There is little doubt that the present disaster between Dangote Refinery and NUPENG is a battle for the delicate soul of Nigeria, particularly within the oil and gasoline sector.
Many experiences , opinions, and write-ups have been happening within the media.
However, a latest latest diatribe report in one of many on-line platforms titled, ‘The Coming Death of NUPENG,’ just isn’t journalism, fairly it’s a poorly constructed hit piece, a symphony of slander orchestrated by the very company pursuits looking for to strip Nigerian staff of their basic human rights.
In the report, fairly than deal with the substantive situation such because the brazen anti-union campaign on the Dangote Refinery, the author chooses to vomit a litany of unsubstantiated allegations, recycled propaganda, and fictional accounting. All designed to deflect from the true crime; the systemic suppression of employee illustration by Africa’s richest man.
The union is actively defending staff’ rights, insisting that workers should be free to organise and collectively discount with out coercion or restriction. Why ought to this be an issue
Let us be unequivocally clear. The core situation the author so conveniently ignores is the inalienable proper of each employee to freedom of affiliation and collective bargaining.
This just isn’t a NUPENG invention. It is a cornerstone of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and a basic human proper acknowledged globally.
The Dangote Refinery’s refusal to permit unionization is a direct assault on this proper, creating an atmosphere the place staff might be and have been arbitrarily sacked for merely looking for a collective voice. The author’s silence on this tyranny speaks volumes about his true patrons.
The article is a masterclass in deception. He parades disgraced, former union officers like Lucky Osesua, Humble Obinna, and Dayyabu Garga—people going through severe prison costs, together with tried homicide, for his or her violent makes an attempt to hijack a department of the union—as “reformers.”
This info might be readily confirmed by the cost sheet information of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Judicial Division, the place the people in query are listed as defendants 1, 2, and three respectively.
This just isn’t a revelation of NUPENG’s flaws. Rather, it’s a confession of the author’s allegiance. These are the paid puppets of a conglomerate determined to balkanize the workforce and impose a company-sponsored affiliation, a traditional union-busting tactic condemned by the ILO.
The author just isn’t a voice for the drivers. Rather, he’s a megaphone for a divide-and-rule technique.
The {financial} figures the author and co concocts and bandy round are usually not simply exaggerated; they’re a fantasy, designed to incite public anger towards the union as a substitute of the true profiteers.
His declare that NUPENG “slaps a tax” on each litre of gas is arithmetical nonsense and a deliberate misrepresentation of logistics charges negotiated with stakeholders for union companies
Does the author count on these important companies, advocacy, dispute decision, welfare help, administration—to be run on charity? Unlike the opaque accounting of the companies he defends, NUPENG operates inside a structured framework. If the author has proof of monetary malfeasance, let him current it to the authorities as a substitute of hiding behind sensationalist journalism.
For the information, there are quite a few Trade Unions and Associations working inside the Petroleum depots, every with distinct roles and duties towards their members.
PTD-NUPENG instructions important affect and respect, an authority that, understandably, unsettles some individuals.
For occasion:
1. PTD-NUPENG is a Trade Union whose members are workers of truck homeowners. These members pay union dues to NUPENG, and the funds collected are allotted to the next:
• Quarterly security coaching throughout all zones, carried out in collaboration with FRSC, Police, Fire Service, State VIO, and different site visitors enforcement companies. These trainings are important and are available at a substantial value.
• Health Insurance (HMO) protection for tanker drivers. Since no employer gives medical health insurance for these drivers, who spend lengthy hours transporting extremely inflammable supplies, NUPENG believes {that a} sick truck driver is an accident ready to occur. To mitigate this threat, the Union partnered with Leadway Health Insurance to supply protection for each petroleum tanker driver on the wheel.
• Security funding for highways- The Union constantly mobilize safety companies to guard towards truck hijackers, kidnappers, and prison parts in sure communities. These companies are usually not rendered totally free.
• Union dues – which help the executive and operational capabilities of the union itself.
2. The Association of Truck Owners additionally collects charges from its members, who’re the precise homeowners of the vans every time they load on the depots.
3. Independent Marketers, represented by IPMAN, have workers who’re additionally members of NUPENG. These workers pay union dues to NUPENG, whereas IPMAN members contribute dues to their very own affiliation.
