The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has come down hard on Vice President Kashim Shettima for calling the Dangote Group a “national asset,” insisting that no company is bigger than the law.
NLC President Joe Ajaero, in a strongly-worded statement on Tuesday, said Shettima’s comments were “a national tragedy” that send the wrong message — that political power and wealth can override justice and labour rights in Nigeria.
Ajaero accused the Dangote Group of trampling on workers’ rights to freely associate and join trade unions — rights he said are protected by the Nigerian Constitution, Labour Act, Trade Union Act, and International Labour Organisation conventions.
According to him, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) was merely protecting its members from exploitation when it clashed with the refinery, not sabotaging the economy as some allege.
“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 above the law, then the government must be prepared for the storms such injustice will inevitably unleash. There can be no peace without justice.
“The serial violations of the ideals of decent work are a ticking time bomb,” Ajaero warned.
“We will mobilise, we will organise, and we will fight back. There are no sacred cows,” he declared.
The labour chief’s fiery remarks follow the sacking of about 800 workers at the Dangote Refinery after they reportedly joined PENGASSAN.
Vice President Shettima had earlier dismissed the refinery strike as a minor issue, insisting that Nigeria’s economy should not be “held to ransom” by it, while praising Aliko Dangote for his huge investment in the country.
Government intervention later produced a truce: the sacked workers were reinstated, the strike suspended, and refinery operations restored.
