From: Abdalah Hamis

I bring you greetings from the deepest down of my heart which is bleeping with anger and sorrow as I pen this letter down. When some years ago I got employment with this our great organisation, Notore Group, the only fertilizer plant in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa and the Champion of African Green Revolution, how happy I was after searching for a better job for months.

I remembered vividly when the plant was in a revamping stage, there was so much money all over the place to the extent that employees did not have to call you for anything because you KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO, and that they should not bother but THINK OF WHAT TO DO FOR YOU. Knowing what to do for your employees presently is not very clear to you again, I must say. Where have you got it wrong with all the Harvard Business School Theories? Our case is like the proverbial child “who has not started crawling but wants to run along with other children”.

Agreed, you miscalculated in some of your business transactions, but it’s never too late to make corrections. Your employees are not happy with all that is happening, and they are all praying for you daily so that things can turn around. Their prayers are yet to be answered by God and by you. Remember your promises when the plant has not started production, which you later said some of them were slip of tongue. What happened to the “Future of Notore” that were in Training Centre few years ago? What happened to the Notore brand? What happened to the promise you made that very soon we all will be smiling to the bank? What happened to……..name it? So many things to name but I will leave it for now.

What did your employees do that you decided to treat them the way you are presently doing? Is it that there’s no work in the country? Is it that you have more trust in INDIANS than in NIGERIANS? Is it that your Managers are being economical with the truth? Is it that you see your employees as helpless and hungry people? Which I doubt because the little I have known you, you don’t look like a heartless boss, although I heard your stories from the people you worked with in Oando.

You decided to sack some Nigerians and about to bring more Indians because you once said that “when other fertiliser plant comes up, that you are aware most Nigerians will leave Notore, then you will run the plant with Indians”. Yes, you are right because most production personnel are waiting for Indorama, Dangote, and Greenpark plants to come online, then the Indians and your managers will run the plant. You also forgot about the “Local content law” forbidding you from employing Foreigners for a job Nigerian locals can do.

From what is happening now in the plant, Indians will do you more harm than good, which I am sure Orascom (Egyptians) told you to avoid them. In case you don’t know it, most problems in the plant is as a result of your present Plant Manager, Mr Jaspal Singh, who sees himself as a demigod and forgot that Nigerians are not as hungry as Indians, by bringing a 480g Peak Milk [/b]for everybody (Maintenance, Production, Labour hands) on duty to drink . In fact, let me leave his case for another day.

You told us that lump sum is old-fashioned, Promotions will be horizontal and not vertical. You forgot that we still know what is happening in other process industries like NLNG, INDORAMA, REFINERY, etc. We are yet to see any growth at all, whether vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. Do we even have [b]condition of service in this OUR PLACE TO BE organisation? Remember other better industries still use the lump sum method, which you considered as old-fashion. We are aware you have other companies, but please I wish to remind you that there’s no company you will make the kind of money you are making in this our great Organisation.

Your managers are about taking their THIRD car loan, and the lower cadre are yet to benefit from it. Please, even if it is Keke or Bicycle, give other people because what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. People have always said that Notore is a company for Managers. Is that why they always behave as if their subordinates are bunch of idiots by not appraising them well? Maybe, that is what they are taught in Managers’ courses.

I visited the plant few days ago and I was wondering if Nigeria still have Factory Laws in system. Lo and behold, I saw the Factory Law hung neatly in the Ammonia/Urea Control Room. What happened to all the things stated in the law? No laundry, No good Chairs/Tables, No locker, no good working environment, etc. I saw an operator in a cubicle I considered as a packing store filled with Phosphate bags, and he said that that is his unit office. Tufiakwa, according to my Ibo bothers, is this where he stays for 12 hours in a shift? I pondered, little wonder, we see this plant workers as local and uneducated. I am sure most of them are graduates with sound background, but why would such a big organisation as ours treat them as school-sat holders? Well, only you can answer this.

When your senior managers were resigning, I knew there was something we were yet to see. Imagine the likes of Onye, Balogun, Ovota, leaving our great organisation. Maybe they have a third eye that shows them the future is not all that bright as we speculated, or maybe their grade on the ladder makes them see farther than most of us. Our situation now tells me that they foresaw all these, we are just like a ship in the water without captain being tossed around by the waves. You said you don’t want to hear NAFCON, but the truth is NAFCON is far better than what you are doing today.

Yes, we had operational challenges according to how you put it, but remember you have to do the right thing at the right time. My economist told me that we save because of the rainy days, had this great organisation planned for this challenges, I shouldn’t be here writing this but seriously thinking of what to do for you.

We are doing a mini-TAM on an empty stomach, without 2 months salary, put yourself in our shoes and be truthful to yourself if you will carry out any assigned job 100%. I don’t want to believe like I said earlier that you are a heartless boss, but bearing in mind that January is always a month for most Landlords and school owners, you withheld our salary and you are using it for the mini-TAM.

Other employees are waiting for plant people to protest, but I don’t think they will be so foolish to do it because on 2 occasions they tried, their colleagues were sacked, and non-plant people continued their work. The anger of your employees are getting to a level where it may burst like a bomb released by Boko Haram in Borno.

I wish to stop here so that I don’t wash all our dirty linings outside, believing you will make necessary adjustments in no time. Thanks and may God continue to give you the wisdom to pilot this our great ship to a fulfilling end and make it a dream come true. I know you will look for me and make me a scape goat, no problem even if you sack me, I want to liberate other employees who are suffering in silence.

[b]Signed:
Concerned Employee