The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has denounced the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) appeal asking Nigerians to disregard withdrawal of services by its Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch.
Its President, Comrade Williams Akporeha,and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, said this in a statement on Sunday.
The union said the DTCPTDA is the Association which Dangote Group of Companies has formed for the drivers to join compulsorily rather than allowing drivers to join NUPENG which is the only statutorily recognized union authorized to unionize Petroleum Tanker Drivers.
It added:”The signatory to the statement of DTCDA, one Enoch Kanawa, is a lawyer, not a tanker driver.Barristet Enoch Kanawa signed the statement as President of DTCDA. The media should ask Kanawa when DTCDA was formed and when his election as President took place.
“As a matter of fact, Barr. Kanawa was formerly the Executive Secretary of NATIONAL Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) from 2001 to 2012, left NARTO to become Legal Adviser to MRS Energy Limited of Alh Sayyu Aliu Dantata and in 2019 came back to contest for the position of the President of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) under the sponsorship of Alh Sayyu Aliu Dantata but was defeated by Alh Yusuf Othman, the current President of NARTO.
“These facts are to show without doubt and beyond controversy that the DTCDA is a management-inspired Association and the news was created by the agents of Alh Sayyu Aliu Dantata to create confusion and misinformation, there is no division in our ranks and file, our Solidarity remains constant! For the union makes us strong.
“DTCDA is the association formed by Alh Sayyu Aliu Dantata, the owner of MRS.The Direct Trucking Company Limited is the recruiting company that was formed by him and Alh Aliko Dangote for the 10,000 CNG Trucks they are importing.
“DTCDA was originally meant to be DANGOTE TRANSPORT COMPANY. Its registered office is at 2, Tincan Island Port Road, Apapa, Lagos. The address of DTCDA is the same official address of MRS Energy Limited.”
Meanwhile, the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) has declared its support for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) in their fight against anti-labour and anti-union practices by the Dangote Group.
In a statement signed by Comrade Rufus Olusesan, National Coordinator, and Comrade Chinedu Bosah, National Publicity Secretary, the group commended the NLC for standing firmly with NUPENG by supporting its planned protest action against the Dangote Group.
It condemned Dangote’s refusal to allow its tanker drivers and other workers to join union of their choice, adding that the group has always violated the rights of workers to join union in its companies and sometimes violently attack and put down democratically elected union leadership.
Dangote’s insistence to form a management controlled union,it said, is undemocratic and unlawful, stressing that the group cannot dictate to Nigerian workers union to join or belong.
It noted that the struggle against Dangote is only one expression of a much deeper and more widespread problem of anti-labour practices.
It lamented that casualisation, contract staffing, outsourcing, and indecent work conditions have now become the dominant features of employment relations in Nigeria’s private and public sectors.
These practices,it explained, are deliberately designed to deny workers their rights to job security, decent wages, pension, and unionization while guaranteeing huge profit for the capitalist.
The group urged the NLC to broaden the scope of the solidarity action into a nationwide campaign against casualisation and all forms of anti-labour practices.
According to the group, such a campaign must demand an end to casualisation and contract staffing in all sectors, insisting on the absorption of casual workers into permanent employment with full benefits and protections.
The group said it must also defend the right to unionize without victimization and call for an end to the persecution of labour activists.
The group further urged the NLC to establish anti-casualisation committees across all states and sectors with the aim of uniting workers, exposing the exploitative practices of employers, and organizing collective resistance.
It added:”Alongside this, there is a need for mass campaigns and actions, including protests, rallies, and public sensitization, to force both the government and employers to end these exploitative practices once and for all.
“The CDWR believes that if the NLC boldly takes up this task, it can rally millions of workers and unemployed youth around a programme to defend and extend workers’ rights. This can also begin to rebuild the confidence of the working class in its collective power to challenge capitalist exploitation.
“Therefore, CDWR reaffirms its solidarity with the NLC, NUPENG, and all workers in struggle. A united fight against casualisation and anti-union practices will not only defend the rights of workers today but also help lay the foundation for a just society where the wealth created by workers benefits the majority and not a few billionaires.
“The struggle against casualisation should also be linked with the struggle against deregulation of the oil and gas industry and the complete takeover by the private companies like Dangote, Shell, Chevron etc., which is a major factor for high price of petroleum products and attack on democratic rights of workers.
Therefore, we call on NUPENG and NLC to oppose deregulation and privatization and other neo-liberal policies, and demand turnaround of the existing public refineries and building of new public refineries and be placed under democratic control of workers.”
