In addition, the union claims that if domestic petroleum product refining is abandoned in favor of importation, the nation will not fully profit from its position as an oil-producing nation.
The 5th Quadrennial Delegates Conference, QDC, of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, branch of NUPENG was held in Ibadan, Oyo State. Prince William Akporeha, President of NUPENG, spoke there and criticized the governors of the Niger Delta for not investing in local fuel refining but rather in the airline and other sectors despite having crude oil in their backyard.
He decried the frequent fuel scarcity in the country, insisting that scarcity would not end soon because of the government’s deliberate policy of importation rather than local refining.
Akporeha said: “As tanker drivers, our job is to distribute petroleum products whenever available to every nook and cranny across the country. We can only distribute these products when they are available and we are always ready and will continue to do so.
‘’But if the products are not available, there is nothing we can do. We find it unacceptable whenever we are blamed for the scarcity of products across the country. We hate the buck-passing by those concerned, who failed to make the products available.
“We cannot understand why the government has refused to invest in local refining of petroleum products. I can tell you that scarcity of fuel will continue in the country as much as we depend on the importation of these products.
‘’As a nation, we have no control of the international market environment because petroleum products are international products. The vagaries of the international market are what we are suffering today as seen in the high and rising costs of fuel globally. Nigeria is the only oil-producing country that depends on the importation of products. Refining is not rocket science.”
Otunba Salimon Oladiti, the outgoing National Chairman of PTD and National Trustee of NUPENG, thanked members and national NUPENG leaders for their support throughout his eight-year tenure.
Oladiti was overjoyed that the annual capacity training program for tanker drivers, organized in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, in Lagos, Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna, among other places, had contributed to a reduction in accidents involving tanker drivers while listing off 12 points of achievements.
He said: “My concerns and worries for the safety of lives of tanker drivers dated back to my younger days as a tanker driver. As soon as I assumed office during my first tenure in 2014, I introduced a policy that will inculcate discipline among our members, especially in the area of night traveling.
‘’We launched a vigorous campaign to ban night movement of petroleum products. Today, the ban on night traveling has saved lives and reduced drastically the rate of accidents, especially at night.”
