By Bose
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The Federal Government on Monday deplored the activities of trade unions, holding the country down over minor issues.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, while declaring open the 31st edition of the Nigeria Economic Summit (NESG), at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, criticised the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for crippling the oil industry because of a dispute with the $20 billion 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery.
Shettima urged the summit to deliberate and make far reaching recommendations on the matter, adding, however, that the government is also taking steps to protect the industries and create industrial harmony for the good of the nation.
He described the Dangote Refinery as a national asset that must be supported to function and that the nation owes it to the future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve and protect the refinery for the interest of this great Nigerian.
“On this note, I want to dwell on something that is very dear, a very topical issue that is very dear to the heart of every Nigerian. Aliko Dangote is not an individual; he is an institution. And he is a leading light in Nigeria’s economic rejuvenation…and how we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us,” he said.
“If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, in Amazon, or in Google, probably, he might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now. But he opted to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve and protect the interest of this great Nigerian.”
Nevertheless, the Vice president
called for “… caution, retrospection, and a deeper sense of patriotism from both labour and the organised private sector in defining and improving the relationship between labour and industry in the interest of maintaining our steadily improving economic fortunes…It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute. Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us.”
In a related development, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in a statement over the weekend appreciated President Tinubu for his timely intervention in averting what it described as “the disruptive actions of PENGASSAN” against the company.
“Dangote Refinery is grateful to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, HE Bola Tinubu, GCFR for his intervention, through his Ministers and senior officials, which resulted in the abatement of the disruptive actions of PENGASSAN against the Refinery,” the statement read.
It mentioned several key government functionaries who worked “untiringly and determinedly into the wee hours of several nights to avert the declared disruption of Nigeria’s energy sector by anarchists and agents of darkness.
“We remain very grateful to these officials for their patriotism and national service,” it added, also expressing heartfelt gratitude to Nigerians for their overwhelming public support during the crisis.
