Nigerian investigative journalist, David Hundeyin has voiced concerns against Dialogue Earth, an international non-governmental organization, alleging that they are trying to launch a smear campaign against the Dangote Refinery.
This was disclosed by Hundeyin in a series of posts via his X handle yesterday.
According to Hundeyin, a foreign NGO that was formerly known as China Dialogue Trust promised him 800,000 Naira, or roughly $500, in exchange for writing an article regarding environmental concerns related to Nigeria’s first significant oil refinery.
Hundeyin noted that the implied, though unstated, aims to create a pretext for the Nigerian government to potentially shut down or restrict the refinery’s operations, citing “energy transition commitments” and “environmental policy.”
This disclosure follows recent charges made by the 650,000 barrel-per -day petrochemical plant’s management that foreign oil firms (IOCs) are conspiring to undermine the refinery’s operation.
Hundeyin, however, disclosed that he first accepted the offerto gather proof of the NGO’s genuine objectives.
“Last week, I received an N800,000 offer from an international NGO called Dialogue Earth (formerly known as China Dialogue Trust) to write an article essentially saying that Dangote Refinery is terrible for the environment because something something “Environmental Concerns,” something something “Climate Change,” something something “Energy Transition Policy,” something something “COP 28.”
“The (unstated but clearly implied) thrust of the brief was for a prominent local voice to put their name on an article that is an argument or a premise for the Nigerian government to kill the refinery based on its “energy transition commitments” and “environmental policy.”
“This conclusion wasn’t immediately apparent when they reached out to me, but I suspected where it was heading, and I quickly accepted the offer so that I could see the brief and obtain hard evidence,” Hundeyin said.
Since then, he has made screenshots of the brief public, which he says confirm his concerns.
Hundeyin, who disclosed the names and identities allegedly behind the foreign organization, underlined the move is part of the global campaign to smear what they described as “African first working refinery”.
He stated that the refinery can decrease West Africa’s dependence on imported fuel and enhance fuel quality control, which is being targeted while earlier environmental concerns were largely overlooked.
“Basically, this London-based NGO is headed by Sam Geall, an Oxford professor and is funded by several American intelligence fronts such as Ford Foundation and ClimateWorks (which is blacklisted in India for funding organisations working against India’s national interest).
“For whatever reason, it is now quietly mobilising a resistance campaign against what it describes as “Nigeria’s first refinery.”
The Chairman of the Dangote refinery, Aliko Dangote highlighted the degree of sabotage the refinery has encountered in an interview with CNN, expressing his surprise at learning that the “mafia in the oil industry” is even more powerful than those in the drug cartel.
The 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery is expected to reduce Nigeria’s and other African countries’ reliance on imported petrol from Europe and America.
