CHIEF AWALA NIWELFU BOSS SEND SOS TO PRESIDENT BUHARI TO CAUTION DANGOTE, SEPLAT, SAIPEM, OTHER COMPANIES OPERATING IN NIGERIA

CHIEF AWALA NIWELFU BOSS
SEND SOS TO PRESIDENT BUHARI TO CAUTION DANGOTE, SEPLAT, SAIPEM, OTHER COMPANIES  OPERATING IN NIGERIA

*** DECRIED'S NDDC, DELTA STATE GOVT. ATTITUDE TOWARDS OLD CONTRACTORS

By Wilson Macaulay

Comrade Chief Joseph Awala lnone the National President of Nigeria  Welders and Fitters Union NIWELFU has sent a Save Our Soul SOS Message to President Muhammadu Buhari to use the instruments of his good office  to caution and prevail on  Alhaji Aliko Dangote the MD/CEO of DANGOTE Group, SEPLAT Nigeria Limited, SAIPEM , STERLING Global Nigeria Limited  and other Companies Operating in Nigeria over what they  termed as   their unpatriotic and  unpopular decision to bring foreign  welders and Fitters in droves  from  China , Thailand, India , Egypt,  Singapore  etc, to mention but few  for the construction of DANGOTE Refinery in Lagos and many other  construction sites and operational bases   across the length and breadth of  our country  as they have  callously   neglected the
Nigerian  Welders and Fitters to the detriment of our national building efforts with impunity.
Comrade Chief Joseph Awala lnone  the labour boss who made this statement during  a  press conference shortly after a National Executive Council NEC  meeting held in Benin City the  Edo State Capital went down the memory lane to remind Mr President that the Warri, Port- Harcourt , Kaduna Refineries, Kaduna -_Petrochemical,Port- Harcourt Petrochemical,  Escravos- Lagos Transmission Line , ECOWAS Gas Line , NLG Bonny,  and other  notable projects  were built by Nigerian Welders and Fitters  with cognate and requisite knowledge  years ago when we  the Nigerian Welders and Fitters   were not as experienced the way  we are today.

Comrade Chief Awala  the NIWELFU President ,
therefore wondered how the argument of inexperienced Welders and Fitters  can come to play as a reason  given by DANGOTE , SEPLAT , SAIPEM and  their co -travellers in crime to dump them, the qualified Nigerian  Welders and Fitters in clear negligence  of the Local Content Act  LCA in  a critical time like this in the history of our nation without any due respect for national interest.
Awala the Labour boss who was  determined to anchor his argument on concrete and verifiable evidence recalled that it is necessary to remind Mr President that  this same Nigerian  Welders and Fitters  the   Companies have branded as incompetent , successfully  in the psst executed projects of lnternational  repute endorsed by   International Standard Organization ISO in Angola, Turkey, South Korea and several other nations to drive home the truth that  we do not lack competent Welders and Fitters in Nigeria.
Chief Awala the alarmed labour leader observed that there is an urgent need for  President Muhammadu Buhari  and the leadership of the Senate through the Senate  Committee on Ethics , Public Pettition  and Privileges   to call these Companies to order and  also to ensure that they comply to the  Nigerian  Labour Laws and Regulatory Guidelines due to the adverse effect of the continuous practice of this  skewed employment policies targeted to make life difficult for the Nigrian Welders and Fitters in particular and our domestic economy in general.

