Nigeria’s oil sector has been thrown into chaos as a nationwide strike, sparked by the dismissal of hundreds of workers at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, continues to escalate. Despite the turmoil, the massive 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Lagos has managed to keep its operations running, but the situation remains tense and fraught with uncertainty for the country’s vital oil industry.
The trouble began late last week, when the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) accused Dangote Refinery of firing 800 local workers allegedly for unionizing, and replacing them with 2,000 workers from India. According to BBC, PENGASSAN’s leadership swiftly called for a nationwide strike, vowing to halt crude oil and gas deliveries to the refinery—a move that Dangote has since contested in court. The refinery, for its part, has denied the union’s claims, stating that only a small number of staff were let go for what it described as “acts of sabotage,” without disclosing exact figures.
As the industrial action took hold on Sunday, September 28, 2025, the effects rippled through Nigeria’s oil infrastructure. Striking union members blocked the entrances to key industry offices, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. These blockades, reported by Reuters and AFP, have disrupted logistics and heightened tensions across the sector. The strike also led to the closure of offices belonging to Nigeria’s oil regulator and the state oil company, according to Devdiscourse.
Despite initial reports that the entrance to the Dangote Refinery itself had been blocked, company sources confirmed to BusinessDay that operations at the massive Lagos facility have not been fully halted. The refinery, which opened last year and quickly became Africa’s largest, has played a pivotal role in reducing petrol prices for Nigerian consumers and shaking up the country’s oil sector. Before its opening, Nigeria—despite being a major oil producer—imported almost all of its petrol. The refinery’s impact has been so significant that its recent decision to use its own natural gas-powered trucks for petrol distribution prompted a separate strike by a fuel tanker drivers’ union earlier in September, who accused the company of anti-union hiring practices. Dangote denied those allegations as well.
With the current strike entering its fourth day, the stakes are high. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), PENGASSAN’s parent body, is closely monitoring the situation and has signaled the possibility of broader solidarity protests. Such a move could further intensify the pressure on Dangote Refinery and the wider oil sector, raising fears of more severe disruptions in oil production and supply chains—a scenario that analysts warn could have crippling effects on Nigeria’s already fragile economy.
Efforts to resolve the dispute have so far failed to yield results. On Monday, September 29, 2025, a marathon mediation meeting was convened by Nigeria’s labour minister, Muhammad Dingyadi. The talks, which lasted more than nine hours, brought together leaders from PENGASSAN, representatives from Dangote Refinery, the finance ministry, and top officials from the country’s main petroleum regulatory authorities. But as the hours dragged on, it became clear that the two sides were nowhere near a resolution.
Festus Osifo, PENGASSAN’s president, emerged from the meeting with a blunt assessment. “Our position has been very clear; you have to reinstate these people. If you reinstate them tonight, we will call off our action tonight but unfortunately, that reinstatement did not happen. And we were not able to reach conclusions on the subject,” Osifo told journalists, as reported by BusinessDay. The union remains steadfast: the strike will continue until all 800 dismissed workers are reinstated.
The refinery, meanwhile, has stood its ground. A Dangote spokesperson told AFP that the allegations of mass dismissals and anti-union practices are a “complete falsehood,” reiterating that only a small number of employees had been terminated for sabotage. The company has not provided further details, and the dispute over the true scale and cause of the layoffs remains a central sticking point in negotiations.
While the mediation talks are set to continue, the deadlock has only deepened anxieties within Nigeria’s oil sector. According to Devdiscourse, the strike has already led to accusations of sabotage and raised broader questions about labor protections in the country’s private sector. The Dangote refinery’s rapid rise and aggressive expansion have unsettled established industry players and labor unions alike, with some accusing the company of undermining collective bargaining rights and circumventing traditional union structures.
“This strike highlights deep-seated tensions in Nigeria’s oil sector,” one analyst told Reuters, “and if left unresolved, it could escalate further, threatening not just petrol supplies but the broader economy.” The sentiment is echoed by others who point out that Nigeria, as Africa’s top oil producer, can ill afford prolonged disruptions in its most important industry. Already, the strike has caused power generation to drop to 3,200MW, according to NISO, compounding the country’s energy woes.
The government, for its part, finds itself in a delicate position—caught between powerful unions demanding fair labor practices and a private sector giant that has become indispensable to the nation’s energy security. The Dangote refinery’s ability to keep operating amid the strike has been hailed by some as a sign of resilience, but for many workers and union leaders, it is a reminder of the ongoing struggle for workplace rights and protections in Nigeria’s evolving oil landscape.
As mediation efforts resume, all eyes are on the negotiating table. Both sides are under mounting pressure to find common ground before the standoff spirals into a full-blown crisis. For now, though, the refinery’s smokestacks continue to rise above Lagos’s skyline—a symbol of both Nigeria’s industrial ambitions and the deep rifts that still threaten to undermine them.
With the outcome of the talks still uncertain, the coming days will be crucial in determining whether Nigeria’s oil sector can weather this latest storm or if the strike will mark the beginning of a much deeper reckoning for the country’s energy future.
