The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has placed all affiliate Unions on red alert in solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), against the alleged anti-union and anti-workers agenda of the Dangote Group.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, announced the decision in a statement issued late on Saturday.
Comrade Ajaero explained that that by seeking to recruit drivers under the condition that they must not belong to NUPENG or any union in the Oil and Gas industry, Dangote and his associates are directly violating Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, and ILO Conventions 98 and 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to Organise and Collectively Bargain (ratified by Nigeria in 1960).
He said if allowed to stand, it would set a dangerous precedent where powerful capital could openly defy the laws of Nigeria, enslave workers, and destroy the very foundation of collective bargaining.
“This is a dangerous road to fascism in industrial relations, where workers are treated as slaves without voice or dignity,” he said.
The NLC President said the Union would not stand by while one conglomerate seeks to enslave the Nigerian working class and trample on the hard-won rights of unions.
“The scale of workers’ rights violations is growing alarmingly and we are poised to ensure that it is contained if nothing is done by the government to sanction the Group and make it act more responsibly,” Ajaero said.
He added: “We hereby: unequivocally condemn the anti-union, anti-worker, and monopolistic practices of the Dangote Group and its affiliates.
“Call on the Federal Government to immediately call Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Alhaji Sayyu Dantata to order. Their operations must comply with all Nigerian labour laws and international conventions.
“Call on Dangote group to cease all anti-union, anti-workers practices.
“Demand the immediate unionization of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the group.
“Place entire Nigerian workers, State Councils and industrial unions in Nigeria on Red Alert.
“Mobilize for a united front of resistance against the Dangote Group’s anti-worker agenda and support the proposed industrial action by NUPENG.
“Demand that the Federal Government and its regulatory institutions; especially the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Authority; that history will hold them complicit if they continue to look the other way while few individuals privatize the nation’s energy future and enslave its workforce.
“Call on the Nigerian people to see through the deception: this is not philanthropy, it is plunder; it is not development, it is dispossession and enslavement.”
Comrade Ajaero warned that if Dangote continues on the reckless anti-union path, the NLC and its affiliates would move beyond words to action.
“We will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people. Let it be clearly understood, if the Dangote Group does not immediately halt its anti-union and anti-people agenda, we will not hesitate to mobilize all workers across the length and breadth of this country for actions and solidarity necessary to protect our dignity and to defend Nigeria from the clutches of monopoly capital,” he warned.
