Tension In Rivers As US Oil Firm Sacks Nigerians

TENSION is currently mounting in the bustling commercial island of Bonny, home of the multi-billion naira Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant, in Rivers State, as Baker Energy, a United States of America (US) oil servicing company sacks over 30 senior Nigerian officials withoin the week.

The affected Nigerian staffers mostly from the Niger Delta, the nation's main oil and gas region, are seeing the US firm's action as ''crude'' and capable of worsening the security situation in the volatile oil region.

Although the company did not give any reason for its action, the affected Nigerian workers have sent protest letters to the Senior Vice President of the company incharge of International Operations, Mr. James R. Johnson.

In one of such protest letters that was made available to our correspondent yesterday in Port Harcourt, by a senior fuctionary of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) from Mac Inoma Diri, from Degema Local Government Area of Rivers state, the affected staff said he was happy that he was leaving not on account of fraud.

The letter, however, reads in full:

''I am constrained to write you to complain to you and explain how I have been forced to resign my appointment with your company here in Bonny. I am writing also to inform you about the obnoxious policy of hatred and apartheid being practiced by the duo of Mr. Richmond Leeb and Barend Bootha who lord it over the affairs of the Overseas Technical Services here in Bonny. They have the final say and do not have any respect for the right to free hearing in their system of operation as Managing Director and Admin Manager respectively in the Bonny office of the Baker OTS. I wish that you will intervene before further casualties occur in the name of cleansing the system. I wish also to request that you call them to order and reinstate me or I will refer the matter to the US Embassy and other international bodies competent to fight my cause.

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''I am happy that I am leaving not because of fraud or any financial irregularity but because we have managers who behave like warlords in a military camp. But I seek your immediate intervention in the manner workers are sacked at will without decorum and against the practice in developed countries. It is absurd that an American firm could accept such a bad policy of firing her employees without due process.

''Accept my deep appreciation for the opportunity you me gave to serve the company in all these years since I joined your firm in June 2005. I have added value to myself and even to the company in my added responsibility as Editor-in-chief of the Mirror of Competence, which I had published for the last four quarters. I am proud to add that in all these years I was never found wanting in my official duties even as I had always done my job with the best of intentions.

''Nonetheless, as a result of the workers’ strike (which ordinarily should not have occurred if the duo of Richmond and Barend Bootha had been effective as managers) we had to resort to pay our staffers new rates with effect from January 1, 2009. In this regard, we had to compute the differences for the work done in December 2008 in a separate spreadsheet done in excel. This was what I did and sent by mail to the staff who are now barred from visiting the new office complex for payroll enquiries (see the attached). I wish to add that I am the only person who had been attending to such enquiries from the staff on a monthly basis and was therefore obliged to give information on the payroll. Unfortunately, Richmond saw my mail as an attempt to expose company secret and immediately cut my line without giving me the opportunity to clear the issue. My efforts to explain the best intentions I had by sending the mail were rebuffed by Richmond who claims that I am inciting workers by giving away their rates. I am happy that the workers have indicated that they do not have any case against the mail.

''However, it beats my imagination that I will be fired in this era of freedom and justice for only one ‘mistake’ while trying to explain how payroll is calculated to the staff who were frequently making enquiries. Since I joined your company on June 1, 2005 as Accountant, I have never been queried nor suspended for any offence, whether financial or otherwise, yet in one instance I am asked to leave even for an allegation which does not have any basis. They claim that union officials will use the rates to cause trouble but most of the union members and officials claim that they were already aware of the rates paid to staff of the various categories even before my mail. The unfortunate thing is that as a senior officer in the company I had refused to join the workers’ union (something I thought management would have applauded) but this is what I am getting in spite of the fact that I defied all odds to work when union members were on strike. Needless to add that the CBA stipulates that ‘no one should be sacked without following the due process.