Speaking further , Awala  the labour boss added that any thing short of that will spell doom for our nation hence the clarion call for all hands to be on deck to checkmate  this  untoward malady .
Chief Awala  who pointed out more of the evils of these corporate bodies  affirmed in his remark that  unless something is done to change the statisquo Nigeria cannot move forward with these kind of companies operating in our nation  until there is a positive change.
He stressed that  NIWELFU is ready as a union and they are  committed  to do  everything possible to  sweep the  vestiges of neocolonialism exhibited by these Companies   from our land to allow accelerated growth and development to thrive in Nigeria.
The General Secretary of  NIWELFU,  Comrade Innocent Ngozi Adimoha who also spoke during the press conference in Benin City  strongly suggested that members of NIWELFU  should be appointed into the Presidential Local Content Monitoring Committee an idea which he believes  will give more bite to the Committee's  Capacity to deliver on their mandate instead of allowing   the body to remain the way it is   presently as a  barking dog that cannot bite.
According to Comrade Adimoha,  if that Committee  was alive  to their duties , the problems of the refusal of Companies compliance to our Acts of Parliament regarding labour related issues and employment  would be a thing of the past.
Comrade  Adimoha  insisted assertively that  any job Nigerians can do should not be given to expatriates in the spirit and letter of the Local Content Act, unless it is  otherwise proven that  Nigeria  actually  lack the relevant competence,  adding that employment is key to the revival of any ailing economy.
Comrade (Apostle ) Iniobong Peters JP the Treasurer of NIWELFU in his own contribution called on President Muhamnadu Buhari to direct the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment  Barrister  Festus Keyamo to ensure that all Companies operating in Nigeria employs Nigerian  Welders and Fitters and also Indigenous Contactors who have the requisite knowledge to perform optimally in their chosen fields  of  operations instead of flooding our nation with  foreign Welders and Fitters  to take over jobs we are traind to do even better to  the peril of our foreign reserve occssioned by the  dangerous domestic capital flight associated with such practices.
Comrade  Peters Iniobong the Group treasurer  maintained that those in authority should not pretend not to know, that  what is going on in these Companies is against the National  Policy on Employment  NPE , which is formulated to guide against any thing that will challenge and jeopardise  our national interest such as we have today , a situation were  expartrate quotas are over- shot deliberately to kill our nation's economy to massage the selfish interest of cabals who are cronies to people in the corridors of power.

 AWALA DECRIEDS NDDC/DELTA STATE GOVERNMENT ATTITUDE TOWARDS OLD CONTRACTORS

Speaking in a related development ,Comrade Chief Awala took both the NDDC and the Delta State Government to the cleaners as he lambasted the federal agency , DESOPADEC , and  the Government  of Delta State  for the  cold  shoulder  treatment given to old contractors whose contract money  are tied down without payment yet they are paying new contractors in the system who are  their cronies to line their  private coffers with enough cash to give themselves financial muscles  during elections.
Awala the labour boss during the interactive session  tasked the management of NDDC, DESOPADEC  and the Delta State Government to revert to the policy of first come first serve by paying old contractors before attending to new ones.
According to him , it is wrong  to rob Peter to pay Paul because it is the subversion of the principle of equity and justice.
Comrade Chief Awala the labour leader expressed  dismay that  a  federal agency as strategic as NDDC and DESOPADEC at the state level   could be so loose to the whims and caprice  of evil cartel who are out to thwart the effort of Mr president in achieving  the next level agenda

Chief Awala who emphasised the need to reform  NDDC and DESOPADEC  said: " l strongly advise President Buhari and the Delta state governments  to reposition NDDC,  and DESOPADEC very well  as agencies of development  to  avoid  the ugly experience of Contractors who have executed projects already put to  use by the government   are languishing and living in penury to the extent that  some of these Contractors had their properties seized and sold by banks and money lenders to defray  debts incurred  to complete NDDC and DESOPADEC projects " .
Continuing he said ; "  the situation is so  bad that some Contractors with hundreds of Millom in NDDC and DESOPADEC   pending for payment fell sick and  died in the process as a result of lack of  money to handle  their medical challenges ".
He posited  that, since the primary aim of any  government is to make life better for her citizens, the NDDC and DESOPADEC should  be given a human face to live a clean public life that  will promote excellence and  generate a  new tone in our nation's  quest to true greatness
Continuing he said ; "  the situation is as bad that some Contractors with hundreds of Millom in NDDC and DESOPADEC   pending for payment fell sick and  died in the process as a result of lack of  money to handle  their medical challenges ".
He tasked the government to  hire the services of a  competent consultant to computerized these agencies so  that they can really function optimally  to cater for the welfare and social  needs of the citizens of the area to avoid the abuse of humanity
He posited  that, since the primary aim of any  government is to make life better for her citizens, the NDDC and DESOPADEC should  be given a human face to live a clean public life that  will promote excellence and  generate a  new tone in our nation's  quest to true greatness.
 , Awala in his summation expressed the hope  that    his message will strike a positive cord in the heart of those in power  to turn a new leaf for the betterment of all and sundry, he concluded.