CDWR CONDEMNS THE UNLAWFUL SACK AND VICTIMISATION OF 800 WORKERS AT DANGOTE REFINERY
CDWR SOLIDARIZES WITH PENGASSEN, NUPENG AND OIL WORKERS
WE CALL FOR UNITED STRUGGLE OF ALL WORKERS IN DANGOTE REFINERY AND THE ENTIRE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY AGAINST ALL ANTI-LABOUR PRACTICES AND NEO-LIBERAL POLICIES
It is now very obvious that Mr. Aliko Dangote and his management team are determined to crush all unions in Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical plants similar to what obtains in Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar etc., and pave the way for a slave-like work environment with no respect for human rights. The sacking of 800 workers by the management of Dangote Refineries on September 25, 2025, a day after joining the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) is not a coincidence, it is clearly to undermine workers’ rights to unionism and freedom of association and pave the way for massive exploitation of workers. Campaign for Democratic and Workers Rights (CDWR) condemns this anti-labour action.
This mass sack is aimed at denying Nigeria workers freedom of association and basic democratic rights and to pave the way for implementation of other anti-labour practices, which ensures that the capitalist exploitation to maximize profit at the expense of Nigerian workers is accelerated. The ball is in the court of Nigerian workers and the entire trade union movement to resist sustainably this monumental exploitation and modern-day slavery.
Aliko Dangote and his management team said that the mass sack was due to reorganisation to forestall sabotage. This claim is a criminal blackmail of Nigerian workers and a ruse. Aliko Dangote and his management teams in all the companies in the Dangote Group are enemies of Nigeria workers and hell-bent on enslaving workers. If Aliko Dangote is allowed to continue the enslavement of Nigerian workers by denying them their legitimate rights, it will inspire other rogue companies to follow suit and spell doom for Nigerian workers.
We welcome the directive of PENGASSAN to its members to embark on strike actions that will cut off crude oil and gas supply to Dangote Refineries. The directive is that workers at field locations are to begin strike on Sunday September 28 while workers in offices, companies, institutions and agencies will embark on strike on September 29, 2025.
A few weeks ago, Dangote Refinery did everything to undermine National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and violated agreements on two occasions and eventually rushed to court to procure a black market restraining order. Therefore, we call for a joint action between PENGASSAN and NUPENG for the defence of labour rights and human dignity of Dangote Refinery workers.
The CDWR also calls for solidarity actions including a 24 hour general strike and picketing of all Dangote Group of Companies and other companies involved in anti-labour practices.
The Nigerian capitalist government and the ruling elite are in an unholy alliance with Dangote Group and big businesses to enslave Nigerians for profit maximisation and the workers in Dangote Refinery only have the solidarity of Nigerian workers and the mass of the people to rely on. The Nigerian government and the ruling elite are culpable because they ensured that public refineries were crippled, undermined and rendered comatose despite huge public funds allocated for the so-called ‘turnaround maintenance’ in order to pave the way for Dangote Refinery who got State financial, material support and concessions.
The struggle of the unions and Nigerian workers should be encompassing and not limited to right of unionisation. The struggle should include building mass resistance against all anti-poor capitalist policies and attacks on democratic rights in general. The struggle should also demand the revitalisation of all public refineries and building of new ones as part of the struggle for the nationalisation of the commanding heights of the Nigerian economy and placed under democratic control and management of Nigerian workers in order to free up collective resources in the hands of a few and use them for the benefit of the vast majority.
Comrade Rufus Olusesan
National Coordinator
Comrade Chinedu Bosah
National Publicity Secretary
E-mail: [email protected]