NLC threatens nationwide strike as NUPENG, Dangote clash deepens

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned it may call a nationwide strike in solidarity with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) over its ongoing dispute with the Dangote Group, accusing the conglomerate of anti-labour practices, poor working conditions, and monopolistic tendencies.

In a statement released Saturday, NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero alleged that Dangote Industries has been undermining workers’ rights by blocking unionisation, relying on casual labour, and engaging in practices that stifle fair competition in key sectors of the economy.

According to the labour body, the grievances raised by NUPENG go beyond the petroleum sector. It said they represent an assault on the entire Nigerian workforce, trade unionism, and the principle of decent employment.

The NLC accused the group of denying employees their constitutional right to freedom of association by forcing them into company-controlled unions, while also paying some of the lowest wages in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

It also alleged that Dangote Industries prefers employing expatriates over qualified Nigerians, while taking advantage of state concessions to entrench monopolies in cement, sugar, flour, and now petroleum products.

The congress urged President Bola Tinubu to step in, warning that unchecked excesses could weaken collective bargaining and deepen poverty.

“The Nigerian people were promised that the Dangote Refinery would create jobs and deepen industrialisation, instead, what we are witnessing is the classic playbook of primitive capitalism as the group resorts to monopolistic capture, using state backing to eliminate competition and dominate entire sectors,” Ajaero said.

The NLC said it had placed all its state councils and affiliates on red alert, stressing it would fully support NUPENG’s proposed strike if the Dangote Group does not halt what it called “reckless anti-union practices.”

It further warned government regulators, particularly the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority, that they would be held responsible if they continued to “look the other way while a few individuals privatise the nation’s energy future and enslave its workforce.

“The attack on NUPENG is an attack on us all. The NLC without equivocation states that Nigerian workers are not slaves and cannot be serially abused without consequences,” Ajaero declared.

He added: “Our constitution and international conventions guarantee our right to organize, collectively bargain and defend our dignity at work. The NLC will resist every attempt by the Dangote Group to roll back these rights.

“We warn that if Dangote continues on this reckless anti-union path, the NLC and its affiliates will move beyond words to action. We will confront this tyranny head-on until victory is secured for Nigerian workers and the Nigerian people.

“Let it be clearly understood, if the Dangote Group does not immediately halt its anti-union and anti-people agenda, we will not hesitate to mobilise all workers across the length and breadth of this country for actions and solidarity necessary to protect our dignity and to defend Nigeria from the clutches of monopoly capital.

“Our solidarity is not negotiable. We will fight because we must. The working class must not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate greed.”