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Francis Onoiribholo

The National Association of Polytechnic Students, NAPS, on Wednesday called on the Federal Government to defend and protect the Dangote Refinery as a national strategic asset, while any sabotage against it should be treated as economic terrorism.

The Poly Students also called on good Nigerians to resist every attempt to frustrate the success of Dangote Refinery by the “Oil Cartels’ who have fed fat on the failure and moribund Nigeria Refineries.

NAPS made the call during a Solidarity Rally in Support of Dangote Refinery held in Benin, Edo State capital, themed: “Protecting National Assets, Securing Youth Futures: NAPS Solidarity with Dangote Refinery for Economic Growth and Stability”.

In his speech, Comrade Eshiofune Paul Oghayan said, “Today, we gather here in Benin City, Edo State, not as spectators of national affairs, but as stakeholders in Nigeria’s industrial destiny.

According to NAPS, We call on the Federal Government to defend and protect the Dangote Refinery as a national strategic asset and any sabotage against it must be treated as economic terrorism.

“We pray that 100% crude oil supply be allocated to the Dangote Refinery because if we feed the refinery fully, it will crash fuel prices, strengthen the Naira, and stop the bleeding of foreign exchange.

“We also call on the Federal Government to halt the importation of fuel entirely, while we appreciate the 15% slash in fuel importation approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, just as we insist that half-measures cannot deliver full recovery.

“While we emphasised the need to refine what we consume, we also demand national priority for locally refined fuel in government procurement, transport, aviation, power and military sectors.

“We further urge Mr. President to dismantle the importation cartel and support genuine national industrialization, just as we call on the National Assembly to pass a Local Refining Protection Bill”—to criminalize any form of sabotage against local refining industries” .

The Poly Students also called on the Federal Government to scrap PENGASSAN, NUPENG, and DAPMAN, as these bodies have become tools of economic blackmail and national regression, standing in opposition to progress”.

“We stand as the conscience of the youth, the inheritors of tomorrow, and the defenders of every structure that guarantees the future we are preparing to lead.

“This rally is not a noise, it is a national message. It is not a protest of anger, it is a position of responsibility and we are here because silence, at this moment, would be sabotage wrapped in cowardice”.

The Polytechnic Students described the Dangote Refinery as a National Asset rather than being seen as a private project.

“In a country where refineries owned by the Federal Government died one after another in Kaduna, Warri, Port Harcourt and by province one refinery rose, not from foreign hands, but from Nigerian courage.

“The Dangote Refinery is not merely a business venture, it is the largest single-train refinery in the world built by African hands, on African soil, with African grit.

“It has the capacity to “End decades of fuel importation dependency, Stabilize fuel prices and reduce the suffering of citizens, Create thousands of jobs for Nigerian students/youths, including SIWES placements, Restore Nigeria as the refining hub of Africa and
Strengthen the Naira through export, not begging”

NAPS President noted that Dangote Refinery is not a structure of cement and steel but a statement of national possibility, a symbol that Nigeria is capable of producing what others said we could only import.

According to Oghayan, “Kwame Nkrumah once said, the forces that unite us are intrinsic and greater than the forces that divide us.

“Today, we are united by one truth and this refinery must not fail, must not fall, and must not be frustrated”.

“But fellow compatriots, every sunrise attracts shadows, there are powerful interest groups who have fed fat on the failure of Nigeria, those who profit when Nigeria imports what she can produce, those whose wealth depends on the poverty of the masses.

“We are referring to the organized resistance of certain actors within PENGASSAN, NUPENG, and DAPMAN groups aligned with fuel importation cartels who do not want Nigeria to refine locally because it will end their monopoly of national suffering.

“They are not defenders of workers,
they are gatekeepers of chaos, protecting a business empire built on Nigeria’s weakness”, NAPS declared.