By Bimbola Oyesola, [email protected]
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) at the weekend gave the Federal Government hard knocks for the incessant fuel crises in the country, saying it was caused by misplaced priorities.
President of NUPENG, William Akporeha, speaking during the fifth quadrennial delegates’ conference of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the union held in Ibadan, Oyo State, said scarcity of fuel in the country was never caused by the drivers but the Nigerian government’s negligence and ineptitude.
“If the product is available, my members will move it and they are ready to distribute the products 24 hours. Hence scarcity is not caused by drivers but government’s misplaced priority,” he said.
The NUPENG boss opined that if the government does not take seriously the issue of refining petroleum products locally, Nigeria will continue to experience scarcity of the products.
“It does not take rocket science to build refinery. What can our members do, if Nigeria still relies on importation of the products we can conveniently produce at our backyards?
“What have Niger Delta state governments done with the product they have at their backyard, why must they continue to rely on refineries built over three decades agao?” he queried
Akporeha noted that the Niger Delta governors could also build refineries as their main resource, instead of wasting money on white elephants that do not have direct impact on the citizens.
He reasoned that Nigeria would be better off constructing new refineries, which government and individuals could invest in, if the willpower is there.
He lamented that most influential people and government officials now build hotels running into billions of naira overnight, while Nigerians continue to suffer from scarcity of petroleum products, which the economy of the country revolves around.
“People in government and others build hotels within a twinkle of an eye, which means the money is there and Nigeria has the capacity to build refineries to refine our products locally. We must place our priority right. For us in NUPENG, we will continue to demand that our government must build new refineries and stop importation of the products,” he said.
Meanwhile the outgoing national chairman of PTD, Salimon Oladiti, among his several achievements, has commended the members of the union for drastic reduction in incessant strikes by the union.
“We had partnership with NARTO, NNPC, FGN, FRSC, and other relevant stakeholders and this made incessant strike action by PTD members brought to the nearest minimum,” he said.
He equally noted that collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) help eliminate the menace of fraudsters issuing fake licences to union’s members. While the introduction and enforcement of speed limiters on the trucks have reduced the incidence of accidents on the roads.
He said, “My concerns and worries for safety of lives of Petroleum Tanker Drivers dated back to my younger days as a driver. We launched a vigorous campaign to ban night movement of petroleum products. Today, the ban on night travelling have saved lives and reduced drastically the rate of accidents especially at night.”
Oladiti expressed that the welfare of members was one of his cardinal points as well as improving on the financial base of the union, which his leadership achieved through various diversification and investments.
In his address, the President of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Lawal Othman noted that both NARTO and NUPENG PTD have succeeded together in their campaign at improving the highway through the bridging fund.
He however charged the drivers to see themselves as the manager of the trucks they are driving on behalf of the NARTO members, stressing that without the drivers the owner could not break even in their business ventures.