The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Union

  • How to revive economy, by union leader

    The General Secretary, Nigeria Textile Union and Vice President (Africa) of the IndustriALL Global Union, Comrade Issa Aremu, has urged the Federal Government to revive key industries for rapid industrialisation, job creation and poverty reduction.

    He made the call at a press briefing in Abuja to mark the 2016 Africa Industrialisation Day with the theme: Back to Basics: Revival of Basic Industries and Creation of Sustainable Employment.

    Aremu urged the government to make electricity supply steady to drive the industries.

    He said it was imperative for the government to diversify the economy and chart a road map to encourage industrialisation so as to exit recession.

    “The sectors include textile, garment, oil and gas, power, steel, engineering, solid minerals among others,” he said.

    Aremu implored  the  government to implement the 2014 National Industrial Revolution Plan for the country’s  growth.

    He noted that major stakeholders  agreed on the plan, pointing out that Nigeria is not short of development policies, but rather lacked the will to properly implement its many development policies.

    Aremu said it was unfortunate that many  years after their independence, African nations were still exporting their raw materials instead of adding value to them.

    According to him,  it is time for African countries to start processing their raw materials locally in order to generate employment and create wealth.

    He enjoined security agencies to curb smuggling across borders, noting that smugglers are undermining the growth of local manufacturing.

    Highlight of the activities to mark the 2016 Africa Industrialisation Day observed on November 21 include march for industrialisation, job creation and revival of the textile industries.

    Members of the union marched from Eagle Square to Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, chanting labour slogans and displaying various placards bearing their demands from the government.

    Some of the placards read: “Industry key to mass decent jobs,” “Copy China,” “re-industrialise Nigeria,”“Nigerians stop smuggling fake and counterfeiting of textiles,” “Buy quality, save jobs, buy Made-in-Nigeria,” “Africa produce what you can consume,” “consume what you produce,” amongst others.

  • Union protests over N150m loan misappropriation

    The Association of Agricultural and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria (AAEUN) has protested over the alleged misappropriation of its fund by the National President, Comrade Simon Anchaver.

    The protest, which took place at the premises of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Iyaganku, Ibadan, involved state leaders and members.

    During the protest, the Lagos State Chairman of the union, Comrade Obafemi Oyenubi, alleged that the national president took a loan of N150 million on behalf of other members from Heritage Bank without their consent.

    He said the document, which was presented to them, showed that the money was for the purchase of the union’s national secretariat in Abuja, adding that the money was, however, diverted into private pockets.

    “This fraud was discovered when the bank started calling us individually to start paying the loan. So, we engaged the bank to find out what was happening and we were told that Comrade Anchaver obtained a loan on our behalf, with our pictures and without our consent.

    “We wrote a petition to the Economic and Financilal Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the former president of the union, Comrade Anchaver, who wrote our names, about 102 of us, opened an account on our behalf and obtained a loan to the tune of N150 million. We brought it to EFCC because we know that what he did was wrong and it is a criminal offence,” Oyenubi said.

    Oyenubi said the EFCC invited the two parties and promised to look into the issue critically.

    He said other national executives of the union were involved and have saying what they know about the case.

    He urged the EFCC to address the issues without bias, adding that they should emulate the current administration in tackling corruption.

    Speaking with The Nation, Comrade Anchaver admitted the allegation. He, however, said that the issue would be addressed.

  • Union seeks N25,000 minimum pension

    The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has demanded for N25,000 as new minimum pension.

    The union said it is sad that many pensioners were still paid less than N5,000 monthly, even with the high rate of inflation and recession.

    Its President, Comrade Abel Afolayan, while addressing the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union in Abuja, said many state pensioners were being owed over 12 months arrears of pension.

    He, however, praised the governors of Lagos, Jigawa, Anambra, Enugu and Yobe states for not owing  pensioners. He urged defaulting governors and states to make amend.

    “We want you to make amend so that old men will not be forced to pronounce curses on you with their grey hair,” he said.

    While the NUP is demanding N25,000 as the new national minimum pension per month, the union also canvassed immediate payment of the 18 months arrears of the 33 per cent pension to civil pensioners and 39 months areas owed police pensioners.

    On their new demand, Afolayan declared that it was criminal for a pensioner to collect less than N5,000 monthly in this time of serious economic recession.

