Management of Dangote Refinery has said that over 30,000 skilled Nigerians work with expatriates to build its Refinery Complex.
The company made this know to debunk a report published on online platforms of some media organisations that the company employed 11,000 skilled workers from India while allegedly neglecting youths from Nigeria and other African countries.
In his response, the Group chief branding & communications officer, Anthony Chiejina said, the report was written with malicious intent as it did not reflect the number of skilled Nigerians on site.
He said, the magnitude of the project requires specialized skilled workforce from all over the world and that while over 30,000 Nigerians were engaged among the skilled workforce, at the peak of construction in the Refinery complex, 6,400 Indians and 3,250 Chinese workers were among the skilled workforce.
He also said, Nigerians on the project demonstrated high level of technical comeptence many hidden skills were discovered among them.
He advised the public to discountenance such malicious and twisted reports, and instead focus on the potential impact of the project on the overall economy and well-being of Nigerians as Dangote Group continues to be the leading light in employment generation.
Dangote refinery is a 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) integrated refinery and petrochemical project. It is the Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility.
The refinery will process a variety of light and medium grades of crude to produce Euro-V quality clean fuels including gasoline and diesel as well as jet fuel and polypropylene.
The Dangote refinery will double Nigeria’s refining capacity and help meet the increasing domestic fuel demand, while generating foreign exchange through exports.