The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said that
Alhaji Aliko Dangote should not be blamed for buying dollars at lower rates at
the time he was building his refinery because that was the actual rate the apex
bank was selling to everybody at that time.
Sanusi, who commented on the issue through SOP Chat Group,
initially said: “I honestly do not think it is a good idea for me to make
comments on these issues, but some comments surprise me, and I just have to say
something.”
The emir then went on to remark: “Aliko Dangote did not fix
the price at which the CBN sold dollars. Everyone who got dollars from the CBN
got dollars at the same rate if they bought on the same day. So we cannot blame
him for buying dollars at a rate the CBN itself decided to sell to its
customers.
“So the question for me is this. Let us forget the man Dangote. If the Central Bank were to prioritize a single enterprise for forex allocation, how many enterprises can we think of that are worthier than a refinery like this one?
“Consider the drain on our forex from importing petroleum
products; the tens of billions of dollars of forex spent abroad; the huge
losses due to theft in the name of subsidy.
“By the way, how much forex did Dangote buy from the CBN at
this subsidized rate? How much forex did NNPC take from the federation account
in the same year in the name of running and turning around its dead refineries?
What are we benchmarking against?
“If any Nigerian came to me as a Central Bank Governor with
a project like this refinery, I would recognize immediately its potential
impact on the economy and give it all the support needed.
“Let our views on forex policies not becloud our sense of
priorities. Once the CBN decided to sell dollars at the below market, it would
be forced to ration the limited dollars available.”
“To my mind, giving dollars for the construction of a
refinery is better than rice importers and, indeed, almost every other
enterprise apart from education and health, given the impact on the macro.”
On the argument by NNPC that relying on one refinery is bad
for our energy security, Muhammadu Sanusi II said: “This is most laughable. On
the contrary, relying on a local refinery is far more secure than these
imports.
“It is a very rich argument from an entity that had taken
billions of dollars in the name of turnaround maintenance and not produced a
drop of product from four refineries because it is more profitable to continue
extracting rent in the name of subsidy. If NNPC activated its refineries, there
would be no monopoly. Then, we can see the sulphur content of its products and
compare them to Dangote’s.”
He said further: “Until then, keeping quiet is the
honourable option for it, NNPC and its spinoffs have lost any right to talk
until they fix the mess they have thrown us into.
“In any case, if the Dangote refinery is unable to meet
local demand, the gap can be filled by imports, these people in NNPC do not
want to end their lucrative subsidy scam, and I don’t think they will end it.
” But as a nation, if we do not thank Dangote for what he
has done as an African to deal a hammer blow to multinationals and the rentier
system and for structural change in this economy through value added in various
sectors, we should not condemn him.
“Also, we tend to repeat stories without evidence. We hear
about Dangote getting favourable taxation but no one has said what this tax is,
if he got it alone or if it was offered to a sector or to pioneers, and if such
a practice is in fact normal to encourage investment.”
The emir concluded thus: “Instead of killing Dangote, we
should try and make more like him. Nigeria always kills its heroes and its best
because of envy and pettiness.”
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com