The body representing senior staff in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector has hit out at the government after the vice president criticised its recent work stoppage linked to a clash with the Dangote refinery.
Spokesmen for the group said on Monday that it would resort to similar measures if its members faced dismissal once more.
The exchange follows a demonstration in Kaduna where some locals accused the union of trying to undermine the refinery’s operations.
Last week, the union halted key operations in the energy field, claiming the refinery had dismissed around 800 employees for signing up as members. The refinery countered that it had removed only a small number involved in disrupting work, as part of wider changes to its setup.
In support of those affected, energy workers stopped work, leading to reduced output in oil and gas as well as lower electricity supply nationwide.
Government officials stepped in, and the union paused the action on Wednesday once the refinery agreed to shift the dismissed staff to different parts of its operations.
Even though the halt in work has ended and queues at fuel stations have eased, the cost of household gas remains elevated, with prices around N2,000 per kilogram in Lagos and elsewhere, far from the earlier level of about N900.
At the launch of the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Monday, the vice president hailed the refinery owner as a cornerstone of the country’s business growth. He cautioned that the nation outweighs the union and urged restraint to avoid disrupting the wider economy over a small workplace issue.
He remarked: “Aliko Dangote is not just one person; he stands as a key player in our business world.”
“And the way we handle him will shape what others think of us. Had he put $10bn into firms like Microsoft, Amazon, or Google, it might have grown to $70bn or $80bn today. Instead, he chose his homeland, and we must safeguard that choice for those who come after us.”
He called for careful thought and stronger national loyalty from both workers’ groups and business leaders to build better ties between them, in line with rising economic stability. “It cannot be about gripping the entire country over a slight work disagreement.”
“Nigeria surpasses the union. Nigeria surpasses us all,” he added.
In response, the union’s top official stated that the country is larger than both the refinery owner and the government too.
He explained that the group has a clear duty to shield its members’ positions after the refinery let them go for affiliating with it, and it will fulfil that duty as required.
“The country does tower over the union, just as it does over the refinery owner and the government. We must guard our members’ livelihoods, and we shall do so when called upon,” he told reporters.
The official, who also heads a major workers’ federation, added that should the same problem arise tomorrow, the union would handle it in the identical fashion.
When pressed on online chatter suggesting the government might disband the union for endangering energy supplies through its action, he asked: “Does the law bar workers from withdrawing their labour?”
The union’s secretary general echoed this, questioning: “Is Nigeria not greater than any single person or company?”
At the same event, the minister responsible for planning and budgets affirmed that officials would keep backing home-grown output to steady the economy and foster steady progress.
“The government’s main aim now is to keep up changes that drive expansion and improvement. Expectations of rising prices are easing, and we will continue aiding local making of goods,” he noted.
He outlined how steps taken since May 2023 had prevented a financial breakdown, reduced strains on the economy, and built tougher defences.
Such moves included ending fixed prices for fuel, freeing up currency trading, curbing excessive loans, and trading crude for local money, all laying groundwork for steadiness.
He observed that these efforts are paying off, with overall output rising to 3.4 per cent in 2024 and set to climb further next year.
The minister highlighted priorities like farming, making goods, and building works to curb price hikes and lighten living expenses.
He pointed to the need for easier loans, better tools for farms, storage spots, and transport links.
He foresaw output growth of 4.6 per cent in 2025, and a coming national blueprint for 2026 to 2030 aiming for a $1tn economy through lasting changes, varied income streams, and robust local output.
The minister for trade, industry, and investment added that authorities are committed to turning business rules into real gains that lift sales abroad, add jobs, and tie the country into worldwide supply lines.
“The issue goes beyond bold plans; it’s about making them happen. How can we shift business rules into everyday wins so that sellers abroad sense the change in three years? Words are easy; now we need deeds,” she said.
She revealed steps to weave trade deeper into African links.
Nigeria led by adopting an updated five-year check on the African trade zone, setting up a central team in the second quarter of 2025 to map paths for those involved.
“We handed in our price lists and offered to lead as a base for the zone, announced in February. We are matching business energy with public changes to keep Nigeria ahead,” she continued.
The ministry has bargained with nations like Uganda and Ecuador, spotting chances for local firms in clothes, simple making, and beauty items.
On hurdles like steep trade fees, jammed harbours, and rejected shipments, she said reforms aim to slash costs by up to 75 per cent, simplify bodies, and toughen checks.
“It’s about moving rules from pages to practice so our sellers and makers feel it. That’s the hands-on work of the past 10 to 11 months,” she added.
In his welcome speech, the head of the economic summit group warned that handling home investors well will sway outsiders to pour lasting funds into the country.
He listed ongoing price squeezes, heavy debt payments, and low trust from backers as big blocks to growth that includes everyone.
Nigeria sits in a settling phase now, but he warned that gains could slip without pushing changes further.
