Fidel A. Ose is an executive of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). In this interview with Shipping Position Daily’s DAPO OLAWUNI he alleged that National Association of Truck Owners (NATO) are responsible for most accidents on Nigerian roads because they hire the drivers, he said drivers are only managed by NUPENG. He also explained why there has been free flow of traffic on Apapa Oshodi expressway lately.
“I am very aware that many of the drivers are being under-paid when compared to the negotiated welfare package of the union”
What would you attribute the prevailing sanity on Apapa-Oshodi expressway to?
Factors like bad roads, bad attitudes are the main reasons why the traffic on Apapa expressway became a perennial problem, but on intervention by Federal Government back then, we expected that the traffic will ease out, but it was still there, and for about six years the Nigerian Navy came and stayed for several months at different times, yet there was no solution, a combined team of Nigerian Army and Navy equally came and tried and there was no solution, LASTMA, Police and others also tried but to no avail. In December last year, another set of Nigerian Army came and tried but there was no solution. But of late, the same Nigerian Army just sent an officer and some other junior officers to this place and we are seeing the result, it goes to show that indiscipline on the side of the operators and those people enforcing law that caused the gridlock, notwithstanding the bad road and the massive movement of trucks from other locations to this path equally added to it. But the arrival of this army officer, I don’t know his name, he is so disciplined, he is always out there in the sun, he spearheads the patrol of his men from Mile 2 to Tin Can port, he resumes early, as early as 7am, he is on ground and he will not leave until 6pm, this is why you can see that from 6am to 6pm and even till the next day, there is free flow of traffic at the depot. For further improvement, I want to urge Federal Government to fix up the remaining portion of the roads, from Coconut bridge up to Tin Can Island Port, this will make containers going to Tin Can to have easy access and exit to the port. Another thing is that a lot of truck park that was earmarked for the RoRo ports have since been given out to port concessionaire, while government has done this, we expect that they recreate these parks in other parts of Lagos or Ogun State.
Do you think Tank farm owners have acquired truck parks as directed by government?
It is not about government issuing ultimatums; in 2003, officers from Federal Ministry of Works came and we were told that each depot must have truck parks, this was when MRS acquired the land by PZ around Toyota Bus Stop along Oshodi expressway, Folawiyo Tank farm had its own, Capital Oil also had their around Sanya Bus Stop, Ibeto also has its own at Sanya opposite Kia Motors. Some depot owners who could not get their own close by went to Ibafo expressway, but because the policy was later relaxed, most of these truck parks were under-developed, the parks acquired by the various depots were under-developed, hence they were under-utilised, and this was because there was no enforcement and follow-up on the side of government.
Again, the attitude of drivers, an average Nigerian does not want to pay tax, because there is always a fee attached to the use of these truck parks- like N1000 or N2000 as the case may be, the tanker drivers believe that if they stay on the roads they would not pay. They must pay money at the parking facilities in order for maintenance, the truck park that was undertaken by banks in conjunction with the Lagos State Government and NUPENG at Orile area of Lagos cost millions of Naira, but today, I am not even sure that up till now after 10 years if they have been able to generate half of the money put in by the banks and the Lagos State Government, this is due to poor patronage and dubious management.
Do you agree that most trucks operated by your members are below standard?
I think the people that should be concerned with that should be the truck owners and they are all members of NARTO, just as NUPENG and government have developed that level of synergy, I equally expect them to develop same with members of NATO because they are truck owners, it is the truck they provide that the driver drives, it is actually the drivers that we manage, so if a truck owner decides to maintain his truck to a particular standard as stipulated by law, the driver would be happy to drive a good truck than one that is substandard, but when the truck is not meeting up standard, the driver will still manage to drive it because it is his means of livelihood. I know that if government reiterates the action of “operation own a truck park” again, those truck parks abandoned and underdeveloped will receive attention.
How come we have so many teenage drivers driving tankers and causing accidents?
First of all the Nigerian law says you must be 18years old for you to drive, if you look at the physical size of the drivers, this may not exactly depict their age; whether they are teenager or adult. I strongly believe that if they were licensed to drive by the road safety authority, it means they are not teenagers, but I will advise that the employers should do more about drivers’ welfare; the negotiated welfare package for drivers by the union should be obeyed. Because there are no jobs in Nigeria today, drivers do not have choice of selecting one employer or the other, sometimes when the condition of service given by the employer is not ideal, they try to manage just every other sector in Nigeria. I am very aware that many of the drivers are being under-paid when compared to the negotiated welfare package of the union.
So, who or what do you think should be blamed for the accidents?
What I use to hear is that in those days when haulage companies like Panalpinna, Sanni Brothers and others were doing business, drivers usually have a schedule, if you leave Lagos today and going to Kano, you have the number of days you are expected to get there, they have experimented it and no matter what happens you will return at that stipulated time. But these days, you will hear an employer who is in Abuja sending a driver to Lagos and in less than two days he is asking the driver ‘where are you and where is my consignment’? This means that such a pressure will make the driver want to meet up at all cost- no rest, this could cause fatigue which could lead to over-speeding, he could lose control when sleep eventually comes because you cannot cheat nature, the driver wants to meet up at all cost, so that he will not be sacked. So, to a large extent, the employers (NARTO) are to blame for most of these complaints and not the drivers, but drivers are always at the receiving end but the force behind the driver is the tanker owner.
Fuel queues are resurfacing, what is the situation at the tank farms?
I am officially aware that people were signing documents with DPR that they bought products for N77 per litre, but the irony is that they go behind and pay as high as N90, maybe it is out of desperation to get the product and take it to somewhere to sell. If that is the case, it then means that Nigerians are still engaging in hoarding and panic buying and this is why we have queues everywhere.
Why do you think this is happening?
We know that the metering and dispensing are not the same at all filling stations across the country, they might display N86 per litre, but what they sell is N96 per litre, the meters have been adjusted ridiculously.
What is your take on the privatization of the refineries?
Government should privatize the refineries, but while they are doing that, they should keep one as a model, a model in the sense that while the private sector are refining, government would also be refining so that one will counter the monopoly of the other, and the few involved will not develop themselves into a cabal. But I believe privatization of the refineries will bring about more jobs, enhance efficiency, make provision for availability and quality, it will reduce the level of sabotage at Nigerian-owned refineries. In government owned facilities, the civil servants usually sabotage government to get rich faster.
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