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From Joe Ogbodu, Warri
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (PTD-NUPENG) has affirmed Mathias Ote as the substantive national chairman of the PTD branch.
The decision was taken at the quarterly National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the PTD-NUPENG held in Warri, Delta State at the weekend.
Ote succeeds the immediate past national chairman, Augustine Egbon, who died last year.
Giving his inaugural remarks as national chairman, Ote paid tribute to his predecessor, who he described as a great and exceptional leader.
He said: “The development of the Union and sustainable welfare of his members was his topmost priority, which he maintained till death.
“It is, indeed, very painful to lose such a great and exemplary leader, who has impacted positively in the life of his people and kept an indelible mark in the history of the Union.”
Ote, who thanked the leadership of NUPENG and the NEC of PTD branch for entrusting him with the exalted seat, promised to give leadership that they would all be proud of.
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He said: “Sincerely, I appreciate all our members and leaders for finding me worthy to be given the privilege to lead our branch for the next four years.
“You can agree with me that there are so many other capable and competent hands that can lead this great branch, but in your collective wisdom and by the special grace of the Almighty God, I was elected as the branch chairman.
“Comrades, silver or gold, I have none to offer in appreciation of your love, support, prayers and encouragement towards the success of my election, but what I have which is good leadership, I will spare nothing in providing it.”
The new chairman, who appealed to tanker drivers to ensure safety on the road further cautioned against night driving.
“The risk at which we travel at night is increasing. You can agree with me that a lot of evil activities happen mostly at night, such as hijacking of trucks, kidnapping for ransom, killing for rituals and ghastly accidents, leading to destruction of lives and properties of Nigerians, due to bad roads.
“In view of the above, I urge all our members to desist from the act of night driving because if anything happens, you will bear the consequences.”
Speaking in a similar vein, national trustees of NUPENG, Salimon Akanni Oladiti, urged tanker drivers to avoid unnecessary risks that could jeopardise their lives.
He said: “I want to plead with us to heed the advice of our national chairman. Life has no duplicate. When you have accidents on the road, the owner of your truck won’t be happy with you and tag you as a threat to his business and survival. So, let us avoid night driving and to secure our individual lives.”
