Vice President Kashim Shettima has issued a strong appeal for national economic priorities to prevail over sectoral labour disputes, emphasizing that Nigeria’s interests far outweigh those of any single organization. His statement comes as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) engages in industrial action against the massive Dangote Refinery.
Speaking at the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES31) in Abuja on Monday, Shettima left no doubt about the refinery’s significance, describing the $20 billion facility as crucial to national interests. “Aliko Dangote is not an individual, he’s an institution,” Shettima stated, portraying the businessman as “a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament.”
The Vice President contrasted Dangote’s domestic investment with potentially more lucrative overseas opportunities, noting he “opted to invest in his country” despite potentially greater returns elsewhere. This patriotic choice, Shettima suggested, deserves national protection and support.
Earlier at the summit, Olaniyi Yusuf, Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), had set the stage for this perspective by highlighting the connection between domestic treatment of investors and foreign investment flows.
“How we treat domestic investors will provide the right signals for foreign investors,” Yusuf remarked, calling for policy predictability and transparent dispute mechanisms.
Shettima built on this theme by urging “caution, retrospection, and a deeper sense of patriotism” from all parties, framing the current labour dispute as a test of national economic maturity.
“It’s not about holding the whole nation to ransom because of a minor labour dispute,” he asserted, concluding with a definitive statement on national precedence: “Nigeria is greater than PENGASSAN. Nigeria is greater than each and every one of us.”
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