    He said the union entered into a long negotiation with the Federal Government for the upward review of pension, which finally yielded result when former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) directed the salaries, incomes and wages commission to issue a circular for 33 per cent pension increase effective from July 1, 2010.

    “Since then, civilian pensioners throughout the country were paid 24 months, out of the 42 months arrears, remaining a balance of 18 months  of which we have a very good assurance that government will pay the balance soonest,’’ he said.

    The NUP chief added that the union is still struggling to ensure that police, NIPOST, electricity, railways, universities pensioners and others who are yet to get full benefit from the government are paid fully. He assured pensioners across the country that the union would not rest until all of them who are owed get their pensions.

    In a related event, NUP, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Port Harcourt branch, has linked the present economic challenges facing the nation to institutionalised corruption in the country.

    Chairperson of the Union, Mr. Vincent Nweke, who disclosed this to newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, noted that every sector of the economy has been infested with corruption to the point that it has become a way of life to make money without working for it.

    According to him, every policy of government to develop the economy will be frustrated because of greed, while monies earmarked will be diverted to private pockets and programmes left without execution.

    Nweke applauded the steps taken by the Federal Government to sack as well as demote some directors and general managers of the authority whose cases were fraudulent.

    He said some of the directors and managers were recruited into the organisation after their National Youth Service (NYSC) and were placed on management posts without prerequisite experience and qualification.

    Nweke said even when the workers’ union then raised alarm over such issue; everything was swept under the carpet because of corruption, which also happens in other sectors.

    “Tell me, how can Nigeria move forward when money budgeted for development is not used for the purpose for which it was meant,” he queried.

    He, therefore, called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to be very thorough and fight corruption holistically.

  • Ex-President Jonathan at Oxford Union

    Ex-President Jonathan at Oxford Union

    On Monday, October 24, former President Goodluck Jonathan was a guest speaker at the famous Oxford Union where, at his request, he delivered a long and rambling speech on ‘Youth Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, and Corruption’ in Nigeria. The speech was intended to defend his record in office as president. I have obtained and read the full transcript of his speech in which he made some astonishing claims about the contribution of his government to job creation in Nigeria, through youth empowerment and the development of youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria. He claimed that, under his administration, the country achieved an average annual growth rate of 6 per cent, the third fastest growth rate in the world. That may be correct, but this high growth rate was fuelled largely by the stupendous growth in our oil exports and revenue, the highest ever. Sadly, it did not translate into a significant economic development of our economy; a classic case of growth without development. As we have seen in media reports of financial scandals, under his watch the rich in Nigeria got richer and the poor poorer. Today, youth unemployment and mass poverty are at highest levels in our country.

    Specifically, he claimed that his tenure in office as president marked ‘an era of unprecedented growth for Nigeria’. But where are the jobs he created through the so-called youth empowerment and entrepreneurship programme? The fact of the matter is that his so-called youth empowerment and entrepreneurship consisted largely of handing over vast sums of money to unemployed youths and warlords, the Tompolos, mostly in Bayelsa,  his state, who lacked any skills or much education to make use of the funds. Instead, the funds were diverted, possibly with his approval and knowledge, by the so-called ‘avengers; and militants to acquire weapons to wage a war against their own country, and sabotage oil installations and pipelines in the country. We were even threatened by these militant youths that unless Jonathan was re-elected in last year’s presidential election, they would make our country ungovernable. Is that not what the current violent militancy in the Niger Delta is all about? These were the youths Jonathan financially empowered to wage a war of attribution on our country.

    His claims about creating jobs are a lot of ridiculous hogwash.  Many domestic and foreign observers have already dismissed his government as inept, inefficient and corrupt. Suffice it to say that oil revenues during his administration were the highest in Nigeria’s fiscal history, and that he could have done a lot more with this huge oil revenue to address the critical infrastructure deficit and other economic challenges in our country. As we now know, most of the vast income from oil was simply squandered and frittered away on vast public corruption and unbridled foreign imports under his watch. Little, or nothing, was done by his government to diversify the economy and start the whole process of moving the national economy away from its over dependence on its oil revenues. In his last year in office the high growth rate had begun to plummet due to the fall in oil exports and revenue. It had fallen to less than 2 per cent. A year after the country is in a deep recession. If he had been re-elected president, our economic situation would have been far worse now. We needed an urgent review of our fiscal and monetary policies to stop the financial haemorrhage. Because of powerful domestic vested interests which he tended to protect and support he did nothing about the wasteful and corruption ridden oil import subsidy, or the exchange rate adjustment that had become necessary. He chose to ignore the danger signals in the economy in the hope that he could bribe his way to re-election as president. Even the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) of $1bn, a kind of investment abroad for the proverbial rainy day, was virtually depleted before he left office after his woeful defeat in the presidential elections.

