OYO STATE: STUDENTS’ PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF DANGOTE REFINERY IS A MISPLACED PRIORITY

ERC rejects attempt to criminalise workers’ rights to organise and unionise

The attention of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Oyo State Chapter, has been drawn to a protest held on Tuesday, 7th October 2025, in Ibadan by some students under the banner of the National Association of Oduduwa Students (NAOS). The demonstration was reportedly organised to express support for the management of the Dangote Refinery following its dispute with NUPENG and PENGASSAN over the dismissal of over 800 workers for exercising their right to join trade unions of their choice.

The ERC strongly condemns this protest, describing it as a misplaced priority and a regrettable diversion from the pressing issues that genuinely affect Nigerian students and the broader struggle for educational rights. It is both perplexing and disappointing that a student body would choose to rally in defence of a private company’s anti-worker policy rather than stand up for students’ rights and welfare.

At a time when universities across the country face imminent shutdowns due to looming strikes by both academic and non-academic staff — a result of chronic underfunding by state and federal governments — students should be mobilising in defence of affordable and quality education, not corporate interests. These funding crises have led to a wave of skyrocketing tuition fees, pushing the cost of education beyond the reach of ordinary families.

For instance, at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, and Osun State University, tuition fees now range between N320,000 and N790,000, and N350,000 and N1.3 million, respectively, depending on the course of study. Even federal institutions like the University of Ibadan are not exempt from this trend. Currently, two UI students are serving suspensions of four academic semesters each, with another still facing trial — all for participating in anti-fee hike protests. Unfortunately, these exorbitant fees have not translated into improved learning conditions. Accommodation remains inadequate, facilities are outdated, and the general state of infrastructure in many institutions is deplorable.

Given these harsh realities, the ERC finds it both disturbing and unfortunate that NAOS would expend its energy on a cause that neither reflects the struggles of students nor advances the fight for  adequate funding of public education. Even worse, the protest  promoted an anti-worker agenda, thereby undermining workers’ legitimate right to unionise — a position the ERC categorically condemns.

The ERC also considers the claims made during the NAOS protest to be misleading and deceptive. It is false to present the Dangote Refinery as a national asset serving the collective interest of Nigerians. In reality, it is a private capitalist enterprise, driven by profit, not public welfare. Equally misleading is the attempt to blame trade unions for the high cost of fuel and gas. Such narratives only serve to shield corporate interests while diverting public attention from the true causes of hardship in the oil sector.

The persistent hike in fuel prices stems from neoliberal policies of deregulation and privatisation, which prioritise profit over the welfare of ordinary Nigerians. The ERC firmly rejects these anti-people policies and calls for the immediate revitalisation of all public refineries and building of new ones, as well as the nationalisation of the oil sector under democratic workers’ control and management, to ensure that national resources serve the collective good rather than private greed.

Furthermore, the ERC rejects the call for the proscription of NUPENG and PENGASSAN and reaffirms its defence of the fundamental right of workers at the Dangote Refinery — and all workers — to freely form and belong to trade unions of their choice. Unionisation is a democratic right and an essential means through which workers can demand fair treatment, decent working conditions, and dignity in the workplace. The refinery management’s decision to dismiss workers for exercising this right is unjustifiable and reprehensible. Any attempt to rationalise such actions through an obviously sponsored protests is equally condemnable.

The ERC therefore urges Nigerian students and progressive student organisations not to allow themselves to be manipulated into defending corporate or anti-worker interests disguised as patriotic causes. Instead, they should channel their energy towards genuine struggles that truly affect their lives — such as resisting school fee hikes, fighting for independent students’ unionism and against campus repression, demanding improved infrastructure, and challenging anti-education policies that undermine access to public education and quality learning. Students must reject all attempts to divert attention from these legitimate struggles or to criminalise workers’ rights to organise and unionise,  and rather express solidarity with workers in their demand for justice and union freedom.

However, we also call on the leadership of trade unions to engage in sober reflection regarding their methods and responsiveness to the needs of their rank-and-file members. The apparent sympathy some sections of the public show toward the Dangote management in this face-off is, in truth, an expression of widespread disappointment with the unions’ past failures to build a reliable and consistent resistance to anti-people government policies that have deepened the suffering of the working class. This development, in our view, is a clarion call for the rebuilding of a fighting, democratic, and accountable trade union movement — one that is responsive to the needs of its members and always ready to defend the collective interests of workers and the oppressed.

To join the ERC and help build it on your campus,  send a message to the following numbers: 08033914091 and 08027564324.

Nnamdi Ochi

State  Coordinator of ERC

Email: [email protected]