…Company abruptly sacks Nigerians and introduces stringent contract system.
…Manpower of Nigerians in Sterling is less than 100 compared to about 10,000 Indians.
…Numbers of Indians must be reduced to the same numbers of expatriates in the IOCs.
-Felix Douglas
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), has been picketing Sterling Oil E&P Ltd over what the association called disrespect to Nigeria labour laws with regards to the oil and gas industry. In 2010 President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Nigerian Content Act into law providing and allowing indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry, but recent happenings show that the Act has been compromised and threatened local participation in providing services by some companies.
For the past two days, PENGASSAN has paralysed the activities of Sterling due to its unwholesome practices alien to the industry. Protesters carrying placards with different inscriptions showing their grievances over the company’s activities in the sector, such as ‘Sandeep Singh must go’ ‘stop victimizing Nigerians’ ‘stop growing influence of Indians workers,’ Sterling treats Nigerians like second class citizens in their own country’ among others.
Speaking at the picketing rally, Eze Ifeanyi, National Industrial Relations Officer (NIRO) of PENGASSAN asserted that “PENGASSAN is here and we are not going back. Anything PENGASSAN starts, it must finish it, it has to be executed and the only thing the association is asking is fairness and justice.”
Ifeanyi said the association is not against investors but if you must invest, the laws of the land must be obeyed to the letters. Hence, “obey our rules, regulations and treat our people right.”
“But if you come to invest in our country and enslave us, or come to do sharp, sharp business, the money we will get from your investment, we are not getting it, we won’t agree to that.” This is why we are here and we cannot forget the manpower of the company because they are Nigerians.
Ifeanyi disclosed that the Indian company employs Nigerians and every eleven months or a year, they are sacked and after three months, they are re-employed and will be sacked as well and ordered them not to join unionism. The reason for this is not to pay gratuities, pensions and ensured they are sacked every three months, re-absorbed into the system again. The Nigerian workers in Sterling are usually used and dumped. How can this happen in Nigeria? From now hence forth the man power in Sterling Oil must be unionized.
“We want to create awareness that today’s agencies, security people, government representatives, they have been working with this company because surely without some Nigerians, they can’t do what they are doing.”
“Without the connivance of some Nigerians, they can’t do what they are doing and from today, we will keep an eye on them, solidarity forever!!!”
On his part, at the picketing rally, Comrade Festus Osifo, President of PENGASSAN chanted solidarity songs, “Aluta continua, Victoria aserta, injury to one is an injury to all, blessing to one, is blessing to all, credit alert to one is credit to all.”
Continuing, he said in the day 2 of the rally that the management of Sterling has been trying to reach out with PENGASSAN “but we know how deceitful they are and they told us they are in Eko Hotel that PENGASSAN national exco should meet with them, but we refused to go because we don’t want any clandestine meeting.”
Any meeting that must be held, the regulators and partners must be there. “They told us that they have bribed everybody in Nigeria, we don’t want a situation where we will go and meet them in Eko Hotel and then they would say they have bribed us. We know ourselves as men of integrity and we will never have any clandestine meeting with them. Any meeting that must be held should be in broad daylight and the regulators of the industry must be there.”
The PENGASSAN boss said the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), must be present in such meeting owing to its sensitivity.
“Since yesterday, we have withdrawn all our members from NUPRC that is in their loading terminal and there is no loading in Sterling presently.”
Osifo made it known that the NUPRC Chief Executive has met with PENGASSAN exco to deescalate for a meeting but the response is that what the association does is symbolic and Sterling cannot load in the terminal until the current labour issue is resolved.
The action will continue until meeting is held.
Osifo expressed concern that PENGASSAN wants to know how many Nigerians are working in the operations of Sterling including the Indians. This will be compared with the template of other International Oil Companies (IOCs). “If in this company we don’t have a single exparte as panel operator, you have to demobilize the people immediately.”
Panel operations and oil and gas are not rocket science, he added.
“We are not living in 1950s where Nigerians do not have the knowledge to lead most of these operations. If Nigerians can operate successfully in other companies including the IOCs, it can be done in Sterling.”
The PENGASSAN President revealed that in Sterling at present, expatriate and Nigerians don’t eat in the same canteen. There is apartheid in Nigeria in 2025. In the canteen meant for the Indians, there are good meals but those of Nigerians are still being dominated by Indians and dictate how it will be run. They don’t have value for Nigerians.
For PENGASSAN, those discriminations must be stopped. If Nigerians and the expatriates are eating in the same canteen of the IOCs, same should be replicated in Sterling.
According to Osifo, the struggle must not stop. “Comrades, imagine the manpower of Nigerians in Sterling is less than 100 compared to about 10,000 Indians. The worrisome aspect is that they brought a manpower contract where Nigerians are being enslaved with peanuts and were told that they do not have right to unionism.”
“They were told that they have no right to join PENGASSAN hence, the Nigerians workers have been enslaved, but PENGASSAN disagrees because it is against Nigeria law.”
The PENGASSAN President stated further that in Nigerian Trade Union Act, the right to unionism is guaranteed and sacrosanct. No one can subjugate category of employees working under any company. “For us, no is the answer and they must unionised immediately. So, comrades, we have our KPI which is very clear that the numbers of these Indians must be reduced to the same numbers of expatriates in the IOCs. We will not back down on this fight until we have clear views of how they will go.”
Osifo reiterated that what is being done at present is to create awareness of the inhuman treatment meted on Nigerians by Sterling. “If the needful is not done and the government agencies are not aligning to their responsibilities just as it has been communicated to the Chief Executive of NUPRC, PENGASSAN has the potential to snowball the situation into a national strive action.”
The government should be happy with what we are doing because it is its responsibility to defend its citizens. “It is the responsibility of government to provide jobs for its citizens. If today, we send approximately 10,000 Indians parking who are they going to employ to replace them, obviously, it will be Nigerians. The government will take credit for it and they must see it as a fight they must partner with us. It is a fight the government must see that the right thing must be done. These people must go so that Nigerians littering and roaming the streets must have job to do.”
Recently, the Nigerian government commissioned about 774 youths across the local governments in Nigeria for a particular task. This cannot be compared to 10,000. There are 10,000 jobs to be created in Sterling.
The PENGASSAN boss urged the government to partner with the union so that it will be actualised. If they leave, Nigerians will take over these jobs. It is not a rocket science because Nigerians were involved in Egina FPSO of TotalEnergies, Bonga of Shell, Agbami of Chevron and a host of other projects that Nigerians were involved, hence it can be replicated in Sterling.
If the government does not come out with clear action plan of how the process will be carried, PENGASSAN will remain on the street and the battle will continue. If the 18 members of PENGASSAN that were abruptly terminated in 2018 were not recalled, there will be no settlement. They must come clean on how to implement welfare and bargaining power of PENGASSAN members in Sterling otherwise the issue will not be resolved.
“Our position is very clear because we have to fight today to enjoy tomorrow, injury to one is injury to all.”
“We will not meet with Sterling management anywhere outside the meeting that will be called by the regulators where we will put these things forward. I am wondering who will come to such meeting and defend a company that is literary filling everywhere with Indians in place of Nigerians.”
Osifo said a stunning revelation was made by a journalist to confirm the position of PENGASSAN. The head of communications in Sterling was sought after to issue a press release to journalists in order to hear the views of the company. It was discovered that it was headed by an Indian. Whereas in the communications department of IOCs and NNPCL they are all Nigerians, Sterling had an Indian who headed the communications team, he left and was replaced by another Indian. “This is indeed a battle that must be fought and won.”
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