NLC faults Shettima’s defence of Dangote, says it promotes lawlessness

…Urges government to defend workers interests

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), on Tuesday, countered Vice President Kashim Shettima’s claims that “Dangote Group is a national asset that should be preserved”

Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, in a statement on the occasion of “World Day for Decent Work Day” described the Vice President’s statement as “a national tragedy”, adding that it “presupposes that the Nigerian State promotes lawlessness”

“We condemn in the strongest terms this deeply troubling statement by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, that the Dangote Group is a “national asset” and insinuating therefore that it should be exempt from obeying the nation’s labour laws.”

The NLC noted that the statement is not only an affront to the rule of law, but also a public declaration that capital, when sufficiently concentrated, is above the law, that money is sovereign and can undermine decent work principles.

This is just as the union also see the statement as a “deliberate abdication of responsibility to protect Nigerian workers and the vulnerable”, adding that “It is a declaration of War on the long-suffering citizens of Nigeria.

“This dangerous pronouncement serves to green-light the mindless and greedy actions of the Dangote Group, which has brazenly violated the rights of its workers to freedom of association and right to join the trade union of their choice; a right guaranteed by our Constitution, the Trade Union Act, the Labour Act and core ILO Conventions to which Nigeria is a signatory.”

According to the NLC, “Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) was simply fulfilling its historic duty to protect its members from exploitation. To frame this legitimate trade union activity as sabotage or a national threat is a fascistic tendency that the NLC utterly rejects and will resist with every fibre of its being.

“We declare that Dangote with its illegal actions is not a national asset but a “national tragedy”. The group’s actions undermine the tenets of Decent Work in spite of all the concessions and privileges from the Nigerian State. Is this the thank you?

“Nigerian Constitution is clear; the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. This includes protection in the world of work. For the government to abdicate this responsibility, to side with the oppressor against the oppressed, is a declaration of a class war it can ill-afford.”

The union noted that the working class and the poor masses of Nigeria are the true creators of the nation’s wealth, and we will not stand idly by while our rights are auctioned to the highest bidder.

“We understand the unfortunate link between Dangote’s wealth and politicians but when Nigerians are ready, they will interrogate it and bring all the actors to account. For now however, we are more concerned about stopping further violations of the rights of workers in all workplaces in Nigeria than responding to a Vice President that is clearly on self-voyage.”

The NLC noted also that the “Dangote Refinery is self-destructing by its cruel and selfish policies informed by unpardonable ignorance and unacceptable arrogance! It is its own enemy.

“Our responsibility remains the protection of workers and their rights not just in Nigeria but across the world and that is why we have worked robustly with others around the world to craft laws, conventions and policies that protect our workplace to ensure a global balance. These are the frameworks that Dangote violate with impunity.

Read also: Dangote refinery must be supported to succeed – Bagudu

“As we speak, the contractors, constructing NLNG Train 7 in Bonny Rivers state seem to have borrowed a leaf from Dangote and have sacked thousands of workers on the site and replaced them with Asians. Their offense; demanding that the taxes they have paid to the Government be remitted according to Law to the government coffers with appropriate receipts.

“This is the danger in encouraging lawlessness. We ask our government, what will you do about this? Thousands of jobs are gone again! Would you still pamper them?

” We state unequivocally to Vice President Shettima; No company, no matter how big, “strategic,” or well-connected, can operate outside the law or be bigger than Nigeria. If the Dangote Refinery is to be granted rights and privileges over and above the law, then the government must be prepared for the storms that such an injustice will inevitably unleash. There can be no peace without justice.”

The NLC therefore, demands that all entities operating in Nigeria should comply with Nigeria’s industrial relations laws, including the immediate recognition of all unions seeking to represent workers in their organisations. “We cannot encourage impunity and we still talk about democracy. Our human capital remains our core national asset and not some exploitative law-breaking entity.

“We demand an end to the sacred cow syndrome. The government must demonstrate, through decisive action, that the law is no respecter of persons. The State’s duty is to protect the weak and vulnerable worker from the paws of greedy capitalists, not to offer them as sacrificial lambs.”

The NLC also described it as “relentless assault on the Nigerian workers, who toil daily, under the yoke of exploitation and impunity.

“We use this occasion to sound a clarion call to the Nigerian state and the ruling elites, that the relentless assault on the pillars of Decent Work must end.”

The NLC explained that Decent Work Agenda as championed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), other UN agencies and global organisations is not a mere proposition but a fundamental framework for a just and egalitarian society.

“It rests on four pillars: job creation, social protection, rights at work, and social dialogue.”