Truckers from a union representing fuel tanker drivers ended late on Tuesday a strike at Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery after Africa’s largest petroleum plant allowed workers to unionise.
The strike, which began Monday and drew support from other unions in Nigeria and abroad, came as the refinery faced accusations of union-busting over its hiring of drivers to deliver petrol to retailers.
- Media Must Play Bigger Role in Debt Transparency — NUJ Chair
- Israel Strikes Hamas Leadership As Explosions Hit Qatar’s Capital
“Since workers’ unionization is a right in line with the provision of the extant laws, the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals agreed to the unionization of employees of Dangote Refinery,” a joint statement said.
That process is to be completed by September 22 and no worker at the refinery is to be disadvantaged as a result, the statement shared on X by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) added.
Before last year’s opening of the Dangote refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, Nigeria had to import almost all its petrol despite being a major oil producer.
Critics pointed to years of neglect and mismanagement of government-owned refineries.
The Dangote refinery has driven down prices of petrol for consumers while also shaking up long-entrenched players in Nigeria’s oil sector, marred by decades of corruption.
But it has also sparked monopoly fears as it becomes a powerful player backed by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.
Last month, the refinery was set to deploy a fleet of thousands of trucks powered by compressed natural gas to distribute its petrol nationwide, an initiative that has been delayed due to logistics issues.
But the plans have roiled a market where more than 20,000 diesel-powered tankers have operated for decades.
NUPENG launched its strike Monday, alleging that Dangote’s new drivers were being hired on the condition they do not join the union — allegations disputed by Dangote.
“What Dangote has shown over time is that he’s not prepared to have workers that will have a say in his employment,” union president Williams Akporeha told Nigerian broadcaster Arise News on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the refinery, Anthony Chiejina, played down concerns of a fuel shortage as a result of the strike to AFP.
NUPENG has seen support pour in from local organisations, among them the Nigeria Labour Congress, as well as groups from abroad including global union IndustriALL, based in Switzerland, and the International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) network branch in Washington.
Chiejina, the Dangote spokesman, denied the claim that its drivers were not being allowed to join a union, calling it “cheap blackmail”.
“It’s not true… nobody has done that and nobody has ever,” he said.
AFP