Patience Jonathan says she mentored Azikel boss Eruani into big business

Former Nigerian First Lady Patience Jonathan has shared her role in mentoring Dr. Azibapu Eruani, the Group President of Azikel Group, guiding him from his early days to becoming a significant figure in Nigerian business. Jonathan stated that her encouragement and guidance were instrumental in Eruani developing the confidence to pursue substantial investments, including the establishment of the Azikel Refinery in Bayelsa State.

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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.

During an inspection tour of the refinery, Jonathan recounted how she personally urged Eruani to connect with successful entrepreneurs such as Aliko Dangote and Aminu Dantata. She challenged him to aspire to their success, despite being the youngest in their circle. "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," she said, emphasizing her deliberate effort to have him learn from the more established businessmen.

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But I made sure he followed the Dangotes, he followed Dantata. Because I’m a woman in their midst, I made sure I told this small boy, ‘Go and follow them, and stop the grammar.’

Jonathan also recalled Eruani's pursuit of refinery approval during the Buhari administration. She expressed initial doubt, questioning if the APC government would grant approvals when the previous administration had not. However, Eruani and his partners eventually secured approvals for three refineries. This development coincides with the Azikel Refinery, a $1 billion, 25,000 barrels-per-day facility, receiving its Crude Distillation Unit. The refinery aims to process condensate into various fuel products and is poised to become Nigeria's second-largest full-slate refinery and the first major privately owned refinery in the Niger Delta.

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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.

Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, praised Eruani's perseverance. He noted that the refinery's progress, eight years after its groundbreaking, serves as an inspiration and a potential catalyst for economic development in Bayelsa State.

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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.