Nigeria’s Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, on Monday slammed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, (PENGASSAN) for holding the whole country to ransom over a minor labour dispute with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Mr Shettima condemned the action of the labour group, declaring that Nigeria was bigger than PENGASSAN and should not beg for survival because the union has issue with a company, which he described as a national asset that must be supported to function.
“I want to dwell on something that is very dear, a very topical issue that is very dear to the heart of every Nigerian. Aliko Dangote is not an individual; he is an institution. And he is a leading light in Nigeria’s economic rejuvenation…and how we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us.
“If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, in Amazon, or in Google, probably, he might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now. But he opted to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve and protect the interest of this great Nigerian,” he said while declaring open the 31st Nigeria Economic Summit (NESG) in Abuja yesterday.
He however called for “… caution, retrospection, and a deeper sense of patriotism from both labour and the organised private sector in defining and improving the relationship between labour and industry in the interest of maintaining our steadily improving economic fortunes…It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute. Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us.”
The VP noted that the government would expect far reaching recommendations from the NESG in addressing this issue, even as the government is also taking steps to protect the industries and create industrial harmony for the good of the nation, stressing the critical importance of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, declaring that it must be supported at all costs to succeed.