Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that local refineries work so as to ease the pressure of fuel trucks in Lagos and other cities in the country.
Its Lagos Zonal Chairman, Comrade Tayo Aboyeji, who spoke against the backdrop of the fuel tanker crash in Lagos and its needless fatalities, said had the refineries been working to full capacity, there would have been no need for over 1,000 trucks to enter Lagos every day to load fuel.
Speaking in Lagos at the weekend, he said the accident was very unfortunate, adding that members of the group will comply with Lagos State government’s directive on how to curb the challenges of accident on the road.
He said: ‘’On a daily basis, over 1,000 tankers enter Lagos. This will always make the roads to be rowdy and there is possibility that accidents may occur once in a while.
“If fuel depots outside Lagos were in full operation, tanker drivers would have no reason to come to Lagos. If you go to Ogere along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State, you will see tankers park there waiting for calls for them to come and load. However, the problem is that as they get to Lagos, on their way to the tank farms, they are trapped because of the activities of articulated vehicles going into the ports. Our members are just victims of the congestion on the roads to the tank farms.
“The problem can only be solved if the ports in Lagos are de-congested. It is not about bad roads, it is purely about the volume of traffic going and coming out of the ports. If and when the roads are fixed, and the ports are not decongested, the gridlock will continue. Government should ensure that other ports in the country such as Calabar, Onne, Port Harcourt and Warri are patronized by diverting ships to them.’’
“He said contrary to insinuations that tanker drivers are decidedly reckless, he said his members are law abiding citizen and are always prepared to cooperate with the government to ensure safety on the roads.