Yoruba Student Groups Rally In Support Of Dangote Refinery

A coalition of Yoruba student groups, including members of the National Association of Oduduwa Students (NAOS), the Coalition of Yoruba Students, and the Yoruba Movement, on Tuesday held a peaceful demonstration in support of the Dangote Refinery amid its ongoing dispute with oil unions; PENGASSAN, NUPENG, and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN).

The demonstrators gathered at the Iwo Road Roundabout, along the Ibadan–Lagos Expressway in Oyo State, chanting solidarity songs to express their stance.

They marched through major streets carrying placards bearing messages such as “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” “#StopsabotagingfuelinNigeria,” “#EndPENGASSAN,” “#EndDAPPMAN,” “#DangoteRefineryIsANationalAsset,” and “#StopSabotage,” among others.

Dressed in uniform shirts with the inscription “Don’t Kill Dangote Refinery,” the protesters said their demonstration was meant to alert authorities to what they described as a “coordinated attempt by vested interests” to undermine the refinery’s operations, Nigeria’s largest industrial venture and the biggest single-train refinery in Africa.

NAOS President, Olalere Adetunji, urged President Bola Tinubu and key federal agencies to intervene promptly.

“We want to use this period to appeal to the Federal Government to protect the refinery and ensure that labour and marketers’ actions do not derail Nigeria’s move toward fuel self-sufficiency.”

Security personnel, including police officers and officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, were deployed to ensure peace and maintain order throughout the march.