Nigeria Content Online

The National Union
of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said yesterday that it is
committed to make good its threat to disrupt normal petroleum products
supply to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, from next Monday,
if government fails to accede to its demands.

National president
of the union, Atetse Igwe, who spoke with NEXT in a telephone chat from
Abuja, listed its demands to include improved operational environment,
particularly the repair of the nation’s roads, and the provision of
standard condition of service by multinational oil companies for
majority of its members.

He said NUPENG has
resolved to stop lifting and distributing petroleum products from July
12th, when its 21 days ultimatum contained in its petitions to the
relevant arms of government, including the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources, Labour, the Presidency, and the National Assembly, lapses.

“We have never
hidden our demands to government for the repair of the nation’s roads
networks, which are not only bad, but are more of death traps to our
members.

“We have lost
several of our members and other innocent Nigerians through avoidable
accidents on these roads. If government refuses to meet our demands, we
will have no alternative than to stop fuel supply to Abuja.

“Everybody knows we
deal with a highly volatile product, which, if not properly handled,
will result in serious crisis. We have made our position known
severally to government on the need to maintain these roads. But, it
appears our appeals have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.

Citing the Aba-Port
Harcourt Express Road and the East-West Road as examples, Mr. Igwe
noted that a trip through these routes would present a glimpse of the
ugly experience members of the Union face in transporting petroleum
products to all parts of the country.

“These roads, like
most others across the country, are completely impassable. Yet, we are
expected to lift products from the Port Harcourt Refinery for
distribution in Abuja and other parts of the country,” he lamented.

According to the
union leader, NUPENG has already threatened to withdraw its services to
protest the illegal practice by the multinational companies operating
in the nation’s oil industry, particularly Shell Petroleum Development
Company (SPDC) and Nigeria LNG Limited, which have refused to give
conditions of service to those categories of workers they call ad hoc,
contract or casual workers, despite signing several memoranda of
understanding (MOUs) since 1999.

“Most of these
workers have been with these companies for more than 15 years, without
any condition of service covered by government insurance scheme that
would entitle them for some benefits at the end of service, or in case
of accident or sack. Yet, they are the ones that work to sustain the
country’s economy.

“We are saying, the
practice where our members work for over 15 years and the oil companies
would wake up one day and sack them without any benefit, apart from
their last pay, should stop. We have complained against these issues
for a long time, without any positive action. It appears officials of
the Federal Ministry of Labour are collaborating with these
multinational companies to deny our members their rights,” he said.

Strategic Abuja

On why the union
chose to disrupt fuel supply to Abuja in particular, Mr. Igwe noted:
“We choose Abuja because those who have the power to do something to
resolve our grievances live there. It appears they are busy having fun
at the expense of the rest of Nigerians.

“Every other day
the National Assembly keep fighting over how to increase their salaries
and improve their welfare, without thinking about the deplorable
conditions other Nigerians are facing, in terms of lack of basic
infrastructures like roads, electricity, and other services.”

He decried the
situation where the Nigerian Content Act, recently approved for
implementation in the industry, does not have a single provision that
takes care of the interest of Nigerian workers, in terms of their
conditions of service.

“It appears government is insensitive to the fact that there is no
other oil producing country in Africa that this type of practice is
allowed to continue,” he pointed out.