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Tag: Francis Olabode Johnson

  • Ministry condoles PENGASSAN over Johnson’s death

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, on behalf of the Management and Staff of the Ministry expressed deep sympathy with the National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the sad death of its National President, Mr. Francis Olabode Johnson.

    The death occurred in the early hours of Friday.

    Read Also: Breaking: PENGASSAN confirms death of President, Johnson

    In a statement in Abuja, Yemi- Esan said: “Mr. Johnson – led PENGASSAN and the Ministry enjoyed a very cordial relationship with the entire rank and file of PENGASSAN for the growth of the Oil and Gas Sector in particular and the advancement of the Nation in general.

    “The Ministry will greatly miss his cool head, calm disposition and great grasp of the trends and understanding of policy directions of Government.

    “Our sympathies also go to the wife and children of Mr. Johnson and pray to God to grant him and the rest of the Johnson family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss, Amen.”

  • Don’t politicize minimum wage issue, PENGASSAN warn government

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN)  on Wednesday warned stakeholders in the minimum wage issue in the country not to politicize the issues of a new minimum wage for workers and asked government to handle the issue with all the seriousness it deserve.

    President of the Union, Francis Olabode Johnson who gave the warning at 5th triennial delegates conference of the Group Executive Council of NNPC PENGASSAN said all hands must be on deck to actualize the minimum wage in line with the slogan that Labour create wealth.

    Johnson also asked the government to hasten work on the rehabilitation of the refineries as conflicting pronouncements from the government are creating more confusion  than addressing the situation.

    He said the rehabilitation of the refineries must be done immediately so as to prevent the intended sales of the refineries as such action will not be accepted by workers.

    He said the position of the union has remained that the NLNG model should be adopted for the refineries, adding that the rehabilitation of these refineries must be concluded as it will go a long way to preventing Nigerians from being shortchanged.

    Read Also: PIB: Kachikwu commends PENGASSAN

    He also asked politicians to avoid hate speech in their campaign and avoid inner overheating the polity in the larger interest of the Nigerian nation.

    He said “We strongly; appeal to the Federal Government to hasten work on the rehabilitation of: the Refineries as conflicting pronouncements are ‘creating more confusion.

    “We urge the Government to fast track the rehabilitation of the refineries so that the intended sales as been propagated in certain quarters will not be accepted PENGASSAN position from time immemorial has been the NLNG Model and for the model to be accepted by the Association. The rehabilitation of these refineries must be concluded. as this will go a long way in NOT shortchanging the Nigerian nation.

    “I will use this opportunity to urge every member of the NNPC GEC to put the ‘events of the 2017 National Delegates’ Conference behind us and strive to strengthen the NNPC Family’s Unity in view of the future challenges the Corporation may encounter. The night is over, the morning beckons, and we must all set forth at dawn by putting the past behind us and forge ahead towards a strong finish.

    “We appeal to Government at all levels to handle seriously the issue of the ongoing minimum wage imbroglio. On this, we appeal to all Stakeholders that this is not a time to politicize this matter and that all hands must be on deck in tandem with our Slogan of “Labour creates Wealth”. We also urge politicians to avoid Hate Speeches in their Campaigns and should avoid unnecessary overheating of the polity in the larger interest of the Nigerian Nation.

    “We all need ourselves to navigate through this very challenging and onerous task of providing effective leadership to our teeming members who desire assurances of improved work conditions.”

  • Violence, herdsmen killings threat to foreign investments in Nigeria – NUPENGASSAN

    The two unions in the nation’s oil and gas sector, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have said that the incessant violent killings across the country is threatening direct foreign investments in the country.

    Operating under the auspices of NUPENGASSAN, the unions said it was worried over the lack of self-belief by the citizens, who have literally lost confidence in the political leadership, and are involve in criminal activities that jeopardises the existence of the Nigeria nation as a one and indivisible country.

    Speaking on behalf of the unions, National President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson said they were deeply disturbed about the incessant violent killings and wanton destruction of lives and properties, especially farm lands as well as threats to the food security base of the country, thereby increasing poverty and hunger in the country.

    They expressed concern that the security challenges in the country are threatening foreign direct investment as many international investors can start to misconstrue Nigeria as an unsafe and dangerous investment destination.

    NUPENGASSAN said “this equally amounts to the losses these crises have caused many of our members and the psychological and economic damage they have suffered over the years.