    As regards public corruption under his watch, the most astonishing claim he made in his Oxford Union speech was that his former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), did not steal the $2.2bn for which he is being detained and for which he may face trial in court shortly. Instead, he said the funds in question were used to buy military aircraft and weapons for the Nigerian Armed Forces. In fact, Jonathan said the issue of public corruption in Nigeria was being ‘overblown’. But in a swift reaction to his absurd claims, the Nigerian military has said the three Alpha jets and two helicopters Jonathan bought for the Air Force were largely ‘unserviceable’. It said the jets were ‘not weaponised and the helicopters were cannibalised eventually, as they were not serviceable.

    But the real issue that Jonathan failed to address in his Oxford Union speech is where did all that money, the $2.2bn, that Dasuki improperly disbursed to Jonathan’s political hacks and cronies come from, and what purpose was it originally intended to serve? Was it not intended to procure arms for the Armed Forces to fight the Boko Haram insurgency? Why was the fund diverted instead to private pockets? The matter, as admitted by Jonathan, is sub jidice. It is for the courts, not Jonathan, to determine whether, or not, the funds were stolen. Already, in anticipation of his own trial, Dasuki has been reported as claiming that, in those sordid financial transactions, he acted solely and wholly on the instructions of President Jonathan. Well, Dasuki is better able to defend himself in the court of law. When the trial begins, as it should as soon as possible, Dasuki has said he will call President Jonathan as a star witness. The drama in the court between the two will be very interesting and exciting. As he is out of office, Jonathan can no longer claim any immunity from investigation, or trial for gross and inappropriate financial misdemeanours. Presidential immunity does not cover criminal actions by the president. It is intended merely to protect him from frivolous civil litigations for actions taken by him while in office. Dasuki’s lawyer has been reported as calling for a ‘political settlement” of the matter. This will be a terrible disservice to our nation, as the price we have had to pay collectively for this financial heist is just too high. In any case, President Buhari does not even have the constitutional power or authority to go for a political settlement of the case pending in court.  Even if he does, prudence will require him to let the sordid matter be determined by the court. Otherwise, he will undermine the fight against public corruption in our country. It will amount to a negation of accountability in governance in our country.

    The Oxford Union speech is obviously the first salvo by former President Jonathan to fight back on the allegations of corruption against him and his government. We can expect more foreign speeches by him. But he is better off giving the speech here at home. He did not impress the members of the Oxford Union as the reactions of the Union to his speech were reported to have been largely negative. Oxford students are well informed about world affairs and are very discerning. The few Nigerian students who are now able to go to Oxford and who were at the Union were reported as heckling him. As a Life Member of the Oxford Union and a former Commonwealth post-graduate scholar at Trinity College, Oxford, I was privileged to have attended and participated in some of its debates in the late 1960s and early 70s. I am proud of its noble and liberal traditions and of the fact that the Union provided Jonathan with a platform to air his views freely. That is the hallmark of the Oxford Union. Oxford students work incredibly hard. The Union provides them a relaxed place they can go to for robust debates and speeches from distinguished guests. It also has an excellent bar and a good library.

