Yemi Obafemi
Vice President Kashim Shettima has called for restraint and patriotism from labour unions following last week’s industrial action by members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the Vice President said that while workers’ rights must be respected, national interest should always take precedence.
Shettima underscored the strategic importance of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, describing the $20 billion facility as a vital national asset that must be protected and supported to succeed.
“Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us. I’m not coming to you as a partisan,” he stated.
The Vice President also urged both labour and the organised private sector to exercise caution and dialogue in resolving industrial disputes, stressing that the nation’s economy should not be held hostage by what he described as a “minor labour dispute.”
Shettima further defended Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, describing him as “an institution and a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament.”
He said, “Aliko Dangote is not an individual; he’s an institution. How we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us. If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, Amazon, or Google, he might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now.
“But he chose to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, and preserve the interests of this great Nigeria.”
