A bewildering and dangerous specter is haunting Nigeria’s fragile economic landscape, one so brazen in its audacity and so catastrophic in its potential implications that it demands not just condemnation, but a full-throated, investigative reprimand. The purported threat by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to sever gas supply to the Dangote Refinery is not a mere labor action; it is a heinous act of economic terrorism, a self-inflicted wound on the nation’s vitality, and a shocking display of institutional myopia.
Let us dissect this bewildering proposition with the cold, hard facts it so blatantly ignores.
- The Grand Illusion of Ownership: Who Do These Assets Truly Belong To?
The most fundamental, and indeed, the most bewildering aspect of this threat is the foundational fallacy upon which it is built. PENGASAN, as a union, does not own a single molecule of that natural gas. The gas resources of Nigeria belong to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The members of PENGASSAN are employees—custodians, stewards—hired and paid to manage and maintain these national assets for the benefit of the entire nation.
For a union of employees to threaten to unilaterally switch off a critical national asset, as if it were a personal generator in their backyard, is an unprecedented act of insubordination and a gross overreach of their mandate. It is the equivalent of a bank clerk threatening to burn down the vault because they have a grievance with a single, high-value customer. The authority to sanction, to stop supply, or to engage in such a high-stakes economic decision rests solely with the Nigerian Government, acting through its designated agencies. PENGASSAN is attempting to usurp the sovereign authority of the state, and that is a line that must never be crossed.
- The Fiscal Reality: This is Not a Charity, It’s a Revenue Stream
The narrative that PENGASSAN is “withholding” a free resource is patently false and deliberately misleading. The Dangote Refinery pays for every standard cubic foot of gas it receives. This transaction is not a favor; it is a commercial lifeline. Whether the gas is sold through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) or other partners, the payments made by the Dangote Refinery flow directly into the coffers of the nation and its corporate entities.
To shut off this supply is not to punish Aliko Dangote; it is to willfully sever a critical artery of national revenue. It is an act of financial self-immolation.
- The Ripple Effect of Self-Sabotage: Who Truly Gets Punished?
This is where the sheer, bewildering shortsightedness of the action becomes criminally negligent. Let us trace the money:
· Payment from Dangote → NNPCL/Government/Partners → Federation Account.
· From the Federation Account → Monthly allocations to States and Local Governments.
· From these allocations → Salaries of public servants, including, incredulously, the potential salaries and allowances of some of the very individuals in PENGASSAN threatening this action.
· From these allocations → Funding for infrastructure, healthcare, education, and security.
By stopping the gas, PENGASSAN is not just “inconveniencing” a private company. They are actively dismantling the revenue structure that funds the Nigerian state. They are, in effect, threatening to stop their own paychecks and the paychecks of millions of other Nigerians to make a point. This is not a strike; it is a sovereign debt crisis in the making, engineered from within.
- The Poisonous Precedent: Punishing Success for the Sins of Failure
The most cynical interpretation of this action is that it stems from a refusal to accept that a private entity can succeed where government-owned entities have historically failed. The refineries in Warri, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt stand as monuments to a defunct model, largely due to the very systemic issues—including perennial labor unrest—that PENGASSAN now seeks to export to a functioning, private enterprise.
Dangote Refinery represents a struggling but operational pivot away from Nigeria’s debilitating fuel import dependency. It is a national strategic asset. To attempt to “compel” it into the same dysfunctional patterns that crippled the state-owned refineries is to condemn Nigeria to perpetual energy poverty. It is a punishment for efficiency, a sanction against success, and a demand for conformity with failure.
CONCLUSION: A CRIMINAL ACT OF SELFISHNESS THAT MUST NOT STAND
Therefore, the threat by PENGASSAN is not a legitimate labor tool. It is a criminal act of selfishness and profound wickedness against the Nigerian people. It is an attempt to hold the entire country’s economic livelihood hostage to settle a parochial dispute. It is an action that strengthens our enemies, delights our competitors, and mocks every ordinary Nigerian struggling under the weight of a tough economy.
This is not a matter for negotiation. IT MUST NOT STAND.
The Nigerian Government must immediately and unequivocally declare such an action as illegal and an act of economic sabotage. The security apparatus must be placed on alert to protect this critical national infrastructure. To allow a union to wield the switch to the nation’s economic life support system is to surrender sovereignty to syndicalism. Nigeria is greater than the sum of its parts, and no single interest group can be permitted to plunge 200 million people into darkness for its own narrow gains.
Damilola Omosebi writes
