I mentored Azikel refinery boss Eruani from ‘small boy’ to big businessman, Patience Jonathan

Patience Jonathan, former First Lady of Nigeria, has shared her close relationship with Dr. Azibapu Eruani, the Group President of Azikel Group. She described him as a "small boy" she nurtured into a prominent businessman, personally connecting him with industry titans like Aliko Dangote and Aminu Dantata.

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He’s a boy that I brought up. We are always together. Although he’s the little one among us when we are friends, Dangote, Seyi, Dantata, Eruani, among us, he’s the smallest. But I made sure he followed the Dangotes, he followed Dantata.

Jonathan recounted her role in pushing Eruani to aspire to the level of these established figures, despite him being the youngest in their circle. "I made sure I told this small boy, ‘Go and follow them, and stop the grammar,’" she said, recalling her encouragement and prayers for his success.

The former First Lady also touched upon Eruani's challenges in securing refinery licenses. She mentioned that the Buhari administration initially denied him a license, contrasting it with his eventual success in obtaining three. "I prayed it would happen. But later, they came back and told me they had been given three refineries," she stated.

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Because I’m a woman in their midst, I made sure I told this small boy, ‘Go and follow them, and stop the grammar.’ But when he told me that one day he would be like Dangote, I said, ‘You’re thinking too high.’ I prayed to God to grant him his heart’s desire.

Her remarks came during an inspection tour of the Azikel Refinery in Obunagha, Bayelsa State. This visit coincided with the arrival of the refinery's Crude Distillation Unit, a critical component for the $1 billion facility. The 25,000 barrels-per-day plant is poised to become Nigeria's second-largest full-slate refinery and the first major privately owned refinery in the Niger Delta, promising significant economic impact and job creation.

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During the Buhari administration, he and others came to me and told me they were going to apply for a refinery. I told him, ‘Eruani, your brother, the President, did not give you a refinery. Is it the APC government that will give you one?’ I prayed it would happen. But later, they came back and told me they had been given three refineries.