''''Until January 31, 2009 I was the Editor-in-Chief of the in-house 'Mirror of Service Competence' newsletter which had faithfully published in the last year with favourable commendations from Mr Johnson and several others. I am yet to be paid any dime till date for the efforts. I therefore found it unfortunate that I could be forced to leave on a single 'mistake' without due process in an American firm such as the Baker organization. Even in the recently signed document termed 'Collective Bargaining Agreement or CBA', there is provision for warning or suspension for offenders. I was not given such an opportunity and had been sacked because the duo of Barend Bootha and Richmond Leeb decide to do whatever pleases them.

''In addition, I have been informed that Mr. Leeb is also interested in sacking me because of my outstanding loans for which I got his approval. This is pure blackmail! I have records to prove that all loans were approved by Mr Bootha and Richmond Leeb before cheques are raised for the individuals and there is no way any one would have been granted loans without their – Richmond or Barend – confirmation (please see the attached where Mr Leeb approved loans that are within my loan limit). My only 'sin' is that with the approval of the Financial Controller - Mr Roque Valenzuela - I allowed a month’s grace to one or two workers who asked for such waivers.

''Having been forced to leave your company, I find it convenient to inform you that Mr. Richmond runs the company like an empire with the duo of himself and Mr. Barend Bootha operating as ‘Lords of the manor’. No meetings of senior managers are held to take decisions even as he has completely destroyed the confidence of the Accounts Supervisors - Rudy and Roque - who only do what he wants them to do. He only summons managers and officers to shout at them all the time. A case in point was when he had to order them to pay a photocopy of a supplier’s invoice whereas the Accountant was insisting on seeing the original copy. For fear of being sacked the issue was not reported to Houston , like several executive directives.

''Several managers and even senior staffers have become disillusioned about the way the company is run and had often questioned if only South Africans are competent to run a Nigerian company. I hear that my case is ignored by the NUPENG officers becasue I do not belong to the union. You may need to invite the union officials independently to ascertain my claims and worries. You may also wish to hear that not less than ten experienced technicians had left the company in the last three months as we had equally reported in the newsletter. With the trend, most of us have queried the qualification of Mr Bootha (who claims to be a retired Bank Manager in one of our publications) who had shown lack of administrative skills since he was ‘dashed’ the position in spite of the existence of several more qualified indigenes. He was only a purchasing Clerk before he was made the Admin Manager by his ‘brother’. Did he attend any university in your records to be so qualified?

''I would request that you revisit the administrative policy of Mr. Richmond Leeb who has transferred his country’s ‘apartheid policy’ here with the incessant strikes by workers here in Bonny. I have been wondering if our Houston office is interested in how the Nigerian offices are being managed.

''I have had to complain to my superiors about the manner Mr Bootha talks to the Finance staff here in Bonny. He had on several occasions made it known to us that he hates us – Roque, Rodolfo, Mac, Paul, Ike and Chima. Only on Friday (January 30), he repeated to the last three who went to speak with him on my behalf what they had done to him and for which he was seeking revenge. He had on several occasions threatened to 'sack' me for having the courage to explain how allowances were calculated. It is unfortunate that my two immediate bosses - Roque Valenzuela and Rodolfo Lizardo - have been intimidated to the extent that they dare not act like watch dogs over the finances of the company, as expected here in Bonny. They have been shouted down on several occasions that they do not have the effrontery to advise the 'powerful apartheid duo' of the best accounting practices such that only Richmond and Barend (always using their language) have done whatever they liked in the company.

''I wish to use this medium to intimate you that I had long been denied what is due to me for the period I had relieved Mr. Rodolfo Lizardo when ever he went on Leave. I have made several efforts to get my cash but Mr Leeb had vetoed same. It may interest you to note that I have been paid for the past years until Richmond , with the instigation of Mr Bootha, stopped the payment for the year 2007. In spite of my appeals nothing has happened till now that I have left the company. I need your assistance to enable me get my reward for relieving Mr Lizardo adequately when he went on Leave. You are aware that if I had done something silly during that period I would have been fired like I have been treated in this case."

ENDS

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