    The Oxford Union prides itself on being the world’s most prestigious debating society, with an unparalleled reputation for bringing to Oxford international guests and speakers. Steeped in history the Oxford Union was founded in 1823 as a forum for debates and discussion at a time when free speech was still largely restricted in the universities and in Britain. Many of its Presidents go on to become British Prime Ministers. One of these, William E. Gladstone, was President of the Union in 1830, and went on to become one of Britain’s greatest prime ministers in the 19th century. Because of its collegiate system, Oxford University does not have a central students’ union. The Oxford Union is independent and has no political leanings. It provides, instead, a forum for debates on controversial issues in the university. Its previous guests include Tariq Ali, Malcolm X, Richard Nixon, Gerry Adams and O.J. Simpson, all of them controversial public figures. In 1933, when Hitler and the Nazis were rising in Germany, the Oxford Union passed by 275 votes to 153 a motion that “This House will under no circumstances fight for King and Country”. Winston Churchill dismissed the motion as an unprecedented disavowal of the country. It had no effect in Britain. Every year a motion is routinely debated in the Union that “This House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government”. It is usually passed but has no political significance. It is merely symbolic. It is in keeping with its proud and irreverent debating reputation that the Oxford Union accepted Jonathan as a guest speaker. His speech there will not in any way influence British public opinion of him as an inept and corrupt leader. It was all done in good humour.

  • Be diligent and upright, VC tells union leaders

    Be diligent and upright, VC tells union leaders

    Lagos State University (LASU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Olanrewaju Fagbohun has urged the Students’ Union Government (SUG) leaders to channel their activities towards improving students’ welfare. The VC told them not to underrate their capabilities in achieving great feats in the school, noting that unionism offered students’ leaders enormous potentials.

    Fagbohun spoke at the swearing-in ceremony of the union executive members elected recently. The VC said the essence of serving as union leaders was to learn the art of leadership that could help them with become good leaders in future.

    He advised the students’ leaders to be diligent and upright in the discharge of their duties, noting that their activities in the union would be part of their curriculum vitae that could shape their future engagement in leadership. He told them not to allow their studies to suffer during the period of their leadership.

    Prof Fagbohun said: “If you have come to study for a five year course, don’t waste your time to use five and a half. At a certain age, you must be out there pushing the frontiers of your career. And as a leader, you must be able to confront and solve matters. There is nothing that dialogue will not resolve.”

    Speaking to the union leaders, Dean, Students’ Affairs (DSA), Dr Oluwafemi Obayori, advised them to see politics as a value that would make their lives better.

    He said: “You must convince the students who elected you that you can independently run your union. You must be ready to resolve issues from with superior point of view.”.

    President of the judicial arm of the union, Nofisat Kadri, swore in the union leaders, who promised to discharge their duties and loyal to the union constitution.

    President of the union, Kappo Olawale Samuel, in his acceptance speech, said: “Our tenure is ready to capitalise and consolidate the gains of the previous leaderships. We will work with the management to end indecent dressing on the campus and also give educational and social awareness, which will guarantee discipline among the students.”

  • Union cautions govt over proposed N25b car loans

    Automobile, Boatyards, Transport Equipment & Allied Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (AUTOBATE) has cautioned the Federal Government over its plan to float a car purchase loan scheme to help Nigerians acquire new made-in-Nigeria cars.

    The association said a well-mapped-out, clear and nationalistic guideline that would not short-change the beneficiaries at the end should be put in place.

    In a release, the association’s  National President, Edeki Osumah, said  caution should be taken to ensure the so-called investors, who cut costs only on workers, detest unionisation, promote outsourcing and casualisation did not exploit the opportunity.

    He said: “AUTOBATE understands the fact that the Federal Government is trying to promote a developmental policy, especially as the recession bites harder, but we feel that this should not be done at the expense of the struggling middle class, who really needs this kind of opportunity.

    “We call on the Federal Government to institute public-owned automobile industries so as to widen and deepen the expected development. Industrial standards should also be maintained. This is the safest line to lead in this world of economic downturn so as to promote collective prosperity and robust developments.”

    He  warned that the N25billion loan must not be left at the mercy of greedy bankers, who, according to him, take advantage of opportunities like this to divert funds to other investments, thereby frustrating the supposed beneficiaries.

  • Memorable union poll at PTI

    Memorable union poll at PTI

    Students of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun, Delta State, have elected leaders in a process described as free and fair. GBENGA OJO reports.

    The Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun, Delta State, last weekend, came alive with Students’ Union Government (SUG) elections. The election came after weeks of electioneering, which made the campus tense.

    Prior to the polls, the aspirants moved round the faculties and departments to canvass for votes. The campus was covered with posters and banners of various shades, but none  contained detailed programmes. Students vowed not to vote for any candidate who did not show how he would achieve his programmes.

