NUPENG tasks Buhari on revamping economy

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to remain focused in his determination to transform the lot of the country and put the economy in good shape.

This charge was contained in a statement issued at the weekend and signed by National Chairman of Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ Branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, (NUPENG), Otunba Salmon Oladiti.

Buhari returned to the country at the weekend after over 100 days on medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, Oladiti who expressed concern over negative comments on Buhari’s state of health, said he was excited that certain individuals who were playing god that Buhari’s health had worsened and that he would not return to his seat have been put to shame.

He said, “Now that President Buhari is back in the country, we are waiting for those who promised to commit suicide to do so.

“It was clear to discerning Nigerians when certain opposition elements and groups were staging protests, we knew corruption was fighting back.

“Those who stole the nation blind under the past administration were not happy with the new lease of lives, the transparency and openness in governance.

“They are used to cornering our collective patrimony, stealing the nation blind while majority live in misery. They haven’t come to terms with the reality of a new dawn which ordinary Nigerians now relish. They are still gnashing their teeth.” 

Speaking on the positive development in the oil industry, the NUPENG chairman said both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry have witnessed tremendous growth under the present administration, “unlike in the previous government when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was at the mercy of a super Minister.

It was a time when the country was making so much from crude oil earnings, yet NNPC was technically bankrupt. ’’

He particularly lauded the uninterrupted fuel supply situation in the country, which he noted was a departure from the recent past when car owners stayed endlessly at gas stations to queue for fuel, while commuters remained stranded at parks.

Oladiti however pleaded with the present administration to redeem its pledge to put all federal highways in good shape and remove the present trauma that his members are subjected to in the process of conveying petroleum products from the depots to retail outlets across the country.

“As a union, our tankers ply the dangerous highways across the country, conveying petroleum products. The tanker drivers are subjected to all sorts of hardship on daily basis. We suffer human casualties and loss of tankers, on daily basis on these highways, as a result of the intolerable conditions of the highways across the country.

“We are hopeful that just like the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo did promise and has allayed our fears, the situations on the highways will soon change for the better.”