African organized labour and working people are excited about the bold corporate decision of the Dangote Group, the African conglomerate for blazing the trail in Re-industrialising Africa through an unprecedented investment of $9billion in oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Nigeria.
It is significant that the refinery located at the Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas (OKLNG) Free Trade Zone in Nigeria will be Nigeria’s first private and Africa’s largest petroleum refinery, with a projected daily production output of 400,000 barrels a day, the same capacity of the combined 4 Nigerian government-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna which we all know they operate at less than 30% of their capacity.
Millions of private sector workers organised in national and global unions in Africa identify with the investment, the singular patriotism and pan Africanism of the
President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group of industries, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, GCON.
Africa is a resource rich continent yet it has low levels of industrialization, with materials being exported in its raw form. Labour is excited that Dangote Group of industries is changing the narrative of the continent from that of ‘resource curse’ to resource beneficiation, value addition and mass employment through industrialization and internal articulation of African economy.  Industrialization is it for Nigeria if it must be part of the leading economies of the world, get millions of youth to work out of violence and crime and above all out of poverty. We commend Aliko Dangote for working the talk that a shift is needed; that natural resources of Africa should be for the welfare of all Africans, not the profits of a few, mostly foreign capitalists.  This refinery will definitely decrease Nigeria’s scandalous unacceptable dependence on oil imports.
It is refreshing to note that this historic signing of investment patriotism is made possible because the Federal government under President Goodluck Jonathan promotes backward integration policy. This means government has business in business through appropriate policies to protect domestic industry and provision of infrastructure notably uninterrupted electricity supply.

Issa Aremu mni

Vice President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)

Chairman, IndustriALL Global Union, African Region representing 50 million workers worldwide in extractive, manufacturing and processing industries