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Beyond Duplication: Building Stronger Institutions

By Fred Nwaozor Nigeria’s law-enforcement institutions remain central to the protection of lives, property, public resources and the rule of law. However, concerns about overlapping mandates, institutional weaknesses, inadequate coordination and the cost of maintaining numerous agencies performing closely related functions have continued to generate debate. Strengthening these institutions should therefore go beyond increasing personnel or procuring equipment. It should involve structural reforms that improve effectiveness, accountability and public confidence. One important area for reform is the rationalisation of agencies with substantially overlapping responsibilities. The existence of several institutions dealing with corruption, financial crimes, economic offences and related misconduct can create duplication, jurisdictional confusion and unnecessary administrative expenditure. A carefully designed merger of related agencies could pr...

Dangote Refinery Sacks Indigenous Workers Over Union Dispute

Frank Musa
The Management of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has dismissed all Nigerian indigenous workers in the oil and gas firm, citing a “total reorganisation” of the plant.

The development came less than 24 hours after 90% of the workers joined the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

According to a memo dated September 25, 2025, and signed by the refinery’s Chief General Manager of Human Asset Management, Femi Adekunle, the decision followed reported cases of sabotage in some units of the refinery.

The notice directed affected employees to return company property to their line managers and obtain clearance.

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The finance department was also instructed to process benefits and entitlements in line with their contracts, while management thanked the disengaged staff for their service.

This comes against the backdrop of a long-running dispute between Dangote Refinery and PENGASSAN over unionization rights.

It could be recalled that the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) had earlier, two weeks ago, threatened to embarked on indefinite industrial action over what its leadership described as the plan of the Dangote Refinery to gag freedom of association among its member staff.

The agitation was later supported by other labour unions such as PENGASSAN, among others, in solidarity with the NUPENG.

However, the planned strike was suspended, following the Refinery’s pledge to allow every staff of the company to join any union of their choice.

Fred Nwaozor, popularly known as TheMediaAmbassador, is a Nigerian tech expert, author, creative & content writer, media strategist, policy analyst, blogger, public speaker and rights activist. The renowned columnist regularly writes for the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), and is the Founder & Convener of Right Thinkers Movement (RITMO), Nigeria. He's a chartered industrial physicist, engineer and IT personnel. As a media guru, he enjoys an active presence in all media segments - including electronic, print & online - since two decades ago till date. As a full-time researcher and educator, he's a regular contributor and peer reviewer for various internationally-noted engineering journals. As Telecommunications and Automation engineer, his research interest mainly lies in System Modelling, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart city, Cybersecurity, Wireless networks, and Machine Learning (ML).