By Owei Lakemfa
Aliko Dangote has become the first African-born billionaire to reach and surpass a $30 billion net worth. This October, 2025, with a new valuation gain of $430 million, he achieved a net worth of $30.3 billion. But, his on-going quixotic contestations with the Nigerian Constitution and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, may turn out to be his hubris.
The industrial crisis between his Dangote Refinery and the unions; the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, may lead to seismic shifts in the earth crust of the Nigerian state.
In this war, Dangote is backed by the three arms of government, corporate power and the deployment of alternative facts oiled by the free flow of funds.
The issues these crises have thrown up can be summarised into six. Whether given Section 40 of the Constitution which states that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.” Dangote has the powers to ban employees from freely associating by belonging to unions of their choice. Secondly, if, given Sections three and four of the Trade Union Act, Dangote as an employer can form unions for his staff. Thirdly, if Dangote by his unilateral sack of over 800 workers, can override Section 20 of the Labour Act which provides for procedures and processes of declaring redundancy.
Fourthly, whether as an international businessman, he can violate the UDHR which in Article 23 states: “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.” Five, if Dangote is at liberty to violate the International Labour Organisation, ILO, Convention 98 of 1949 on workers right to Collective Bargaining. Sixth, whether by Dangote seeking to use the courts and the government to ban importation of fuel products into the country thereby making himself the sole distributor of petroleum products, he is not in violation of Section 16 (2) C of the Constitution. The Section states that: “The State shall direct its policy towards ensuring that the economic system is not operated in such a manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.”
However, the Tinubu administration does not appear interested in these issues. Rather, it made a wholesale endorsement of Dangote and his actions. On this, Vice President Kashim Shettima made the following public declaration: “Aliko Dangote is not an individual, he’s an institution, and he’s a leading light in Nigeria’s economic parliament …he chose to invest in this country, and we must treat that investment as a generational asset.” In this, the executive arm feels we should be grateful to Dangote, and he should have immunity.
Equally, Dangote appears to have the backing of the courts. When PENGASSAN decided to fight the illegal and unconstitutional acts of his refinery by calling a strike action, the National Industrial Court, NIC, in a ruling delivered by Justice Emmanuel Subilim, stopped it.
Also, the legislative arm backed Dangote with a motion titled: “Need to protect strategic private investments from adversarial unionism.” Bill Sponsor, Alhassan Doguwa, APC -Kano, said the Dangote Refinery is of “immense national importance”.
Seconder, Abdussamad Dasuki, PDP- Sokoto, urged the legislature to take action against the unions as Section 18(5) of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, Act states that: “There shall be no strikes or lockouts for a period of 10 years following the commencement of operations within a zone, and any trade dispute arising within the zone shall be resolved only by the Authority.”
However, on Saturday, October 25, 2025, the Socialist Labour convened a conference which countered the these narratives and sought to push back the Pro-Dangote forces.
Professor Izielen Agbon, foremost Nigerian petroleum engineering expert and international economist, faulted the National Assembly’s interpretation of the Export Processing Zone law. He posited that: “The ten-year ‘No Strike’ clause in the NEPZA Act applies from the inception of Free Zone itself, not from the start date of each individual business or investor. What this means is that if a Free Trade Zone was established in 2015, the ten-year ‘No Strike’ period would run from 2015-2025.”
While this argument is clear and unambiguous, let me add that even if this were to be the existing law, it would be null and void in the face of the constitutional guarantees of the right of Nigerians to freedom of association which is the fundamental issue at stake. If anything, the workers deserve commendation for upholding the Constitution and human rights. That a free trade zone is in operation does not make it a zoo where employers can violate national and international laws.
Professor Agbon added that sacking over 800 workers for the alleged security breach of a handful is the type of collective punishment the colonialists meted out to villages and towns. He said the idea that a private company is a ‘national asset’ is nonsensical. Agbon added that the duty of the National Assembly is to enact the 1890 United States Antitrust Act-type of law to curb anti-competitive company practices and monopolies.
NUPENG’s Suleiman Musa Pema said a fundamental philosophy of the oil union is that workers are not slaves, and that it is capital and labour that create wealth, not capital alone. He recalled that at the commencement of production by the Dangote Refinery, NUPENG was one of the first stakeholders which paid a solidarity visit to the plant, and provided total support for the seamless evacuation of products. He submitted that it is illegal for an employer to either refuse workers unionisation or establish his own union for them.
Alfred Adegoke, a lawyer, pointed out that employers also have a right to form or belong to unions of their choice, adding that it is an absolute illegality for an employer to deprive workers their rights. He said it appears the government is engaging in “criminal conspiracy” with Dangote.
Kazeem Akinrinde, a digital creator, recalled that Dangote has an anti-union history dating back to 2010/2011 when he sacked all workers at the Dangote Food who had signed up to be members of the Food union.
Professor Ibrahim Kirfi advised the labour centres and unions in the country to adopt the leadership style of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, which in calling strikes or, calling them off, get the direct mandate of its branches. He also advised them to develop strong media strategies to counter the lies of public and private employers.
It is clear that unless the Nigerian State, its agents and corporate power back away from their conscious attacks on the Labour Movement, there will be seismic shifts in the country.
Lakemfa is a veteran labour union leader.