden they see that the days of counting that money have come to an end, you don’t expect them to pray for you.