‘Dangote not above Nigerian labour law’ – NLC blasts VP Shettima

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has criticised Vice President Kashim Shettima for describing the Dangote Group as a national asset.

The NLC president, Joe Ajaero, in a statement on Tuesday, said no company, regardless of size or influence, is above the country’s labour laws.

Ajaero said Shettima’s remarks was a national tragedy, warning that they could signal that wealth and political clout override legal protections for workers, potentially undermining labour rights in Africa’s largest economy.

The NLC president also accused the Dangote Group of infringing on workers’ rights to freedom of association, including the right to join trade unions of their choice, as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, the Labour Act, the Trade Union Act, and core International Labour Organisation conventions.

According to Ajaero, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), was fulfilling its mandate to protect members from exploitation and criticised attempts to portray union activity as sabotage or a threat to national interests.

Ajaero called for stronger enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance, insisting that human capital, not corporations, is the nation’s true asset

“We state unequivocally to Vice President Shettima: No company, no matter how big, ‘strategic’, or well-connected, can operate outside the law or be bigger than Nigeria. If the Dangote Refinery is to be granted rights and privileges above the law, then the government must be prepared for the storms such injustice will inevitably unleash. There can be no peace without justice.

“The serial violations of the ideals of decent work are a ticking time bomb,” Ajaero said.

“We will mobilise, we will organise, and we will fight back. There are no sacred cows,” he said.