1 month ago
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The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has fired backmost astatine the Presidency aft Vice President Kashim Shettima condemned the union’s caller concern enactment implicit the sacking of workers by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
- Recall that Shettima, portion speaking astatine the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit successful Abuja connected Monday, described Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, arsenic “not conscionable an individual, but an instauration and a pillar of Nigeria’s economical development.”
The Vice President warned that “Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN,” urging labour unions to enactment with patriotism and debar holding the federation to ransom implicit concern disputes.
“Aliko Dangote is not an individual; he’s an institution, a starring airy successful Nigeria’s economical parliament,” Shettima said.
“If helium had invested $10bn successful Microsoft oregon Amazon, helium mightiness beryllium worthy $70bn by now. But helium chose to put successful his country, and we beryllium it to aboriginal generations to support his interest. It’s not astir holding the full federation to ransom due to the fact that of a insignificant labour dispute. Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and each 1 of us.”
But, successful a swift response, PENGASSAN National President Festus Osifo said Shettima’s remarks were misplaced, insisting that the association’s loyalty lies with its members, not with immoderate idiosyncratic oregon corporation.
“Of course, the federation is bigger than PENGASSAN, the aforesaid mode it’s bigger than Dangote and the Presidency,” Osifo said
“We person a mandate to support the jobs of our members, and we volition discharge that work whenever the request arises. Should this aforesaid lawsuit hap again tomorrow, our attack volition beryllium precisely the same.”
Osifo, who besides doubles arsenic President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), dismissed suggestions that the authorities could dissolve PENGASSAN implicit the strike, saying, “Does the instrumentality prohibit workers’ close to strike?”
Similarly, PENGASSAN’s General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, said, “Is Nigeria not bigger than immoderate idiosyncratic oregon institution?”
LEADERSHIP reports that the confrontation stemmed from past week’s nationwide onslaught by lipid and state workers pursuing allegations that the Dangote Refinery sacked 800 employees for joining the union. The refinery, however, denied the figure, claiming lone a fewer workers were fto spell for alleged sabotage and arsenic portion of interior reorganisation.
The concern enactment disrupted lipid and state accumulation and caused powerfulness procreation drops, starring to nationwide substance queues and a spike successful cooking state prices, which present hover astir ₦2,000 per kg from ₦900 earlier the crisis.
The onslaught was called disconnected aft the Federal Government intervened and directed the Dangote Group to redeploy the affected workers to different concern units.
Meanwhile, protests erupted successful Kaduna connected Monday arsenic demonstrators accused PENGASSAN of trying to sabotage the Dangote Refinery.
The protesters, nether the banner Partners for National Economic Progress (PANEP), marched done large streets carrying placards that work “Protect Local Refining,” “End Fuel Import Cartel,” and “Support Dangote Refinery.”
Addressing the crowd, PANEP person Igwe Ude-Umanta accused a almighty lipid importation cartel and “elements wrong the labour movement” of plotting to frustrate section refining efforts.
“This conflict is against the cartel that destroyed our nationalist refineries, killed the textile industry, and present wants to strangle the Dangote Refinery. We volition not fto them succeed,” Ude-Umanta declared.
Another protestation leader, Dahiru Maishanu, went further, describing PENGASSAN’s actions arsenic “economic terrorism.”
“What PENGASSAN did was not unionism; it was sabotage,” Maishanu said. “The Federal Government should person arrested their enactment to service arsenic a deterrent. We cannot let radical to fell nether labour unions to perpetrate crimes against our economy.”
The protesters urged President Bola Tinubu to guarantee section refineries are supplied crude astatine the aforesaid complaint arsenic overseas refineries, insisting that “if we termination the Dangote Refinery, nary capitalist volition ever bring wealth into this state again.”
Reacting to the protests, Osifo dismissed the demonstrators arsenic “ignorant people,” portion Okugbawa maintained that “it’s their law close to protest.”
Amid the unfolding crisis, PENGASSAN’s nationalist enactment reportedly dissolved its Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC) and Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited (NGML) subdivision for failing to chopped state proviso to the Dangote Refinery during the strike.
However, members of the dissolved ...
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