The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has accused billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote and his cousin, Sayyu Dantata, of pursuing what it described as an “anti-union agenda” in the country’s oil and gas sector.
In a joint statement issued on Friday in Abuja, NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, and Secretary-General, Afolabi Olawale, alleged that the business moguls were attempting to create a monopoly that threatened jobs, unions, and the economic rights of Nigerians.
“NUPENG is seriously concerned and disturbed with the unconscionable business practices of Alhaji Sayyu Aliu Dantata and Alhaji Aliko Dangote who are scared of allowing unions to exist in their business outfits,”the statement read.“To us, amassing wealth on the basis of enslavement, depriving workers of a union and voice amounts to creating filthy wealth.”
The union criticised Dangote’s plan to import 10,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks for fuel distribution, calling it a scheme to dominate the downstream sector. According to NUPENG, drivers recruited under the scheme were being compelled to sign agreements barring them from joining unions, which it described as unconstitutional.
“This is not philanthropy, it is economic sabotage. Dangote’s plan will enslave workers, crush competition, and ultimately raise fuel prices for ordinary Nigerians,” the union said.
As a result, NUPENG announced that members of its Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch would begin seeking alternative employment and livelihood opportunities from Monday, September 8.
The union urged the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, to intervene, warning that failure to act would embolden what it called “tyrannical, anti-union business practices.”
It also called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and international labour organisations to prepare for protests and industrial action in solidarity.
“Workers are no slaves. To resist unions is to resist collective bargaining. The working class will not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed,” the statement added.
