The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige has reiterated the zero tolerance of the present administration to job losses in the oil and gas or any other sector of the economy.
Speaking at a crucial meeting with officials of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUNPENG) and the Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) as well as contractors in the oil and gas sector, Ngige said any threat to industrial harmony in the country must be nipped in the bud.
“We all know that the backbone of the Nigerian economy for now is still the oil and gas. As the Minister of Labour and Employment, I am committed to forestalling any issue that could bring industrial unrest in the sector or threaten job security in the country.”
“I wish to put on record that the Buhari administration has zero tolerance for any form of job loss. If the oil and gas sector or any other sector for that matter cannot create new jobs, they must go the extra mile to retain the existing ones. Any job loss has multiple adverse effects on the population.
“I have before me, petitions which border on industrial and employment relations – retrenchment, casualization, redundancy as well as unfair treatment of Nigerians in the employ of the oil majors. I have therefore summoned this meeting for us to properly ventilate the issues and make a way for a speedy resolution, after which we shall hold stakeholders’ summit,” he said.
Speaking on the vexed expatriate quota issue, Ngige said the Ministry was already in liaison with the Ministry of Interior in order to check the abuse of the nation’s immigration/labour laws.
He said the displacement of qualified Nigerians by foreigners in workplaces would soon become a thing of the past.
In his remarks, President of NUPENG, Comrade Igwe Achese said the drop in the international price of oil was not a tenable reason for the continued enslavement of Nigerian workers through contract staffing and casualization.
He said there is no where in the world that workers are subjected to harsh and unfriendly labour environment as done by the oil majors in Nigeria.
On his part, National President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis Johnson called for the urgent passage of the Petroleum Industrial Bill as a roadmap for the maintenance of peace and harmony in the oil and gas sector.
