PENGASSAN LAUDS BARU FOR INDUSTRIAL PEACE

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has conferred a distinguished award on the Group Managing Director of the of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, for promoting industrial harmony since assumption of office.

The award, by the NNPC Corporate Headquarters Branch of PENGASSAN, was presented to the GMD during the Branch’s Love Feast, with the theme: “Synergy and Collaboration between NNPC Management and the Union.”

PENGASSAN National President, Comrade Francis Johnson, applauded Dr. Baru for being a labour friendly Chief Executive, assuring him of more union support as he pilots the affairs of the NNPC.

Speaking in the same vein, the Corporate Branch Chairman of PENGASSAN, Comrade Mathew Duru, described the GMD as the Iroko of the Oil and Gas Industry who has maintained an open door policy, stressing that the award was a payback to the NNPC management for its friendly disposition to labour at all times.

Duru said, in the weeks ahead, the Union planned to sponsor a capacity building training course in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which participation would be extended to the management to further cement the existing synergy.

In his remarks, Dr. Baru said NNPC management under his leadership, had witnessed unprecedented collaboration with labour representatives at all levels of the union structure, stressing that this has engendered cordial industrial relations with positive effect on productivity.

He noted that NNPC, as a foremost organization within the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry, was a champion of regulatory compliance in all its operational activities, especially labour laws and domesticated International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. He declared that this had been demonstrated in the central role NNPC often plays in resolving industrial disputes across the industry.

“Our commitment to the promotion of social dialogue and tri-partism, one of the four strategic objectives of the ILO, is resolute. In this regard, management has ensured full representation at the quarterly Chapter Joint Consultative Committee (CJCC), Branch Joint Consultative Committee (BJCC) and the Group Executive Council (GEC) meetings,” Dr. Baru stated.

He averred that the current efforts of all parties towards sustainable peace in the industry would be intensified in preparation for the challenges of the future.

The NNPC GMD assured that the accolades and recognition extended to him and other top management of NNPC by the Union would spur them for greater collaboration and synergy.He urged other awardees and the entire union to continue to put in their best as good ambassadors of the corporation.

Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion and NNPC Chief Operating Officer (COO), Corporate Services, Mr. Isa Inuwa, said the essence of the event was the changing perception of labour and industrial relations, stressing that the pattern has changed from in-fighting between management and the union, to industrial peace particularly in the Oil and Gas Industry.

“I want to thank PENGASSAN for its buy-in into contemporary labour relations. The new pattern is for cooperation between management and union so as to create opportunities without boundaries”, Inuwa said

It would be recalled that Dr. Baru recently received the Forbes Africa Oil and Gas Man of the year 2017 in recognition of his sterling management style and the value he has brought on board. Forty seven (47) other top management of the NNPC and retirees were all given different categories of the PENGASSAN award