FAROUK AHMED’s RESIGNATION

By Nick Dazang 

“Good wine”, the time-honored saying goes, “needs no bush”. Translation: a good product needs no advertisement. To lend credence to this aphorism, Heineken, the crowned head of all lagers, once crowed in its iconic tag line that:”When you make a great beer, you don’t have to make a fuss”.

When Aliko Dangote began building his refinery in 2016, he must have envisioned that his refinery, one of the biggest in the world, would not only operate seamlessly, given the lacuna it filled, it would offer Nigerians jobs in their numbers; it would solve Nigeria’s challenge of importing refined petroleum products – its being the only Organization of Petroleum Exporting Country(OPEC) member with that unflattering distinction; and that it would save Nigeria badly needed hard currency.

Alas, it was not to be. At least not all that he loftily envisioned. Though the refinery is not the only investment of the business maven, it is the flagship of his sundry companies strewn across continental Africa and Nigeria.
The refinery appears, from his passion and body language, the dearest of his investments. And by virtue of its huge investments and the returns expected there from, the refinery project has cemented Dangote’s place as the richest man in Africa.

Yet, like the man who has put all his eggs in one basket – and has to watch that basket intently less the eggs come to ruin – Dangote has set his sights on the refinery probably more than any of his investments. Since it commenced operation, rather than for the refinery to be well received and enabled, particularly by other stakeholders in the petroleum sector, it appears to be treated with apprehension, if not outright animus. Sometimes these stakeholders appear, not only to dog the refinery’s path, but to deliberately erect hurdles in its path. These tend to further suggest that they want to see his back or bring his humongous investment to grief.
Success has many parents and relatives. It also attracts envy. After all, it was Julius Caesar’s admirers and friends who conspired against him and later assassinated him.

Part of Dangote’s genius is to thrive where he dominates and is thus a monopoly. A monopolist, as is common knowledge, does not suffer competition gladly. Dangote’s ire tends to be drawn or aroused when questions are asked about his practices or when stiff competition arises.

Apart from a sensitivity towards being rivaled, is his tendency to overreach himself or the inability to disguise his interests. Witness his recent disparaging remarks on the Ajaokuta Steel project.
Overreach is compounded by a propensity to pander to the media, and with ubiquity. And he does so by advancing arguments that are sometimes tenuous and self-serving. Witness the recent, one-sided fireworks he exchanged with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas(NUPENG).
In spite of Dangote’s foibles, credit must be given to him for birthing a refinery of $20 billion at a time when the NNPC Ltd carried out failed Turn Around Maintenance and repairs of our refineries that gulped not less than $18billion.

His refinery has not only created jobs, it has impacted the economy positively by crashing the prices of petroleum products. By refining Nigeria’s crude at home, Dangote has saved us the trouble of importing refined products, sometimes of doubtful quality. His refinery has helped to conserve foreign exchange, thereby shoring the Naira, which was, until now, in free fall.

Even if his philanthropy, through the DANGOTE FOUNDATION, could be said to be sometimes self-serving, it is huge and it cuts across the board. The Foundation’s interventions concern key areas of security, food security and education. He addresses areas in which Nigerians are hurting or are in dire need.

Unlike some of our business persons, Dangote believes that it is when Nigerians invest in their country and Africa that others would be encouraged to follow suit. To that extent, and warts and all, Dangote comes across as a super-patriot and a pan-Africanist of the first rank. He also practices what he preaches.
His patriotism is reinforced by his frugal lifestyle. By the hedonistic and flamboyant carriage of his peers, Dangote is Spartan and is unassuming.
Thus, when Dangote vehemently alleged corruption against the former Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority(NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, he was doing so from a higher moral pedestal. The NMDPRA had oversight on the TAM and repairs of our refineries. Some of these were carried out on the watch of Engr. Ahmed. He, and his agency, were derelict in their duty. This is not to talk of the serious wrong doings alleged against him which border on economic sabotage and corruption.

One would have thought that since Dangote had filed a petition, detailing these allegations, to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission)ICPC), that the government would allow the anti-corruption agency to carry out its statutory duty. This is more so that Engr. Ahmed had earlier put up a spirited defence, which he later disclaimed.
At least, we would have known, at the end of the day, if Dangote’s allegations were true or spurious. We would also have fulfilled two requirements of a true democracy, namely: following the law and allowing due process to take its course.

Additionally, the investigation by the ICPC would have unearthed and led us to the facts which would have further led us to the Rubicon. By prompting Engr. Ahmed to resign his office in lieu of these, we seem to have crossed the Rubicon even before reaching it.
By pre-emoting this investigation, the government has, wittingly and unwittingly, opened itself to accusations and conjectures. Some of them could be wild and sensational. It would also appear, not only that Engr. Ahmed was given a soft landing, but that the weighty allegations leveled against him and other sordid goings-on in his agency by Dangote have been swept under the carpet.

Not only does this reinforce the opacity and lack of transparency for which the petroleum sector is renowned, it raises another poser: Will ICPC’s investigation continue apace and in spite of Engr. Ahmed’s resignation?