PENGASSAN: Indians dominating low-level jobs in oil industry

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says Indians are taking over low-level jobs in the country.

Speaking on Friday at the closing of the 3rd edition of the Energy and Labour Summit, Festus Osifo, PENGASSAN’s president, said it is unacceptable.

The three-day event, which was held in Abuja, focused on the theme ‘The Future of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry: Energy Mix, Energy Security, Artificial Intelligence, Divestment, and Crude Oil Theft’.

Osifo said the increasing dominance of expatriates, particularly Indian nationals, in the sector is alarming.

“They are taking over low-level jobs, which is a blatant abuse of the expatriate quota system,” Osifo said.

“In Sterling Oil today, it will amaze you to discover that we have more Indians working there compared to the number of Nigerians.

“In fact, up to vulcanizers, you have Indians carrying out such low jobs and functions in all their plants as operators and some are even gatekeeping operators.”

Osifo said the union has been in talks with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to resolve the issue, but no progress has been made.

He said while Nigerian graduates are finding it difficult to secure employment, Indian companies are being granted excessive expatriate quotas, which they are misusing.

‘THEY HAVE MANIPULATED THE SYSTEM’

The PENGASSAN president alleged that the companies have manipulated the system by registering numerous shell companies to facilitate the influx of expatriates.

Osifo said they have registered over 200 companies to perpetrate the act.

“When they are bringing in 10 Indians, they will use one company. Tomorrow, when they are bringing in another 20, they will use another company,” he said.

“If you check, you will discover that over 100 or 200 companies registered spread these Indians across board.”

He said that PENGASSAN had engaged in extensive stakeholder discussions over the past two years to address the issue without result.

Osifo warned that the association might resort to confrontation if the issue remains unresolved, stressing that they are ready to act because they cannot be slaves in Nigeria.

The energy expert said Nigeria’s oil resources are owned by Nigerians and should primarily benefit them.

He called on the government to take swift action to protect the rights and opportunities of Nigerian workers.

According to the head of the workers union, the number of Indian nationals employed at Indorama’s facilities in Port Harcourt surpasses that of Nigerians.

Osifo said Indians are paid in dollars while Nigerian workers struggle with the effects of currency devaluation.

“This situation is unacceptable and it must be addressed now,” he said.

Osifo urged relevant authorities to take decisive action against companies exploiting the expatriate quota system to the detriment of Nigerian workers.