The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recently disclosed that it wants to return to its original 20 per cent equity portion in the $20 billion Dangote refinery, Africa's largest. The oil regulator had shunned this stake previously, preferring rather to hold just 7.2 per cent as it failed to complete its payment obligation to the colossal oil refiner in June 2024. The reversal tells a contrasting story of two Nigerias – one, a bumbling, oil-dependent state and the other, an ambitious, personally-forged giant that now holds its economic destiny.