SLS To Nigerians:Don't Sell Your House For Dangote Shares

Emir tells investors: Keep your children’s school fees out of the IPO, invest only what you can afford

Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has issued a blunt warning to Nigerians rushing to buy into the Dangote Refinery IPO: don’t put your home, your children’s education or your financial security on the line for shares.

Speaking at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE IPO roadshow in Kano, Sanusi urged prospective investors to resist the temptation to overextend themselves in pursuit of possible future gains.

His message was unequivocal.

“Do not take your children’s school fees and put your shares. Do not sell your house that you live in and put in shares,” the monarch warned.

Instead, he urged Nigerians to invest only money they could comfortably spare.

“What you can afford—₦10,000, ₦20,000, ₦30,000—what you can afford to set aside for some time, set it aside.”

Sanusi also cautioned against treating the IPO as a vehicle for quick profits, urging investors to adopt a long-term approach rather than buying shares today with the intention of selling tomorrow.

“I’m not talking about someone who will buy 5,000 shares and wants to sell tomorrow and believes you get 10,000,” he said.

His pitch was for patient ownership.

“Forget about it for some time. You’ll be surprised in five years, the ₦10,000 you invest today, what it will be.”

‘KANO MUST NOT BE LEFT BEHIND’

The former Central Bank of Nigeria governor also made a direct appeal to Kano residents to take ownership stakes in the refinery, describing Dangote as a “son” of the state.

“I would like my people to be owners of this. I do not want us to be left behind in the capital markets,” Sanusi said.

But beyond regional pride, he presented the refinery as a potentially significant shift in Nigeria’s economic structure.

Reflecting on his time at the CBN, Sanusi recalled the huge amounts of foreign exchange Nigeria spent importing refined petroleum products after exporting crude oil.

He described the situation as a major economic problem: Nigeria exported crude, used foreign exchange to buy refined products from abroad, and paid subsidies that, in his words, helped keep refineries outside the country operating.

“We would export crude oil and then turn around and import refined petroleum products,” he said.

‘WE SHOULD REFINE HERE’

Sanusi argued that the emergence of the Dangote refinery could change that pattern by allowing Nigeria to refine crude domestically and potentially generate foreign exchange from exports of refined products.

“We don’t need someone to refine, take our crude to England and France, refine it and sell it back to us as a profit,” he said.

“We should find it here and buy, and also sell to others.”

According to Sanusi, Nigeria could ultimately move from spending scarce foreign exchange importing petroleum products to earning foreign exchange by exporting refined products.

₦5,250 MINIMUM TO ENTER THE IPO

The Dangote Refinery IPO opened on September 14, 2026, with 4.1 billion new ordinary shares offered at ₦525 per share.

The minimum subscription is 10 shares, valued at ₦5,250.

The offer is scheduled to remain open until October 13, 2026, subject to the terms set out in the prospectus.

The transaction is aimed at retail and institutional investors as well as eligible African investors, as Dangote Refinery seeks to widen ownership and deepen participation in Nigeria’s capital market.

At the IPO gong-sounding ceremony on the NGX trading floor, Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote said he expected the refinery to become “the most viable company in Africa” by the end of December 2026.

For Sanusi, however, the excitement surrounding the massive IPO should not become a reason for Nigerians to gamble with money they cannot afford to lose.

The message from Kano was stark: invest if you can—but don’t sell the roof over your head or sacrifice your children’s school fees to buy shares.