Minister of Labour and Productivity, Sen. Chris Ngige, has said the Federal government will not accept any job loss in the oil and gas industry and other sectors of the economy, assuring that the government will immediately nip in the bud any threat to industrial harmony in the petroleum industry.
The minister spoke at a meeting with members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and contractors in the oil and gas sector in his office.
He said if new jobs cannot be created in the sector or other sectors in the country, efforts must be made to keep the current jobs.
He said: “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 and unfair treatment of Nigerians in the pay roll 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.”
On the vexed issue of expatriate quota, the minister said the ministry was already discussing with the Ministry of Interior to check the abuse of the nation’s immigration and Labour laws and promised that the displacement of qualified Nigerians by foreigners would soon become a thing of the past.