The immediate past President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, used collective bargaining to secure significant wage gains, revive long-stalled agreements and strengthen job protection for workers across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Chairman of the TotalEnergies E&P Branch of PENGASSAN, Rabiu Abdulhameed, while speaking at a homecoming ceremony organised in honour of Osifo, described his tenure as a defining period in the association’s history that left the union with a stronger bargaining position.

The recognition came as Osifo disclosed that PENGASSAN, under his leadership, successfully negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) for branches that had operated without such agreements for more than 10 years and, in some cases, over 15 years.

He also said existing CBAs that had remained unchanged for between six and eight years were reviewed to improve workers’ welfare and respond to the erosion of purchasing power caused by inflation.

According to Osifo, “Those branches that didn’t have CBAs for upward of 15 years, they don’t just have CBAs now, but they have CBAs that truly reflect the realities of today.”

He further disclosed that workers in some international oil companies recorded salary increases of more than 300 per cent, with some companies posting increases of 500 per cent and as high as 700 per cent within the last year.

The former PENGASSAN president said the wage improvements were part of the union’s broader efforts to ensure workers’ remuneration remained responsive to prevailing economic realities, particularly as inflation had significantly weakened household purchasing power.

He said PENGASSAN’s intervention also extended beyond wages to job security, particularly amid ownership changes and restructuring in the oil and gas industry.

Osifo explained that the union intervened in situations involving the acquisition of stakes or entire shares of international oil companies by indigenous operators to ensure that workers did not lose their jobs in the process.

He stressed that protecting jobs remained critical because the livelihoods of oil and gas workers support not only individual employees but also their families and wider communities.

Although PENGASSAN’s membership may range between 30,000 and 50,000 workers, Osifo said millions of people depend directly or indirectly on the earnings of those workers.

At the reception, he recalled how he developed a stronger interest in unionism and abandoned his ambition, at the time, to pursue a doctorate abroad after witnessing what he described as unfair practices against workers in the sector.

According to him, he subsequently vowed to fight for workers’ rights and welfare, ensuring that their interests and aspirations were not undermined.

Abdulhameed also said Osifo’s leadership strengthened collective bargaining across more than 100 PENGASSAN branches nationwide, while advancing workers’ welfare, workplace safety, job protection and local capacity development.

He credited the former president with providing strong representation for workers during difficult industry and national engagements, including negotiations surrounding the Petroleum Industry Bill and the eventual Petroleum Industry Act.

According to him, Osifo combined courage, strategic negotiation and constructive dialogue in dealing with difficult issues affecting workers and the industry.

Abdulhameed said the impact of the former president’s leadership had become so pronounced that members now referred to his approach as “Osiforisation”, which he described as a leadership philosophy anchored on courage, strategic thinking, workers’ welfare, institutional strength, inclusiveness and service.

He also described “Osifonomics” as another legacy of Osifo, referring to his approach of deploying purposeful leadership and strategic negotiations to protect workers’ interests during periods of severe economic pressure.

Beyond workplace bargaining, Abdulhameed highlighted the establishment of the PENGASSAN Foundation under Osifo, saying it expanded the union’s social impact beyond its membership.

The foundation, Osifo said, intervened in education, healthcare, energy and community development, including rehabilitating schools, providing electricity transformers, supporting a school for the visually impaired and providing cooking gas to households previously dependent on firewood.

For the labour movement, Osifo said the challenge going forward was to sustain the gains in workers’ welfare while ensuring that employment remained protected and remuneration continued to reflect annual inflation.

He also linked workers’ welfare to the expansion of the oil and gas industry, arguing that Nigeria must attract more investment and increase crude oil production from about 1.8 million barrels per day to about four million barrels per day within the next three to 10 years.

He said greater industry investment and expansion would be necessary to create and sustain jobs and improve workers’ welfare.

Senior executives of TotalEnergies also acknowledged Osifo’s labour legacy.

Speaking at the event, themed “Celebrating Leadership Excellence, Partnership and Legacy,” Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and Country Chair of TotalEnergies, Matthieu Bouyer, described Osifo as a great leader who, from his early interactions with the company, demonstrated the ability to find practical solutions to difficult issues.

Bouyer said Osifo embodied TotalEnergies’ values, particularly care, noting that he placed strong emphasis on people and showed genuine concern for their welfare.

He described Osifo as someone who lived a purposeful and intentional life.

Responding, Osifo acknowledged how TotalEnergies’ values shaped his orientation and leadership approach.

Also speaking, Felix Ekam, President of the Retirees of TotalEnergies and former branch chairman, commended Osifo for laying what he described as a solid foundation for the oil company’s workers’ pension fund.

Abdulhameed said Osifo’s contribution went beyond the positions he held, arguing that his most significant legacy was the stronger institution, improved workers’ welfare and leadership principles he left behind.

He urged Osifo to continue providing guidance and mentorship to PENGASSAN as an elder statesman, stressing that his experience remained valuable to the association and the wider labour movement.

He also congratulated the newly elected PENGASSAN President, Olatunbosun Olabiyi-Agoro, and the new Central Working Committee, urging them to consolidate the gains recorded under Osifo and previous administrations.