“Settling buys us time to breathe, but it’s not the end goal. We need to firm up and speed changes on purpose to avoid falling back,” he said.
The group leader listed seven fields to steer change strengthening: making goods, building links, backer trust, money steadiness, broad reach, body building, and safety.
Small and medium outfits need cheap loans, reliable power, and tech tools to spur making growth.
Rules must touch homes through work spots, health care, schooling, and safety nets.
“Gone firms hire no one, pay no wages, and owe no duties,” he cautioned, urging watchers to aid rather than choke business rise.
He pressed makers of rules to show clear trust and faith. “Nigeria must state plainly: we guard, not chase, backers,” he said, seeking a country plan based on making, building, backing, broadness, and bodies to shape the 2026–2030 growth outline.
Kaduna March Backs Refinery Amid Sabotage Claims
Dozens of people marched through Kaduna on Monday to show support for the Dangote refinery, blaming a powerful fuel import ring and some in workers’ circles for blocking the rise of home refining.
The event, under the banner “National Unity Against Undermining: Taking Back Our Fuel Sector for Everyday Folks”, called for quick government moves to shield the huge refinery from what they termed planned hits by import backers.
Organised by a group for economic advance, the marchers met at Murtala Mohammed Square then moved along Alkali Road, Ali Akilu Road, Ahmadu Bello Way, and Muhammadu Buhari Way, waving signs reading “Guard Home Refining”, “Stop Fuel Import Ring”, and “Back Dangote Refinery”.
A lead voice, Igwe Ude-Umanta, told the gathering that the Kaduna show was part of a country-wide push that started in Abuja on 2 October.
He framed the marches as a freedom bid to save the economy from powers bent on keeping fuel needs abroad.
“This fight targets the ring that wrecked our state refineries, crushed cloth making, and now seeks to choke the Dangote plant. We won’t allow it. The era of gripping Nigeria ends now,” Ude-Umanta declared.
He recalled Kaduna’s past as a cloth centre, saying the same wrecking play now hits fuel making.
“Kaduna thrived in cloths until wrecking tore it down. Now they aim to copy that in fuel by blocking home plants. We stand against it,” he said.
Group heads blamed the union for joining in, calling its late moves “economic harm”.
They pushed for ending fuel imports outright or slapping high fees to shield home making and linked trades.
“Nations with fees aren’t foolish; they guard their money flows,” Ude-Umanta noted, saying importers fear home plants revealing price tricks and wrong ways.
Dahiru Maishanu, another speaker, said the union’s steps went past fair worker stands and aided importers’ aims.
“What the union did wasn’t worker rights; it was wrecking. Officials should have held their heads to warn others. We can’t let folks hide in worker groups to wrong the economy,” Maishanu said.
The marchers sought the president’s firm hand to ensure home plants like Dangote get crude on fair terms matching those for abroad ones.
“President Tinubu must stand tall. Home plants must get crude at abroad rates. That’s vital for keeping the plant and lifting backer faith,” they urged.
They charged the union with stopping sales of home-made gas for homes and plane fuel, saying it aimed to keep prices high and hold sole gains.
“They harm everyday folks to guard their wants. How can bringers match makers? They fear because home making will show their tricks and end price hold,” Maishanu added.
The group lauded the refinery for quick drops in car fuel and diesel costs, saying common people now “breathe easier” from home output.
They warned that weakening the plant would hurt backer faith and the full economy badly.
“This push is for money rescue. If we let them end the Dangote plant, no backer will risk funds here again. We must guard this plant as ours,” Maishanu said.
They pressed officials to “stamp out every foe of money rise”, seeking fast rule and force steps to shield home plant power and punish underminers.
The union head called the marchers “uninformed folks”, while the secretary general said “it’s their right under the rules to show”.
Union Axes Gas Unit Over Strike Shortfall
The main oil and gas staff group has broken up its branch at the Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company and Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited for not cutting gas flow to the Dangote refinery in last week’s row.
But the branch fought the breakup, blaming the main office for an unfair penalty over the failed bid to stop gas during the work halt.
In a plea to the top union leaders, got on Monday, the branch meeting said it took the breakup order “with dismay and low spirits”, claiming the leaders tried hard to follow the country-wide halt but faced work risks and strong guards at main gas points.
In answer to the breakup, 163 branch members signed a note seeking to bring back the heads.
It read partly: “We, the branch meeting members of NGIC/NGML oil and gas staff group, write to fight the main secretariat’s choice to break our branch heads over claimed wrecking tied to not fully doing the gas cut order to the Dangote plant.”
“We took the choice with dismay and low spirits, given the hard work by heads and rallied members to make the order work, despite scares and hits they met all through, especially rises at Oben Metering Station, where lives hung in balance.”
“Our heads did far more than enough to follow the country order despite risks to life. Claims of teaming with bosses and taking cash gifts lack proof and are wrong,” the meeting held.
The gas workers held that not fully stopping came from tech and safety limits, including
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