Tompolo Applauds Azikel Refinery, Describes Eruani Azibapu As New Face Of Niger Delta Industrialisation
By Jonah Fubara, YENAGOA – Frontline Niger Delta freedom fighter, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has commended the impressive industrial development of Azikel Refinery in Bayelsa State, describing the President of Azikel Group, Dr. Eruani Azibapu, CFR, as a leading force in the new industrialisation of the Niger Delta.
Tompolo made the remarks after an extensive tour of the Azikel Refinery facilities, where he expressed admiration for the scale, sophistication and vision behind the project.
Visibly impressed by the development, Tompolo described Dr. Eruani as “a leader of the new industrialisation of the Niger Delta, the South-South and Nigeria.”
During the tour, he commended the transformation taking place in Bayelsa State and expressed pride in the establishment of Azikel Refinery, a 25,000-barrel-per-day facility backed by an estimated US$1 billion investment.
The refinery is the second-largest privately owned refinery in Nigeria and is designed to process condensate and crude oil into products including petrol, diesel, kerosene, aviation fuel, heavy fuel oil and LPG.
Tompolo described the investment as a significant indigenous industrial development emerging from Bayelsa State and the wider Niger Delta, noting that it demonstrates the capacity of the region to move beyond crude oil production to the processing, refining and transformation of its natural resources into higher-value products.
According to him, the development of Azikel Refinery represents a new narrative for the Niger Delta—one driven by industrialisation, employment creation, wealth generation, indigenous participation and greater value addition to Nigeria’s crude oil resources.
He also praised Dr. Eruani’s determination, entrepreneurial vision and commitment to investing in large-scale industrial development, stressing that projects of such magnitude could serve as catalysts for broader economic and industrial growth across Bayelsa State, the South-South and Nigeria.
The visit further highlighted the growing importance of Azikel Refinery as an indigenous industrial project aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity, reducing dependence on imported petroleum products and creating new economic opportunities within the Niger Delta.
“I am proud of this industrial development that Dr. Eruani Azibapu, CFR, has ignited here in Bayelsa, the Niger Delta, the South-South States and Nigeria. This is the kind of development that creates employment, generates wealth and adds value to our crude oil resources,” Tompolo said.