    The electioneering took a dramatic turn when some faceless students pasted a list of aspirants they labelled as “arrogant” and “stingy”. While some of the aspirants rendered free haircuts and tutorials to students, others offered free fumigation in hostel rooms, clearing of drainages, sweeping of corridors and supplying generators to hostels to enable students charge their phones.

    To ensure the salient issues of the election were not lost, The Actualisers Team (TAT), a campus press club, organised a debate for the four candidates vying for the union president. They were Theophilus Ukuyoma, Success Ogbe, Joseph Omezi and Wesley Onokpite.

    Students listened to the candidates and assessed their manifestoes. Some of the aspirants were booed for their ‘bad grammar’.

    Theophilus, was, however, named  Obama, because of his command of the English language.

    Wesley, a physically-challenged person, got the audience excited during the manifesto when he said: “Deformity of a man is the deformity of his mind and not his physical deformity.”

    The highpoint of the event was the sudden change of the music being played at the debate from hip-hop to worship songs. This doused the tension durimg the debate, as aspirants and their supporters went on their knees to ask  for divine intervention in the election.

    The election held last Saturday across the faculties of the Institute. Members of the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) and National Association of Polytechnics Students (NAPS) monitored the process to ensure transparency.

    When the voting ended, Students’ Affairs Officer Prince Audu Shakamele, declared Theophilus,  HND 1 Mechanical Engineering student, president-elect. Wesley, the physically-challenged candidate and Welding Engineering and Offshore Technology (WEOT) student, came second.

    Others elected were Vice President, Jeremiah Bass; General Secretary, Evans Eriamiatoe; Social Director, Obasuyi Osayande; Financial Secretary, Ernest Ememeruria; Assistant-General Secretary, Daniel Udomah, Treasurer, Blessing Monye; Public Relations Officer (PRO), George Anadi; Sport Director, Anthony Igbigbi, and Welfare Director, Cyril Obiora.

    Shakamele praised Wesley for displaying “uncommon courage” to contest the election, despite his physical condition. The Students’ Affairs Officer placed Wesley on scholarship as reward for his courage.

    Students’ Representative Committee (SRC) member-elect for WEOT, Amadi Nyekachi, promised to pay Wesley’s school fee in the coming session.

    In an interview with CAMPUSLIFE, Wesley said he lost the ability to walk when he was two. He said he had never allowed his disability to affect his ambition to be a professional welder. He said: “If intellectuals are to be counted on this campus, I would be one of them.”

    Independent Students Electoral Committee (ISEC) Chairman, Daniel Omeife, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the election, stressing that process was not easy.

    Rita Chukwu, a student of Electrical Electronics Engineering, described the election as free and fair, urging the losers to accept the results in good faith.

    Joseph Omezi, a presidential contestant, said he was satisfied with the outcome of the process, saying: “I lost the election, because Theophilus touched the areas I could not get to.”

    The president-elect, Theophilus, thanked students for electing him, promising to execute his programmes.

     

     

  • Union decries minimum wage review panel’s pace

    the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council, has expressed worries over the slow pace of work by the committee on review of the new minimum wage set up by the Federal Government.

    This was contained in a communiqué issued after the meeting of the State Governing Council  (SGC). It was signed by the President, Comrade Benjamin Anthony, in Abuja.

    AUPCTRE urged the committee to hasten up its work.

    The union condemned “the factionalisation” of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), pledging its unalloyed loyalty to Comrade Ayuba Wabba. It urged other unions and Nigerians to support the NLC.

    It called on the  Federal Government to save the ailing economy and to rescind its suspension of the tenure policy of the Federal Civil Service,  because of its  stagnation tendency.

    “The SGC-in-session commends the Federal Government for setting up the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), but observed that much is still desired to sanitise the system so as not to use it as a conduit pipe to syphon government money and urges government to take necessary steps in this direction,’’ it said.

    The union condemned the move by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde  Fashola,   to privatise the Federal Housing Authority (FHA)  and change its name to Federal Housing Company.

    “The implication is that Nigerians would not have access to affordable houses. The union, therefore, calls on the Federal Government to appoint a substantive management team and Board to run FHA for effective operational activities,” it said.

