Green Gas Transition: NUPENG Cryout Over Job Losses, Urges FG to Reskill, Retrain Members

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has raised an alarm that the Federal Government’s promotion of gas as a transition fuel is threatening its members jobs, even as it urged the government to fund and retrain members in order to adjust to the new trend.

This is even as the union has unanimously elected Comrade Salimon Oladiti as its new President.

Outgoing NUPENG President, Williams Akporeha, gave the warning in his valedictory address at the union’s 6th Quadrennial Delegates Conference in Lagos at the weekend.

He stressed that while reforms such as the promotion of gas as a transition fuel were necessary, they must not come at the expense of workers.

“This transition must be just and fair. We appeal to the government to reskill, retrain and fund our members for a just transition,” he declared.

Akporeha expressed concern that workers were increasingly being excluded from key policy decisions affecting their welfare

“Sadly, the union was not adequately carried along in planning,” he said, warning that such exclusion could worsen tensions across the industry.

He warned that job losses and suppression of workers’ rights are worsening in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

He said the removal of fuel subsidy had hurt many workers, particularly those in the informal sector.

Referring to the removal of fuel subsidy, Akporeha said, “We cannot ignore its reverberating impacts. Many of our members, especially in the informal sector, have lost livelihoods.”

Meanwhile, the newly elected President of NUPENG, Comrade Salimon Oladiti has committed to enhancing workers’ welfare and diligently working to strengthen the union while upholding the dignity of labour.

Oladiti, a former national trustee of the union from the informal sector, has also committed to building on his predecessor’s achievements and using diplomacy to engage with all anti-union employers to protect members’ rights.

The leaders who emerged at the conference include Deputy President Oladejo Ebenezer, Deputy President Prince Moses, Treasurer Baba Kaumi, Trustee Omokero Israel, Financial Secretary Ogbodo Thompson, Public Relations Officer Ndaliman Adamu, and Vice President of Lagos Otegbayo Modupe, among others.