Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke
| credits: File copy
About 200 workers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday, in Abuja, protested against the planned sale of the nation's refineries, vowing to resist the decision.
Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, was said to have disclosed that the process for the privatisation of the refineries would be completed before the first quarter of 2014.
The workers under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, affiliates of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and Nigeria Labour Congress, dressed in red shirts and red cap, gathered within the premises of the NNPC as early as 8:30 am.
They were led by the NNPC Group PENGASSAN chairman, Sanusi Abdulkareem; and NUPENG Group chairman, Richard Otovwievwiere.
Some of the placards the protesting workers carried read: 'We say no to illegal sale of our refineries,' 'We cannot be fooled anymore!!'; and 'Hide not under privatisation to hijack our refineries,' among others.
Otovwievwiere said the protest was symbolic because the workers had reviewed the intention of government officials and faulted the decision to privatise Nigerian refineries.
He said, "We want to report the Nigerian officials to Nigerian people. Please recall that the Petroleum Industry Bill that they have been singing about has been faulted by the National Assembly. We also use this opportunity to call on the government and the members of the National Assembly to ask questions about the wisdom of privatising our national wealth.
"We have faulted the Minister of Petroleum Resources and we feel her wisdom is too shallow for any NNPC worker to understand. In one breath, she will talk about Turn Around Maintenances, in another breath, she will tell us that the TAM has been done. In another breath, she will say privatisation of the refineries will be completed in February 2014.
"All these are lies; I remind you today that the unions have been proactive on the issue of the refineries. The unions had an undertaking with the government of late President Umaru Yar'Adua that we were going to bring the refineries to success."
The NUPENG Chairman added, "The Federal Government has granted amnesty to militants and paid them money to guard the pipelines. All over the world, nations have been known to go to war for mere threat to their economic interests.
"Individuals also go to war if their economic interest is threatened. But in Nigeria, people steal our products, destroy our products, yet no government official makes any statement. The easier thing to do is to take our wealth."
The workers therefore called on the citizens and the civil society to call the minister, Alison-Madueke, to order.
The management of the NNPC on Thursday said it had no response to the protest by the workers.
When contacted, the General Manager, Media Relations Department, NNPC, Dr. Omar Ibrahim, said the corporation had nothing to say about the protest, adding that the firm saw the protesters but would not react.
"What do you want us to say? Yes, we saw the protest but I don't think we will react or issue a statement about it," Ibrahim said.
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