  • Union decries plan to sack 700 varsity workers

    Academic and non-academic workers of the defunct College of Education at Ekiadolor, now Tayo Akpata University, have opposed the plan by the Edo State government to sack over 700 workers of the institution.

    It was learnt the action was meant to pave the way for employment of new workers.

    The Chairman of the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Comrade Fred Omonuwa, who spoke on the alleged sack plan, said the union was shocked at a statement, last week, by the Chairman of the Governing Council of the university, Thomas Okosun, that some of the university’s workers would reapply for their jobs because they were allegedly “not workers of Tayo Akpata University”.

    But the union leader said the implication of Okosun’s statement was that workers of the defunct College of Education had been sacked.

    He said the union would resist any attempt to sack any of the workers.

    Omonuwa said: “When the chairman of the Board of Council of Tayo Akpata University made that statement, we were disappointed. Apparently, it shows that they are not well informed as to the state of affairs today in the school.

    “I want to say that Okosun may not have read the Agbonlahon Report set up by the state government to verify whether or not that place would be good for a university. The recommendation of the report states that over 130 workers are qualified to lecture in the university, having gone through their curriculum vitae (CVs), their credentials and their published conference papers.

    “In the same report, it was even recommended that those who are with Master’s degrees should be given five years to do their PhD while those with first degrees should be given three years to complete their Master’s degrees. Then, they can lecture in the university.

    “How can you say someone with 20 years’ experience can’t lecture 100-level students? So, when we read Okosun’s comment, we and the college community were disturbed. We were trying to resist them so that government can look into that issue.

    “What that means is that it is tantamount to say you have sacked workers of the defunct College of Education by saying the people should apply afresh. So, a man who has spent 20 years should now apply, for what position?

    “Look at the law establishing universities. Section 7 says news universities inherit assets and liabilities of a defunct college. We are the assets of that college, not just the buildings and the salaries owed are the liability.

  • Global labour union seeks special recognition for Dangote

    Global labour union seeks special recognition for Dangote

    For his investments, which have created thousands of jobs across Africa, the African Industrial Global Union has hailed the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

    The body, at a meeting in Lagos, called for a special recognition for the African entrepreneur, describing him as a success story from Africa who African countries must be proud of.

    At a network meeting on unionisation in Dangote Group, organised by the Industrial Global Union, Africa Region, in Lagos, the union leaders said Dangote has offered a relief to Africa from the negative narratives the western countries latched on to discredit the continent and her people.

    They stated that as Dangote is so patriotic as to dot African soil with billions of dollars investments, creating jobs and reducing poverty, he needs to be given special recognition to motivate others to toe similar line.

    Relishing the prospect of an African country hosting the largest refinery and petrochemicals project, the union leaders said they planned to bring the business mogul to address them at their next African meeting.

    The Regional Secretary, sub-Sahara Africa, Fabian Nkomo, said the body cherished Dangote’s business acumen and would like to work closely with him to ensure that job quality is maintained.

    He said no African has invested so much in Africa, so Dangote should be encouraged. “He has helped governments across African states to create vital jobs and reduce poverty among our people. The union is proud of him,” Nkomo stated.

    The Africa Regional Chairman of Industrial Global Union, Issa Aremu, who is also the General Secretary of Textile Workers Union, praised Dangote for leading industrialisation in the continent.

    Aremu acknowledged Dangote’s efforts at re-industrialisation of the continent, stimulating its growth and creating jobs for its huge population.

    The labour leader lauded Dangote’s commitment to sustainable industrial development, urging governments to provide favourable environment for investments and improve infrastructural development.

    He added that it was time Dangote Group entered into mutually-rewarding engagement with relevant unions even as he called on trade unions to support businesses through improved productivity.

    Aremu alluded to the $12b refinery, petrochemicals and fertilizer projects, which, he said, will be a revolution in the Nigerian industrial space when completed.

    As partners in progress, Aremu pledged  to ensure business-friendly unionisation of Dangote workers.

    He also cautioned the unions involved to be proactive and strategic in handling the exercise, saying, “We need to show that we are partners to improve on the businesses of Dangote. We are talking of unionization because there is an investment in which workers are engaged. If there are no businesses, we can’t be talking of unionism.”

    The Industrial Global Union, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the cement, mining, energy and manufacturing sectors.