Lagos, Nigeria – The lingering impasse between the indigenous offshore drilling company, VALIANT Energy Services West Africa Limited and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) that seemed protracted has finally been settled. This was disclosed early in the week via a communique made available by the Commercial Manager of VALIANT, Mr Yele Fafowora.
The row was sparked by the laying off of 39 oil workers last year by VALIANT following the global downturn in the oil industry as series of lockdowns by countries were implemented to stem the Coronavirus pandemic. Nonetheless, after series of deliberations with NUPENG, an agreement was reached on October 16, 2020 between Valiant and NUPENG over the terminal benefits that will be payable to the workers.
To this end, Valiant as a responsible corporate organisation, met all obligations of the agreement and paid in full all outstanding severance benefits due to the NUPENG members. In spite of this, NUPENG at the time, still expressed dissatisfaction with VALIANT on matters outside the provisions of the agreement, which had been fully met by VALIANT. So, rather than acknowledge the resolution of all matters with the payment of all outstanding monies, the impasse between both companies lingered.
With the continued impasse, a virtual reconciliation meeting brokered by the Department of Petroleum Resources was held on January 19, 2021. At the meeting, all the grievances were heard by all parties and were amicably resolved. NUPENG further acknowledged receipt, in full, of all outstanding severance benefits from VALIANT due to its members, the disengaged workers.
The management of VALIANT and NUPENG both agreed that the whole matter was regrettable but there was a collective resolve to work together in peace and harmony. Comrade Williams Akporeha, representing NUPENG, agreed that social dialogue remains the best path to dispute resolution and looked forward to a smooth working relationship between the labour advocacy group and VALIANT in the future.
On its own part, VALIANT restated a continued, unflinching commitment to the welfare of its workforce – “a practice that is deeply enshrined in the corporate culture of the firm,” according to Fafowora.
He added, “VALIANT has the reputation of a responsible corporate entity that has held the welfare of its staff in high regard, always performing its statutory staff obligations in a timely manner. Again, he alluded to various forms of support VALIANT had offered the previous administration of NUPENG, describing the just-ended face-off as regrettable but optimistic of a cordial relationship with NUPENG going forward.
“The relationship had always been cordial until this recent challenge. These disengaged members of staff are some of the best hands across the industry but the incident happened in response to the pandemic. We can’t fault anybody for that.
“Our work environment and culture at VALIANT have always been great, and I’m sure, if given the opportunity again, every laid off staff would love to re-join the company, Fafowora quipped.
Along with Akporeha and Fafowora, the witness to the reconciliatory meeting, Mrs Joyce Odafe-Atebe, representing DPR, also joined in signing the communique.
Over time, VALIANT has offered best-in-class solutions to International Oil Companies (IOC), drilling wells in various water depths across multiple energy hubs. With a proven track record of safe and reliable delivery, VALIANT has established itself as a distinguished indigenous firm with extensive in-country operational experience. Over the last three years, the company has successfully drilled 16 offshore wells for some of the largest IOC’s with a 100% Nigerian crew. As such, Valiant continues to be a strong advocate for Local Content in the Oil and Gas Industry by giving opportunities to capable Nigerians and organising training programs to broaden the skills and competencies of the local workforce.
VALIANT is a 100% Nigerian owned multi-oil services platform established in 2013. Behind it is a Nigerian management team with more than 25 years of expertise in oil and gas operations in Nigeria, the Gulf of Guinea and the Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conarky (MSGBC) Basin.