Dangote ‘s Clever Calibration: His Fights With NUPENG, IPMAN And DAPPMAN Using New Tools Against Aging Models
The Oasis Reporters
September 23, 2025
Can a single project change the fate of a region?
In a stunning development, a new refinery has just freed West Africa from a decades-long reliance on imported fuel, shifting the global energy landscape forever.
Dangote had noted that Nigeria suffered persistent fuel queues since 1975, a problem that began easing when the refinery he established started rolling out petrol on 15 September 2024.
“We have been battling fuel queues since 1975, but today Nigerians are witnessing a new era,” he said.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a colossal facility in Nigeria, has become a game-changer for the entire West and Central African region. With a capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day, it has effectively ended the region’s dependence on foreign fuel imports, turning Nigeria from one of the world’s largest importers into a significant exporter.
It has emerged as the largest supplier of diesel and jet fuel in the region, ensuring a more stable and self-reliant energy future for millions.
Dangote Refinery is not the bully here. If anything at all, he’s the one being bullied by the Union. How, you want to ask?
1. Last year, all the petroleum marketers (NUPENG and co) decided to boycott the Refinery, as they felt the pricing model would be too transparent and it would affect their market. Importing was better, so they sided with NNPC.
2. NNPC itself decided to renege on the agreement it had with the Refinery to take up 20% of shareholding in the Refinery. NNPC didn’t have the cash but they were going to buy the 20% with crude oil. Guess what? They said no crude oil, and Dangote Refinery was stranded.
Guess what happened next? Dangote Refinery decided to take the fight to all of them one after the other.
First, he went to the International market to source for crude. Yes, crude oil that we have in Nigeria. Dangote now imports from the US and Middle East. By doing so, he defeated the NNPC that didn’t want to sell crude oil to him.
Fight Number 2, he recruited his brother’s (Alh. Sayyu Dantata) company MRS filling station to sell his products for him.
Now Fight Number 3 is to NUPENG, IPMAN and other marketers
Dangote Refinery decided to buy 4,000 tankers to distribute its products (he has bought them already and they have started work). You want to ask, and so what, is it not his money or his business?
No ooo. It is NUPENG’s and IPMAN’s business to market petroleum products using tankers. Now, with this move, Dangote is going to replace them, using a completely new eco-friendly set of tankers that run on CNG.
Guess what? Dangote is saying filling stations should just come and register at his refinery. He will deliver the products to their doorstep free of charge.
In summary, Dangote Refinery now imports crude oil, refines it, and sells directly to filling stations (MRS, Total & AP) using his own tankers, with free delivery (cutting out middlemen).
Only last year Dangote was begging NNPC to sell crude oil to him and they said no. He begged marketers to buy petrol from him, they said never—he’ll spoil their business.
After investing over $20 billion (most of it loaned), Dangote refused to sit down, cross his legs and watch these oil cartels ruin his investment.
Rather than listen to NUPENG, Dangote has concluded plans to increase the number of tankers he bought from the current 4,000 to 10,000 trucks. He wants to completely annihilate those that are making things difficult for him.
But he gave them an option: they can also buy from him as a group with a discount. But they must buy a minimum of 500,000 litres (which they have the money for anyway), and then he’ll give them an additional 500,000 litres on credit. That’s being business savvy as well as being charitable.
When they found out they couldn’t stop Dangote from marketing his own products, they said he should allow his 4000 tanker drivers to join the union . Sayyu Dantata who represented Dangote at the meeting with NUPENG said they had no intention of letting that happen. He knew that any untoward action by NUPENG could cripple his refinery.
Besides NUPENG or PENGASAN, almost all security agencies extort tanker drivers between the depot and the tankers various destinations– filling stations.
Customs, police, and soldiers most especially mount hundreds of check points where they collect cash from petrol tanker drivers and as well scoop jerrycans of fuel from every petrol laden tanker they stop.
There are about 42 different customs checkpoints between Olounda and Randa along Ayetoro/Abeokuta road alone. This goes with about five police checkpoints and three military checkpoints
8+42 equals 50.
That is, a petrol tanker driver pays cash at fifty different checkpoints between Randa Abeokuta and Olounda. A distance of less than 20 kilometers.
With Dangote tankers coming in, the madness might stop.
Nigeria’s billionaire businessman, Mr Femi Otedola, shed more light into the ongoing fuel supply disagreement between the Dangote Refinery and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and has advised the association to innovate or perish.
The philanthropist stressed that he had followed the debate around the fuel supply issues between both parties recently, noting that he felt compelled to provide some perspective, especially as it relates to the future of the country.
In a statement on recent issues in the oil and gas sector, especially in the downstream, Otedola also congratulated Aliko Dangote on the success achieved so far since his refinery commenced operations, describing it as a historic leap for Nigeria’s energy independence and economic future.
Otedola posited that Nigeria remains threatened by entrenched cabals who still believe they can resist change, but maintained that history has shown time and again that change can only be delayed, but never halted.
The petroleum Depots that DAPPMAN members owned back then since 2002 or thereabouts have outlived their usefulness in today’s marketing realities. Most of those storage capacities in depots are now idle because petroleum products are no longer being imported but rather, Dangote produces petroleum products locally in the country.The era of entrenched interests in rent seeking, scams in fuel subsidy payments collection and other relics of the old order is now gone for good.
Credits: Punch
In-house reporting
