Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has praised the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II), for his pivotal role in the establishment of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Speaking in a video shared by Metro Naija on December 12, 2025, Dangote recounted how the traditional ruler facilitated the removal of more than 19 sacred shrines to make way for the construction of some of the refinery’s facilities.

“I think I must recognise and thank the Ooni of Ife for making it possible for us to go in and build our factories. What happened was that when we got there, there were over 19 shrines on the site, and nobody could even go near them to do anything,” Dangote recounted.

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He continued, “The Ooni went there personally. He stood right there and said, ‘I remove all of them. Anything they want, let the gods come and talk to me.’”

The Nigerian billionaire noted that without the intervention of the Ooni of Ife, his vision of establishing Africa’s largest oil refinery, with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day, might not have been realised.

“Your Royal Majesty, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart because without that singular act of yours, I don’t think we would have been able to build the refinery, not to talk of the fertiliser factory,” he added.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is a privately owned oil refinery developed by the Dangote Group in the Lekki Free Zone, near Lagos, Nigeria. It is the largest single-train refinery in the world, with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Conceived to reduce Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported refined petroleum products, the refinery is designed to meet Nigeria’s full domestic fuel demand and export surplus products to international markets. It produces petrol (PMS), diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene, and other petrochemicals.

The project, valued at over US$19 billion, also includes a petrochemical complex and a fertiliser plant, making it one of Africa’s most ambitious industrial developments.

Beyond energy security, the refinery is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs, conserve foreign exchange, and strengthen Nigeria’s industrial base.

Since commencing phased operations, the Dangote Refinery has been widely regarded as a game-changer for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and a major step toward refining self-sufficiency in Africa.

Watch a video of his remarks below:

“Ooni of Ife removed over 19 shrines at our refinery site. Nobody was able to go near there to do anything. He stood there and said ‘remove all of them. Let the gods come and talk to me’. ” — Aliko Dangote pic.twitter.com/lWVi1HxwIn

— Metro Naija (@metronaija) December 12, 2025