By FLORENCE ONUEGBU

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Lagos State Chapter, has urged Dangote Industries Ltd. to let its employees join workers’ unions to ensure protection of their rights.

The Chairperson, NLC, Lagos State Chapter, Mrs. Funmi Sesi, made the appeal during a tour of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Dangote Fertilizer Plant by members of Labour Writers Association of Nigeria and officials of NLC, Lagos State Chapter, on Tuesday.

Sesi said that unionization would help in organizing workers and addressing their concerns, adding that it would help their employers to improve operations.

“On behalf of NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, we want to say: Dangote, please give us a chance to unionize your workers,” Sesi said.

She also urged the company to employ more indigenes of its host communities.

The labour leader said that labour law stipulated that 70 per cent of workforce should be from an organization’s catchment area, and 30 per cent could be expatriates.

Responding, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, the Vice President, Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Ltd., said that the company was committed to training and employing members of its host communities.

Edwin said that the company had a well-established training centre at Obajana in Kogi.

He added that the company planned to establish another training centre in Lagos State.

He said that the Dangote Group had become a nurturing ground for Nigerian engineers, scientists and technicians, many of whom had gone on to work as expatriates in various countries.

Edwin assured the labour leader of the company’s commitment to human capital development, staff welfare and overall wellbeing of the economy.

“We have to ensure that the host communities are happy; otherwise, we will not be able to work.

“If someone is interested in his business, his first focus will be to ensure that the host communities are happy,” he said.

According to him, the company employed 22 per cent of its workforce from its host communities, 50 per cent from the state, and the rest from other parts. (NAN)

• PHOTO: L-R; Chairman, Labour Writers Association of Nigeria, Toba Agboola; Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote Industries Ltd., Anthony Chiejina; Chairperson, NLC, Lagos Chapter, Comrade Funmi Sesi; Vice President, Oil and Gas, Dangote Industries Ltd., Devakumar Edwin; and Head of Administration, Dangote Petroleum Refinery Ltd., Musa Bala; during a visit of NLC, Lagos Chapter, to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Fertiliser Plant, Lekki, Lagos, on Tuesday.