The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has warned that it will mobilise students across the country to occupy federal highways if efforts to sabotage private refineries, particularly the Dangote Refinery, continue.
In a strongly worded statement delivered during a national warning protest held simultaneously in Abuja, Asaba, and Lagos, NANS President, Comrade Olushola Oladoja, condemned what he described as a coordinated attempt by vested interests to frustrate Nigeria’s refining independence.
He criticised the ongoing pressure by trade unions, especially PENGASSAN, to impose union membership on private refinery workers, calling it unconstitutional and a threat to investment.
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“This is coercion and a direct violation of Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association,” he said.
NANS accused international oil companies, product importers, and local unions of conspiring to maintain Nigeria’s dependency on imported fuel by frustrating local refining efforts.
The association likened the situation to the collapse of the country’s textile industry, which it blamed on similar sabotage and lack of government protection.
The students’ body presented five demands, including:
- Priority crude oil supply to Nigerian refineries;
- An end to the undervaluation of crude sold to foreign refineries;
- De-emphasis on fuel importation in favour of locally refined products;
- Protection of private investments and workers’ rights;
- An end to union harassment and industrial blackmail.
Comrade Oladoja warned that if the government fails to act, NANS will escalate its actions with nationwide student protests.
Source: Channels TV
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