Vice President Kashim Shettima has said that Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, warning the union not to hold the country hostage over a minor labour issue involving the Dangote Refinery.
Speaking at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) in Abuja, Shettima described the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery as one of the most important investments in Nigeria’s history and said it must be supported at all costs.
He was reacting to the recent face-off between PENGASSAN and the Dangote Group, which led to a short strike on September 28 after some workers were dismissed. The strike was later called off when the company agreed to redeploy the affected workers.
According to the vice president, billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote is not just an individual but an institution who chose to invest billions of dollars in Nigeria instead of taking his money abroad. “If he had invested in Microsoft or Amazon, he could be worth over $70 billion today,” Shettima said.
He urged both labour unions and business owners to act with patriotism and caution, reminding them that disputes can be resolved “across the table” without damaging the nation’s economy.
Shettima also revealed that the refinery was built using loans and investments from both local and international banks, and that its success was crucial to Nigeria’s economic stability.
In his words, “Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN, greater than any one of us. We must protect our industries to protect our future.”
