Vice President Kashim Shettima has condemned the industrial action carried out by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, describing it as “holding Nigerians to ransom” over a dispute with Dangote Refinery.
Shettima stated while delivering a keynote speech during the ongoing 31st Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja on Monday.
The Vice President publicly acknowledged Aliko Dangote’s investments, specifically praising his focus on boosting the nation’s economy rather than funding foreign entities.
“Aliko Dangote, he’s not an individual, he’s an institution, and he’s a leading light in Nigeria’s economy. And how we treat this gentleman will determine how outsiders will judge us.
“If he had invested $10 billion in Microsoft, in Amazon, or in Google, he probably might be worth $70 to $80 billion by now.
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“But he opted to invest in his country, and we owe it to future generations to jealously protect, promote, preserve, and protect the interests of this great Nigeria,” he expressed.
VP Shettima urges labour and the organised private sectors to embrace patriotism and improve their relationship to boost the economic fortune.
“I wish to call for caution, retrospection, and a deeper sense of patriotism from both labour and the organised private sector in defining and improving the relationship between labour and industry in the interest of maintaining our steadily improving economic fortunes.
“It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute.
“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 concluded.
