The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has warned that Nigeria’s efforts to tackle insecurity may continue to struggle unless governments at all levels urgently address rising poverty and improve living conditions across the country.
The association also called for a repositioning of local governments to make them more responsive to the needs of people at the grassroots.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, made this known at a social gathering organised to honour former leaders of the association for their contributions to its growth since its establishment in 1978.
The event drew former presidents, deputy presidents, general secretaries, zonal chairmen, zonal secretaries and other national officers of the association.
Osifo said economic hardship in the country was affecting not just workers, but also their relatives, neighbours and wider communities. He explained that many workers who earned relatively good salaries were increasingly struggling due to the financial responsibilities placed on them by unemployed relatives and others facing economic difficulties.
He noted that a worker could have a decent income, only for such earnings to be quickly depleted by the burden of supporting jobless family members and financially struggling associates.
The PENGASSAN president said this pattern showed that economic hardship had consequences reaching far beyond organised labour. While he acknowledged that the association’s primary responsibility was to protect the jobs, remuneration and welfare of its members, he stressed that it could not turn a blind eye to the broader economic challenges confronting Nigerians.
FG, States, LGs Must Act — Osifo
Osifo said governments must become more responsive to citizens’ needs and treat the fight against poverty as a shared responsibility. He noted that the Federal Government, state governments and local governments all had critical roles to play in reducing hardship and improving Nigerians’ quality of life.
According to him, tackling poverty requires political will and practical action rather than mere promises. He urged the different tiers of government to work together in addressing the economic difficulties facing citizens.
The labour leader raised particular concern over the state of local government administration in Nigeria. He described local governments as the tier of government closest to the people, stressing that they should serve as a platform through which citizens can demand accountability and solutions to problems affecting their communities.
However, Osifo lamented that many local governments had become largely ineffective, leaving citizens without a functional grassroots system to push for action on basic needs. He argued that this weakness in local government administration had helped entrench poverty and other social problems, and called for a fundamental review of grassroots governance to make local councils more effective and accountable.
Insecurity Difficult To Tackle Amid Poverty
The PENGASSAN president warned that government efforts to significantly reduce insecurity would remain difficult as long as widespread poverty persisted. He called on governments across the country to show the political will needed to implement policies that reduce poverty and improve living standards.
Osifo said tackling economic hardship should be treated as a key component of the broader strategy against insecurity, stressing that citizens with access to decent livelihoods and basic necessities would be less vulnerable to the social pressures that fuel insecurity.
Speaking on the purpose of the gathering, Osifo said the dinner was organised to honour the sacrifices and contributions of PENGASSAN’s former leaders, who he said had played key roles in building the association since 1978 and whose legacy should not be forgotten.
He added that former leaders had continued to support the association’s growth by offering advice to the current leadership on areas requiring attention or improvement. The awards presented to them, he said, were tokens of appreciation for their sacrifices, noting that successive administrations had continued to build on the foundation they laid.
The PENGASSAN president said the event was therefore an opportunity to celebrate the association’s past leaders while recognising their continued role in guiding its present leadership.
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