Intro: Good morning, Big Brains. I’m Franklyn, and I woke up today feeling like a substitute teacher. I’m filling in for Mikun, who’s away. I know you miss her—I do too. But don’t worry, she’ll be back tomorrow. I know there are no back-benchers here, so let’s crack on.
This Week’s Big Question: “Which ministry in Nigeria do you have the most beef with?” Share your responses with us, and if we think they’re fun enough, we’ll feature them in the newsletter :) So be on the lookout.
-Franklyn
Word count: ~ 1,200
Reading time ~ 7 mins
Let’s get into the news you missed during the weekend:
NUPENG is about to go on strike because of its beef with Dangote Refineries
The Reappearance of Ebola in the Congo has the FG on Edge
The Big Deal
NUPENG is about to go on strike because of its beef with Dangote Refineries
We hate to start the week with bad news, but here we are. Today’s drama is courtesy of two familiar enemies.
Fuel and Dangote trucks have been making headlines lately for not-so-good reasons and it looks like the trend is about to continue. On Friday, September 5, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) announced that while the rest of us would be returning to the daily grind on Monday, they would be doing quite the opposite.
The Union is launching a nationwide strike this morning, protesting what they have described as "anti-union labour practices" by Dangote Refinery.
Back in June 2024, Aliko Dangote revealed plans to purchase 10,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks to distribute products directly from his refinery, effectively bypassing industry middlemen.
Local marketers and logistics firms were already uneasy. By June 2025, when Dangote actually acquired 4,000 of those trucks, that unease turned into full-blown panic.
Now, NUPENG claims that Dangote Refinery required its newly recruited drivers to sign undertakings not to join existing unions in the oil and gas sector, including NUPENG itself. For the Union, that was the final straw.
In a statement released on Friday, NUPENG said that the alleged undertaking Dangote Refinery was making drivers sign is of serious concern and goes against Nigeria’s Constitution, labour legislation, and international conventions on freedom of association.
The Union believes Dangote is attempting to edge them out of the oil and gas industry, and they are not standing for it. Their response? Shut down the industry first.
Why is this a big deal?
NUPENG strikes, unfortunately, tend to trigger artificial fuel scarcities, leading to long queues at filling stations and severe economic consequences due to reduced productivity across the country.
Petrol is currently selling at around ₦850 per litre, and a NUPENG strike could push that figure even higher, especially in the black market.
To make matters worse, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has declared its full support for NUPENG and is ready to join the strike.
PETROAN’s National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, has stated that pump attendants at PETROAN-member stations will not report for duty during the strike. So, even if stations have fuel, no one will be available to dispense it.
Things could escalate further if the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) decides to step in. NLC President Joe Ajaero has voiced strong support for NUPENG’s cause.
He said the congress was placing all Nigerian workers on “red alert” to strike on short notice and demanded immediate unionisation of not just Dangote Refinery but all the other entities within the group.
Now to the elephant in the room: Dangote Refineries is yet to confirm NUPENG’s claims, so we’ll stick with calling it an allegation for now.
If the Dangote refinery indeed forced its new workers to avoid unions, it would be violating the Nigerian Constitution and ILO Conventions, which reinforce workers' rights to form or join unions.
If this is allowed to prevail, we’re not sure the level of ripple effects we’ll witness, but it’s safe to say it will open doors for similar violations across sectors.
But again, we don’t even know whom to believe because the Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) and the Direct Trucking Company Drivers Association (DTCDA) have come out to distance themselves from NUPENG’s strike.
They claim the Union is attempting to force their members into unionising against their will, (which again is a violation because workers have the liberty to choose or reject unions).
They have called on the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the DSS to arrest NUPENG’s leadership, accusing them of trying to “destroy Nigeria and its economic activities.”
The Federal Government has gotten involved, but it is not to arrest anyone. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, has summoned the management of Dangote Group and NUPENG to an emergency meeting taking place today.
A lot is clearly going on between NUPENG and the Dangote refineries, but we don’t see why this should fall back on ordinary Nigerians, who are already dealing with a lot more than they can handle.
Respectfully, this should be settled in the courts, and the government should wade in before it gets out of hand.
The Reappearance of Ebola in the Congo has the FG on Edge
We’re not sure who’s God’s strongest soldier between Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo is.
On top of grappling with humanitarian crises such as malnutrition and population displacement, Congo is now officially dealing with an outbreak of Ebola virus disease. So far, there are 28 suspected cases and 16 reported deaths.
If you feel pity in your heart, that’s the right feeling. You should also feel fear because the virus's reappearance has raised concern within the Nigerian Federal Government.
On Saturday, September 6, the Director of Port Health Services at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Akpan Nse, confirmed that monitoring and screening procedures at all points of entry into the country have been intensified. According to Dr Nse, additional personnel have been deployed to strengthen border surveillance.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has stated that no cases of Ebola have been detected in Nigeria at this time. However, they have taken the opportunity to remind everyone to remain vigilant.
In their advisory, the NCDC urged the public to “maintain strict hand hygiene, avoid contact with persons showing symptoms of fever, diarrhoea or bleeding of unknown cause, and avoid direct contact with wildlife or raw bushmeat.”
They also reminded healthcare workers to “maintain a high index of suspicion, adhere strictly to infection prevention measures, and report suspected cases immediately.”
While the Ministry of Health and the NCDC are focused on keeping Ebola out, there may already be something unsettling within our borders. Reports have emerged of a strange flesh-eating disease in the Malabo community of Adamawa State.
According to patients, the illness typically begins as a boil, then bursts, and gradually consumes the surrounding flesh, even damaging bone in the affected area.
The district head of Malabo, Aliyu Hammawa, has said that at least 30 people have been affected. Eight are currently receiving treatment at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital (MAUTH) in Yola, and others are being cared for at the local community health facility.
Suleiman Bashir, Chairman of the Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, has confirmed that samples have been collected for histology tests, with results expected in the next 10 days.
We really hope the results are not bad, because we are not feeling confident about our ability to handle any disease outbreaks right now.
Yes, there is never a good time for a pandemic, but there are definitely worse times, and this might be the worst time for Nigeria.
Back in 2014, when Africa first faced Ebola, it was brought under control largely thanks to the efforts of international organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders.
These days, under Trump, the US is cutting funding to international humanitarian projects left and right, so we cannot expect the same level of support we had last time.
And the United States is not the only one tightening its purse strings. According to MSF, “massive budget cuts, particularly from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union,” have seriously affected the organisation’s ability to respond to humanitarian crises, including the malnutrition in Northern Nigeria that has claimed the lives of over 600 children in the past six months.
To make matters worse, Nigeria simply does not have enough doctors. So many have left due to brain drain that we now have just one doctor for every 10,000 patients. Those who remain are unhappy with their pay and working conditions.
Honestly, it is not looking good. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the best.
Your next big read
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The Big Picks
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