Minister of Labour and Employmen Chris Ngige has called on the major oil companies planning to lay off workers due to the dwindling price of crude in the international market to suspend the plan. The minister said that the call became imperative to avoid throwing the nation into a huge social upheaval, adding that a crucial joint labour-oil sector meeting has been scheduled next week to resolve some emerging issues in the industry The minister, who stated this during a meeting with major oil companies in Nigeria, emphasised that the nation was already facing a lot of social security problems and cannot afford more through job cuts. “The oil majors in Nigeria must therefore bend backwards and see what they can plough back from their profits to keep Nigerian workers on their duty posts,” he said.