{
  "id": 11662954,
  "title": "Sijibomi Ogundele: How Dangote Shamed Critics’ With Refinery",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/sijibomi-ogundele-how-dangote-shamed-critics-with-refinery",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-03T10:15:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/10/03/sijibomi-ogundele-how-dangote-shamed-critics-with-refinery/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Dr. Sijibomi Ogundele, Group Managing Director of Sujimoto, addressed the criticisms surrounding the construction of the Dangote Refinery, emphasizing that experience and expertise can sometimes underestimate the potential of ambitious entrepreneurship. In his statement, Ogundele recounted the doubts raised by professionals in various fields regarding the refinery's feasibility due to its high cost, technical complexity, foreign exchange issues, crude supply concerns, and Nigeria's history of failing refinery projects. Despite the skepticism, Dangote chose to pursue petroleum refining, an industry far removed from his previous experiences in textiles and telecommunications. Ogundele, who visited the refinery five years ago, described his initial astonishment at its scale and how this experience influenced his own ambitious real estate projects. He highlighted the importance of leveraging expertise to strengthen visionary projects rather than letting it constrain them. Ogundele recalled attending the refinery's commissioning ceremony on May 22, 2023, where some experts who had previously doubted the project's viability were present. He highlighted how the refinery had to prove its worth by achieving actual production, navigating crude supply and pricing challenges, and demonstrating strong commercial performance. The refinery's current processing capacity of about 700,000 barrels per day by 2026 and reported revenue exceeding $13 billion in its first half of 2023, contrast with a $476 million loss in 2025, further underscored his point. Plans to expand the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029 and a proposed public offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery shares were also mentioned. Ogundele concluded by acknowledging that while critics often correctly identified risks and the complexity of the journey, their error was in believing they could dictate the outcome based solely on their initial assessments. He urged entrepreneurs to value expert opinions, learn from past failures, and maintain confidence in their ambitious visions, stating that experience should guide the path but should not limit the destination.",
  "summary": "Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan The Group Managing Director of Sujimoto, Dr. Sijibomi Ogundele, has revisited the doubts and criticisms that surrounded the construction of the Dangote Refinery, saying the project",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}