Oil Workers And Incessant Strikes

If reason fails to prevail, Nigeria may be plunged into another round of hardship occasioned by fuel scarcity in less than two weeks.  This is because oil workers are gearing up to embark on another strike. How long it would last or what the consequences would be remain a guess.
According to reports, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), in conjunction with the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) last Thursday decided to shut down the economy if within 14 days their demands are not met.
They are asking the Federal Government to commence full scale rehabilitation of major roads across Nigeria within 14-days or expect a nationwide strike of oil workers in Nigeria. They listed the   roads to include the Mokwa-Jebba-Bode-Sa’adu Road and  the Eleme-Oyigbo Road in Rivers State that had been an eye sore for so long.
In the last one year alone, it will be difficult to state how many times these oil workers have sentenced Nigerians to underserved hardship. They have latched on virtually every excuse to embark on strike. Even when their members are cautioned for endangering public safety, they go on strike and ground normal economic activities.
Oil workers have become notorious for using strikes as the first option in trade disputes and have become a disgrace to unionism. Indeed, their actions have placed a demand on government to come up with ways of dealing with unpatriotic labour practices, especially those that endanger the economy and public safety.
It is on record that whenever they strike, black markets flourish to sap not the government, but the ordinary man on the street. Often, some small businesses are kept on hold, while the hope of hoarding fuel results in fire, death and irredeemable losses. The people who make these happen cannot be supported.
However, what they are demanding this time around is truly not too much. They are not saying construct new roads or complete the rehabilitation of the major economic routes in 14 days. They are saying commence repairs and which is really not too much to ask, considering the dangers they go through and the losses they incur.
The Tide wonders why it should take the hardworking masses of this country to call on any government to oil the wheels of the economy as it were. It is a shame that many roads in Nigeria have become impassable and have actually taken the precious lives of many Nigerians who tried to brave it through the bad roads. And yet, people in government see nothing wrong.
Until recently when Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State within the first 100 days in office transformed the state of roads in Rivers State, it was believed that it would cost eternity to fix the roads in the State. At the risk of sounding immodest, it should be known that “fixing roads is not rocket science.”
Our people cannot continue to die and lose property for working so hard to make the economy work. No government worth its name should wait for threats of strike by unions to fix the roads that support the economy. No government should allow the people to think that the only language government understands is strike.
Even as the oil workers may not be the best group to support, considering their antecedents, Nigerians will stand behind them to demand action on the roads that have become death-traps. No Nigerian wants to pay more for fuel or come to a time when products cannot be bought even when money is made available.
It is high time governments in Nigeria knew that the avoidable scarcity of fuel and the lack of other basic necessities like electricity, water, housing and security are indeed a major failure of government. No longer should it be seen as normal for anyone to provide for him/her security, water, light, road, etc. This happens only where there is no government.
We expect that government will do everything to spare Nigerians of another round of horror. Let work on the identified roads begin with a target of when work should be completed on each of the roads. Government should also develop alternative plans to move petroleum products easily, safely and cheaply.
For the roads to be safe, efforts must be made to reduce pressure on the roads caused by the haulage of petroleum products. Government must expand rail services and petroleum pipelines to more areas of the country and put paid to the incessant strikes of oil workers.