Popular social media personality Martins Vincent Otse dubbed VeryDarkMan has unleashed criticism on the Bola Tinubu administration saying it has ‘humbled’ Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. VeryDarkMan noted that Dangote was almost moved to tears talking about the struggles of his refinery. On Saturday, Aliko Dangote spoke out and said that he did not get any sweet-talker from the Nigerian government for constructing the $20 billion refinery in the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
In a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives including the speaker Tajudeen Abbas and the deputy Benjamin Kalu, Dangote revealed that he bought the land for the refinery at $100 million. He also accused government of having placed various regulatory measures that have hampered the refinery.
VeryDarkMan replied with a video, saying that economically, the situation under the leadership of Tinubu has worsened for Dangote. He remembered seeing Dangote who was laughing and narrated how he decided to invest in Nigeria after being cautioned by a friend. As a result, VDM wondered why the government never told Dangote that there was no crude oil during the construction of the refinery. He accused the government of disclosing the deficit in Delta, Edo, Imo, and Akwa Ibom states after the refinery was constructed.
He also pointed out that the crude oil from Brazil proved difficult for Dangote to acquire as he was stymied by licensing. He also stated that it was the people’s money which has been used to build the refinery and not his own, this raised eyebrows regarding the transparency of the project and support from the Nigerian government.