By Chuks NZEH
Concerned Nigerians under the aegis of Save the Republic Group, have frowned at the dismissal of over 800 workers at the Dangote Refinery and called for their immediate reinstatement as the workers have the constitutional right to join any union of their choice.
Convener of the Group, Barr. Deji Adeyanju, who made the call at a Press Conference in Abuja, also called on the federal government not to allow the Dangote Group to monopolize the oil sector in Nigeria.
“The dismissal of more than 800 Nigerian engineers and workers by the Dangote refinery for seeking to join a trade union, and their reported replacement with foreign nationals, is a direct assault on the principles of fair labour relations and the fundamental rights of Nigerian workers.
“The right to organise is not a favour granted by an employer; it is a constitutional right guaranteed by Section 40 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, which expressly protects the freedom to associate, including the right to form or belong to trade unions.
“The Trade Unions Act further gives legal recognition and protection to such associations. An employer who punishes his workers for exercising that right attacks not only those employees but the rule of law itself,” he said.
Adeyanju noted that what is happening at the Dangote refinery also exposes the bigger problem of monopoly being perpetuated by the Dangote Group.
According to him, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, FCCPA, prohibits any company from abusing a dominant position to weaken competition.
“It is a matter of public record that the Dangote refinery was built with extraordinary support from the federal government, through the Central Bank, interventions, preferential access to foreign exchange and other forms of government support,” he stated.
Also speaking, the President of Ohaneze Ndigbo in FCT, Hon Eze Primacy Okadigbo, lamented that the common man who is yet to recover from the effects of fuel subsidy removal will again be left to bear the brunt of this face-off between the leadership of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and Dangote Refinery.
Okadigbo called for dialogue to resolves all issues that led to the unceremonious termination of the workers.
Another concerned Nigerian, Comrade Ishiaku Nok, called on government to mediate so that this issue will be resolved and the workers reinstated before it escalate.
Nok warned that if this is allowed to stand, “today it may be workers, we do not know who it will be tomorrow,” adding that workers are not slaves and an injury to one is an injury to all.
