Strike: Nigeria Loses N149bn In A Day

Nigeria possibly lost around N148.8 billion on Monday in oil revenue due to Organised Labour’s industrial action, which was held to protest the Federal Government’s proposal of a minimum wage of N60,000. The strike, which was initiated by the petroleum and natural gas workers unions, resulted in the closure of oil installations across the nation.

According to the latest figures from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria’s daily crude oil production stands at 1,281,478 barrels, not including condensates.

Brent, the global benchmark for crude oil, was traded at $78.27 per barrel on Monday. The official Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate of the United States dollar on Monday was N1,483.5.

Osun Defender recalls that oil workers under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and their counterpart in the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers had repeatedly declared their resolve to shut down oil installations nationwide during the strike.

Specifically, PENGASSAN on Sunday directed its zonal, branch and chapter executive councils to block the entrances of all upstream oil installations nationwide beginning from Monday.

READ: Strike: Unions Reopen National Assembly Gates

Sources in the industry confirmed that this was implemented in many stations on Monday, leading to the disruption of oil production at the affected stations.

“Of course, there was significant compliance by members across many stations today and this is to send a message to the government,” an official of the union, who spoke with PUNCH on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, stated.

Based on this disruption to crude oil production, when the daily production volume is calculated against the cost of Brent on Monday and the official exchange rate, it implies that Nigeria may have lost about N148.8bn in just one day due to the strike.

It was earlier reported that PENGASSAN had directed its enforcement teams to block the entrances of all upstream oil installations nationwide beginning from Monday.

It gave the directive in a notice titled, “Special Announcement from the National Desk of PENGASSAN,” to all the oil union’s zonal, branch, and central executive councils.

In one of the directives obtained by PUNCH which was signed by the Public Relations Officer, Lagos Zone, PENGASSAN, Juliana Adenike, the association explained that the order was in line with the strike declared by the Organised Labour.

The directive read in part, “Concerning the planned withdrawal of service from all of our offices on Monday, June 3, 2024, it is mandatory that there be strict compliance. It is your responsibility to ensure ‘no entry and exit’ in your offices by any of our members.

“All zonal, branch and chapter executives are to wear red or any PENGASSAN attire. (You should) mount your entrances and ensure that there is 100 per cent compliance with the above directive.

“There will be a joint task force of TUC/NLC and Lagos ZECOM going around to ascertain full compliance. Any company in default will be penalised.”

Recall that PENGASSAN and NUPENG, on Saturday, wrote separate letters to their National Executive Councils, mandating them to embark on an indefinite strike on Monday.

In the letters, PENGASSAN and NUPENG directed their members to shut down all operations in the upstream, midstream and downstream arms of the oil sector, except for personnel manning for safety.

The General Secretary, PENGASSAN, Lumumba Okugbawa, signed the letter for the senior staff association, while the General Secretary, NUPENG, Afolabi Olawale, signed for the downstream/midstream oil union.

NUPENG members largely control activities in the midstream and downstream arms of the oil sector, while those in PENGASSAN handle the bulk of the upstream activities in the oil and gas sector.

The letter by PENGASSAN read in part, “Following the directives from our umbrella body, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria on the above subject, you are hereby directed to withdraw your services from all work locations effective Monday, June 03, 2024. The withdrawal of members includes offices, a logistics base, field operations, terminal operations, loading points, etc. The only exception is personnel manning for safety.

“The above is as a result of the breakdown of discussion on the national minimum wage between the government and organised labour as the government is not desirous of offering an acceptable minimum wage that could address the current economic challenges plaguing the country’s workforce.

“We expect total compliance as anything to the contrary will be viewed as sabotage of the struggle which will attract the necessary sanctions.”

On their part, NUPENG in its letter titled, “Compliance with the directive on indefinite nationwide strike,” said the union was fully committed to the decision to embark on strike.

The letter read in part, “We bring you fraternal greetings from the national secretariat of our great union. This is to notify all our members and branches in all oil and gas installations, operations and services including distribution and marketing of petroleum products, that our great union is fully committed to ensuring total compliance with the directive of the Nigeria Labour Congress issued on Friday, May 31, 2O24, for an indefinite nationwide strike commencing from Monday, June 3, 2024.

“As a Union, we are deeply concerned and disturbed with the insensitive and irresponsive attitude of the Federal Government to the very critical issue of negotiating a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers given the various social economic policies of this administration that have impoverished the working people of this country.

“Leaders of our great union at all levels, from the units, zones and branches, should immediately put all processes in place to ensure total compliance with this directive. Our solidarity remains constant for the union makes us strong.”