On Saturday, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) announced that its Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) will go on strike on Monday, December 11, 2021.
The strike was called by the union due to the “deplorable state of the nation’s highways” and other issues.According to Mr Tayo Aboyeji, South-West Zonal Chairman of NUPENG, who confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the union has lost many lives and property as a result of bad roads. According to him, all tanker drivers in the union would withdraw their services across the country.
He explained that they had previously called off their strike because it was affecting the majority of Nigerians, but that they now have no choice because their mind is made up.
“We are going on a nationwide strike because of the deplorable and shameful state of our highways.
“When a truck loads petrol in Lagos, the drivers spends five to six days to get to Abuja because of the shameful state of the roads.
Aboyeji went on to say that the executive of the union’s calls have fallen on deaf ears with the government, as highways across the country continue to worsen.
He bemoaned the fact that tanker drivers have been put in perilous situations while performing selfless national service, and that the number of fires involving petroleum tankers has increased.
This, he claimed, was due to the government’s failure to compel the installation of safety devices on tankers in the country.
This will protect the inflammation contents of their trucks from spilling over in a situation of road accident.
“We see the failure of the government in this regards as the height of insensitivity to lives of innocent Nigerians and union cannot continue to fold its hands while our members are getting burnt everywhere and everyday,” he added.
