By Steve Omolale– Multi-billionaire Aliko Dangote is a terrific hunter. A treasure hunter, that is. His various hunting expeditions are only comparable to the bravery of the mystery hunter in 1938 David Olorunfemi Fagunwa’s dreadful and mystic fictional novel, ‘Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole’.
Translated to English by the literary icon and Noble Luareate, Prof. Wole Soyinka in 1968, as ‘Forest of a Thousand Daemons’, the novel speaks of the hunter, Akara-Ogun’s perilous, mythical journey through a supernatural forest populated by demons, spirits, gnomes and goons. It blends Yoruba folklore with allegory and moral lessons.
And like Akara-Ogun’s foray into the fearful ‘Igbo Irunmole’, Dangote’s latest adventure into the money-spinning, but mafia-controlled oil sector is the bravest decision any ambitious businessman could take. He did this after he had effectively “conquered” the cement, sugar and other sectors he earlier ventured into.
In ‘Igbo Irunmole’, Akara-Ogun, on several occasions, encounters magical creatures and forces beyond his imagination and escapes death by the whiskers. But, he trudges on.
In Nigeria’s oil sector, which could be likened to ‘Igbo Irunmole’, there are mystical creatures, demons, evil spirits, goons and all the creatures in Fagunwa’s evil forest. Their main aim is to grab every available juice and make money from it, even if many Nigerians die in the process. For years, they, both men and women, held the oil sector by the jugular and squeezed it mercilessly like a washed rag.
They made billions with ease. They were deadly and unchallengeable. These evil beings ensured none of the four refineries in the country worked. They systematically, over many years, grounded them effectively. Billions upon billions of naira were pumped into the moribund refineries in the name of Turn Around Maintenance (TAM). But all went down the drain. Rather, more and more billionaires emerged among their rank. They straddled the oil sector like a colossus, while Nigeria bled. Hopeless Nigerians queued endlessly for non-available fuel at chaotic filling stations. Frustrated, many abandoned their vehicles at the stations for days. Some turned the stations to their homes where they bathed, ate and slept.
The big boys and girls in the oil sector who were to import refined fuel after crippling the refineries went into hiding. Every end of the year was synonymous with fuel shortages. Some of them collected subsidy but never imported a drop of fuel.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other agencies in the industry were just paying billions of naira in monthly salaries to workers, many of whom are children, girlfriends, concubines and relatives of the same people who crippled the country, for doing nothing.
What Akara-Ogun encounters in ‘Igbo Irunmole’ was a child’s play compared to what Nigerians encountered with these wicked ones in the oil sector before the adventure of Dangote.
The richest man in Africa said he decided to venture into the forest on behalf of his compatriots and confront the demons and evil spirits who dwell there and made it their permanent abode. He did what the Federal Government could not do. For his effrontery, he, expectedly, faces massive backlash. A case of the demons fighting back.
Today, Nigeria retains its position as Africa’s largest crude oil producer after raising output to 1.45 million barrels per day for next month, according to the latest monthly report from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), partly because of the reforms of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration in the oil sector, which are rubbing off on the first private refinery in the land.
The Group Managing Director of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, had recently confirmed what we already knew: that the so-called four refineries were drain pipes through which many individuals benefitted immensely, while grounding them. The solution, he advised, is to privatise them. He should know better because of his privileged position.
But what happened to the devourers who collected billions of naira in the name of TAM and grounded them, right from Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration in 1999 up to Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2023? They have gone scot-free to enjoy their loots, I suppose.
For taking the boldest step of venturing into ‘Igbo Irunmole’ with his $20 billion investment in Dangote Refinery, being the world’s largest single-train refinery with the installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, Dangote is transforming Nigeria’s fuel self-sufficiency and increasing his valuation. At the same time, he is bringing relief to millions of Nigerians, while battling the mystery creatures who believe Nigeria must be brought down for them to milk forever.
Dangote’s misadventure, so it seemed initially, into ‘Igbo Irunmole’ expectedly attracted massive and mixed reactions in different forms. The campaign of calumny from independent petroleum importers and marketers, as well as other stakeholders, was strategic and destructive. It was aimed to cripple the massive Dangote Refinery. It was a proof to the businessman that surviving in ‘Igbo Irunmole’ was no child’s play. His nose was bruised.
He, however, fought back because of his massive investment and the jobs of thousands of Nigerians and foreigners who eke out a living in the Lekki refinery. He is winning the battle with the support of many Nigerians and federal might.
For instance, to prove that like Akara-Ogun, he was determined to ward off the attacks by many players in the industry, Dangote fired a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on December 16, 2025, in which he accused the then Chairman of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, an engineer, of living beyond his means by paying heavy school fees for his children abroad, among others.
Although he later wrote to the commission to withdraw the petition, probably due to pressure from some of those who brought Nigeria down, ICPC has insisted it would go ahead with his investigation of Ahmed. We are patiently waiting for the outcome of the investigation.
NMDPRA, which was established to regulate and oversee the midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry, drawing its powers from the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), by focusing on ensuring safety, efficiency and transparency in the supply chain, has largely performed woefully. Its responsibilities include monitoring the operations of oil refineries, pipelines, distribution and marketing of petroleum products, as well as implementing policies for the sector. But, rather than growing the industry, some of its retrogressive policies actually, hitherto, grounded it.
As it is now, and commendable as Dangote’s adventure in ‘Igbo Irunmole’ is, he should, however, not be left alone in the forest, and later be accused of monopolising it. Other Nigerians with the war chest to venture in must do so now. The Federal Government is obligated to support them as they did Dangote.
Since Ojulari has shown the way out for the moribund refineries, the ball is in the courts of other potential hunters who can engage in hunting competition with Dangote in ‘Igbo Irunmole’ and who are ready to grab the dead refineries and bring them back to life. The more, the merrier.
Those who already have licences for private refineries have been given the go-ahead to join the race and bring more relief to Nigerians. Get the funds and kickstart your refineries too, so we can buy a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, for as little as N200, among other expected benefits.
*Omolale is a Lagos-based journalist.
