The immediate past Chairman, Lagos Zonal Council, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, has urged the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for investors to build more refineries instead of depots.
Korodo made the call on Monday in an interview with reporters in Lagos.
He queried, “What are we doing with over 100 depots, while we have just four refineries with a population of 180 million?
“We should be thinking of how to get more refineries to refine more products than keep building more tank farms.
“Go to Apapa now, when I joined the oil sector in 1982, we had only seven tank farms in Apapa. Today, we have more than 62 tank farms in the place alone.
“In Lagos alone, we have more than 80 tank farms, while we have over 30 depots in other states of the federation.
“What are we doing with all these depots when we don’t have refined products?”
Korodo said the country’s founding fathers meant well for the nation when they built three refineries and one storage facility in Lagos in the 70s.
“Atlas Cove storage was built in Lagos to receive products from the refineries to serve the people in the Western part of the country.
“Refinery was built in Warri, Delta State to serve the people in South-South part, while Port Harcourt Refinery will serve the people in South Eastern part.
“The Kaduna refinery was built to serve the people in the North.
“Unfortunately, subsequent governments messed up the whole plan and allowed these entire infrastructures to decay,” he said.