?angote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has announced readiness to begin production of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol.
?angote Industries Limited’s vice-president for Oil & Gas, Devakumar Edwin, announced this during the tour of the refinery complex by the League of Engineering Bodies, including the National Society of Engineers (NSE), the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE), the Association of Consulting Engineering in Nigeria, and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, (COREN).
The body of engineers also commended the President of ?angote Industries Ltd, Aliko ?angote, for hiring and nurturing highly-skilled Nigerian engineers – who were guides during the visit – and declared that engineering is alive in Nigeria, from the workforce to the construction at the ?angote Refinery complex.
During an interactive session, the 34th and first female President of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Margaret Oguntala, described the facility as “mind-blowing”, saying the refinery project, from construction to employment, gives her hope and assurance that young Nigerian engineers are ready to take up the world.
“I was awed to see the state-of-the-art facility at the ?angote Refinery; what I see here today will blow the mind of any engineer; it is just like the movies. I was an intern at the Port-Harcourt Refinery and I also visited the Kaduna Refinery, it is nothing compared to what I see here. The young engineer that took us around showed capacity, and we are happy that you are building the future of engineers. We at the NSE are behind you, we shall take this home and let the world know that engineering is alive at the ?angote Refinery”, she added.
Speaking on behalf of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Prof. Azikwe Peter Onwualu, also noted that the visitors have seen “something good and Nigerians need to know about it”. He said: “We are happy some of our fellows are part of your system. We would like to remind the President of the ?angote Group, Aliko, that if you are not doing something great you will not be criticised. Whatever you are doing, keep it up. If we have this kind of development across Nigeria, people won’t be talking about protests. Keep doing what you are doing and you will hear from us”.
Reacting to questions, the Group Vice-president, ?angote Oil and Gas, Edwin, demystified talks around the monopoly tag, stating that someone has to start a project before others follow.
While speaking to newsmen, the Technical Consultant to ?angote Refinery, Engr. Babajide Soyode, said the visit of his professional colleagues made him “very proud”.
The ?angote Refinery is poised to begin production of petrol, according to Edwin; a process which is expected to complement the current products at the refinery, stimulate local supply of the vital product to Nigerians, and save huge foreign exchange revenue for the country.
