Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has revived hopes for the long abandoned Olokola industrial dream with fresh plans to establish what is expected to become Nigeria’s largest industrial and free trade zone in Ondo State.
The renewed initiative, unveiled during a visit to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in Akure, has rekindled memories of the Olokola Free Trade Zone project initiated during the administration of the late former Governor Olusegun Agagu, who envisioned the coastal axis as a major industrial and maritime hub for the country.
The Olokola project was conceived in the mid-2000s under Agagu’s administration as a joint development initiative involving Ondo and Ogun states, with plans for a deep seaport, refinery, petrochemical industries and other manufacturing investments.
The project attracted global attention and was later selected by Dangote Group as the proposed site for its multi-billion-dollar refinery.
However, after Agagu left office in 2009, the project suffered setbacks and lost momentum. Critics accused subsequent administrations of failing to sustain the vision and allowing key investments to slip away.
Former Ondo State PDP chairman, Dr. Tayo Dairo, had alleged that the administration of former Governor Olusegun Mimiko abandoned several projects inherited from Agagu and mishandled opportunities surrounding the Dangote refinery proposal.
Although allegations that personal interests influenced the relocation of the refinery were repeatedly denied by Dr. Mimiko, the former governor maintained that he neither demanded gratification nor discouraged the project, insisting that only Dangote could explain why the refinery eventually left Olokola for Lagos.
Dangote himself later disclosed that prolonged disputes and inability to gain access to the Olokola site led to delays that cost his company more than 500 million dollars, prompting the decision to relocate the refinery project to the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.
Now, more than a decade after the loss of the refinery project, Dangote has returned to Olokola with a renewed investment framework aimed at creating a world-class industrial and free trade zone powered by dedicated electricity, gas infrastructure, water supply and logistics facilities.
He said contractors are expected to mobilise to site within months, with full-scale construction scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. According to him, the vision is to create a “plug-and-play” industrial city where investors can operate without the burden of inadequate infrastructure.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa described the renewed engagement as a turning point for Ondo State, predicting an industrial revolution that would transform the state into a leading manufacturing and export destination.
With the revival of the Olokola dream first championed by the late Olusegun Agagu, many residents and stakeholders believe the return of Dangote offers Ondo State another opportunity to reclaim the economic future that slipped away when the proposed refinery and associated investments were moved to Lagos.