    “The Council frowns at repeated clashes of similar nature across the country, which obviously is making people become apprehensive because of fear of the unknown.

    Read Also: Herdsmen: Buhari can’t back killers – Kalu

    “The council-in-session of sheer patriotism calls on the Federal Government and the affected state governments to work together, taking immediate steps to reinvigorate and overhaul their security system, strengthen conflict-resolution mechanisms and initiate longer-term efforts to look into familiar problems of insecurity in their domains.

    “As socially responsible stakeholders in the Nigerian project that strongly believes in sanctity of human life, the Council-in-Session therefore appeals to Governments at all levels to jettison cheap politics, hypocrisy and bias. It is high time they empower all our security agencies with the right resources and concentrate more on surveillance, intelligence gathering and intelligence processing with the right technology and equipment.

    “We want the Government to ensure that people get reprieve from the incessant violence and more importantly create lasting solution whereby lives of citizens are protected as required by the constitution.”

    The unions tasked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) admonish to remain unbiased in the discharge of its statutory responsibilities so that the conduct of the election in the country in 2019 will be credible, transparent, free and fair.

    They also asked all political parties and stakeholders in politics to eschew violence and divisive politics through utterances and actions as well as promote virtues that will entrench strong and united Nigeria where socio-economic fortunes of the country will be maximized and sustained.

    While condemning the increasing high level of unemployment in the country, NUPENGASSAN said “Even where we have employment, the jobs have become more or less slave labour with no hope for career growth and development.

    “In almost all multinational oil companies in Nigeria, there are no more direct permanent jobs for the middle level to lower level cadre, which has now become a bigger challenge of increased violent crimes and suicidal migrations.

    “We demands that the Government should make positive change employment policies and system, especially in the Oil and Gas Industry. The Government should make it mandatory for every oil and gas company in Nigeria to employ not less than 50% of its employees of middle to junior cadre as direct permanent workers to help indigent and less privileged youths to grow, develop and have hope in the nation and for the future.

    They also condemns the increasing impunities and anti labour tendencies of most indigenous and multinational oil companies in the oil and gas industry operating in the country.

    The unions said that “a situation is compounded by the fact that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment that is supposed to be the watchdog in the areas of compliance with extant labour laws is unfortunately handicapped because of poor understanding of the contract processing and workings in the oil and gas industry.”

  • PENGASSAN suspends nationwide strike

    PENGASSAN suspends nationwide strike

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has suspended its indefinite strike action embarked upon to protest what the union described as unfair Labour practices by the management of Neconde Energy Ltd (of Nestoil Group of companies).

    The union are accusing the company of entrenching unfriendly Labour practices in contravention of the nation’s Labour laws and failing to remit taxes and pensions deducted from workers to government, while boasting that no government official can call it to order, adding that workers who decided to join unions are treated as slaves in their own country and dismissed from work.

    Addressing newsmen after the meeting, National President of the union, Francis Olabode Johnson said the agreement signed between the union and the management is subject to review after three months to determine the adherence of the company to the details of the resolution.

    He said that the company has unconditionally agreed to recall all the sacked staff and take steps to allow their employees to be members of the union, adding that the meeting also resolved to address the anti-union posture of other indigenous companies and their abuse of court processes to stall resolution of issues.

    According to him, in view of the intervention, the resolution reached and in the spirit of the Yuletide, the union agreed to suspend the strike with immediate effect, while all members have been asked to resume normal duties immediately.

    The term of settlement made available to newsmen states: the “Management of Neconde was mandated to invite the sacked Branch Chairman for a meeting with a view to ameliorating the action taken against him and with a total review of the termination of the appointment and conciliatory conditions attached.

    “Management of Neconde should create room for PENGASSAN to be revived in the company and report the outcome to the Honourable Minister of Labour within three monthsfrom the date of this meeting.

    “National Secretariat of PENGASSAN and Management of Neconde should ensure regular training of Branch Executives in Labour Administration and Industrial Relations. Management should engage the services of experts in Labour Administration and performance appraisals for technical support.”

    The memorandum was signed by the National President of PENGASSAN, Francis Olabode Johnson, and his General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, Managing Director of Neconde Energy Services, Frank Edozie, legal consultants to the company, Uche Val Obi, (SAN)​​​ and the Director, Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs O.A. Akpan.