The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has said that unless President Goodluck Jonathan creates employment opportunities in the country, the thousand of Nigerians coming out from universities yearly are without hope of gainful employment.
PENGASSAN President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun who spoke during the union’s delegates conference in Abuja Wednesday, also challenged President Jonathan to fix security challenges in the country and added that government must ensure the killers of the corps members during the last general election did not go unpunished.
“Unemployment is one of the problems facing this country today as we continue to chum out graduates and skilled youths without hope of gainful employment.
“We called on Federal Government to fulfill its promise to uncover the perpetrators of the killers of corps members, and apply the full consequence of the law on the culprits and their sponsors”.
According to Comrade Ogun, a report by the World Bank release recently said that about 50 milion of Nigerian youths were either unemployed or under-employed.
He said going by the world bank report, it was clear that the alarming unemployment situation was responsible for the spate of kidnapping and other social vices witnessed in the country today.
On the matter of contract staffing, the union leader however declared that the workers would resist any employment model or employment policy found to be deceptively exploitative with tendency to degrade jobs.
Ogun said, “Our advocacy is fair and sufficient compensation, fair and sufficient benefits and good welfare for all categories of our members through unrestricted legitimate rights to union activities, collective bargaining and other statutory provisions for interaction, engagements and resolution of issues with other social partners”.
While commenting on education sector, the PENGASSAN boss advised the Federal Government to review the creation private higher institutions and disallow politicians from establishing sub-standard universities and polytechnics in the country.
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