Oil & Energy

Averting NUPENG Strike Over Eleme Road

Published

9 years ago

June 26, 2017

For the past two months, there has been a public outcry over the terrible situation of the road from Eleme junction to the Refinery in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
For millions of Nigerians plying the route on daily basis, in the course of private and public businesses, the condition of the road has not only become deplorable but impassable.
A journey across this axis of the road which ordinarily should take about 20 minutes, now takes about four hours under very frustrating conditions.
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), particularly the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the union, has consistently appealed to the Federal Government to give urgent attention to the road. The body said, if permanent attention cannot be given to the road, at least, let temporary measures be provided to enable its members operate on the road in view of the peak of the rainy season.
Tanker drivers who ply the road daily while distributing petroleum products from Eleme Refinery to different parts of the country have lamented that the condition of the road has become a nightmare and a major frustration in their business operation.
Disappointed that their appeals have not been able to attract the Federal Government’s sympathy or attention to their plight, the body threatened to withdraw its members services to the nation.
The Rivers State chairman of PTD, Comrade Lucky Etuokwu, in his several media out busts had explained the pains, frustrations and heavy maintenance costs that petroleum tanker drivers have to bear due to the deplorable road condition.
According to him, there is need for government to fix the road before the peak of the rainy season because of the flood, occasioned by lack of drainage, covers the road, tanker drivers would find it difficult to meander through the bad spots and that this could lead to ship-off and eventual fall of trucks.
In an event of a fall, the petrol fire likely to follow could take lives of the drivers and other persons, as well as vehicles and structures close to it, adding that the petroleum products content of the truck which runs into millions would also go.
Etuokwu consistently called on the Federal Government as well as the Rivers State Government to fix the road to forestall the dire consequences, threatening that the body would have no option than to withdraw the services of its members, if government fails to do the needful.
Just as PTD is calling and wailing, the parent organization, NUPENG also aligned with it and added that if the appeals fail, it would also embark on a nationwide strike.
AS the voices of PTD, NUPENG and the public reached a crescendo, there came a ray of hope when the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, arrived the state (barely two weeks ago) on his official visit to Afam Power Plant in Oyigbo Local Government Area. Expectation was that the minister would take the advantage provided by his visit to make clear statement about Federal Government’s concern on the road. But such was not to be.
Again, by fortunate coincidence, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, an indigene of the state, flew into Port Harcourt on the occasion of his 52nd birthday celebration. Amaechi’s visit provided yet another hope for the suffering Nigerians that the minister would, at least, given an indication of the government’s feelings, particularly when the issue impinges on transportation. But, again, this was to no avail.
They had wondered, does it mean that, the public outcry over the dangerous situation of the road does not matter to the Federal Government? Or is the Federal Government too busy with more pressing issues that it cannot consider the serious threat being posed to lives of the citizens and the economy of the nation in view of the strategic position of their road? Where then lies the hope of the people?
Apparently worried by the seemingly not-so-important attitude of the government to the road, youths of some local government areas along this axis of the East West Road, rose up Friday, threatening total blockage of the road. According to the spokespersons of the youths, if in seven days, nothing was done by government, they would block the road and bring to a total halt all movements.
Should the ultimatum of the vexing youths elapse and the route be totally blocked in protest? Should the tanker drivers withdraw their services? Should NUPENG call out oil workers on a nation-wide strike before the needful is done? The consequences would be so dire to our national economy that is already at a strait.
The consequences of the two actions of youths and oil workers would indeed be too far-reaching. There would be crisis in the distribution of petroleum products, creating scarcity and price increase nationwide. NUPENG strike means calling on oil workers to down tools resulting in a replay of our old ugly tunes. A mental picture of rampaging youths blocking this busy road would be terrible and better left for the imagination.
The best option is for the Federal Government to get on top of the situation and save the nation, a trauma of these ugly events which might follow.
Apart from the refinery, this axis of the East-West Road connects the Federal Ocean Terminal (FoT), the Naval College, Indorama the biggest petrochemical plant in the West African sub-region, and of course, the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone (OGFZ) which hosts over 250 companies.
There is no gain saying that the road plays a major role in the economic life of the nation. But neglect of this road has become historic and many believe that the earlier it is given the attention it deserves, the better for the nation.
The road in question is a Trunk A road whose responsibility to maintain is that of the Federal Government. But the inability of the central government to give adequate attention to the road has directly pushed pressures on Rivers State Government.
Recall that at the inception of the present administration in the state led by Governor Nyesom Wike, it took remedial actions to fix the road which was in a terrible condition and also affecting negatively the operations of companies in the area.
Governor Wike then reached out to the managements of some of the companies operating in the area and initiated a temporary rehabilitation of parts of the road. This step was able to sustain public movement till the present period.
Before Wike’s administration, the preceding administration in the state led by Rotimi Amaechi invested so much resources and funds on Federal Government roads in the state with the hope that government at the centre would refund. But the state could not get its refund till that administration elapsed. The reluctance or unwillingness of Federal Government to refund states what they spent in fixing Trunk A roads in their various areas has become a big discouragement for them to continue.
To be sincere to the Federal Government, it had made efforts in the past to rebuild the East-West road, but that was not achieved. Billions of naira was reportedly uncovered to have been defrauded the system by the contractors who blew the billions and left us all in this mess. Yet, it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to make these contractors to cough out our billions.
Federal Government is expected to find a lasting solution to this East-West road that had for decades remained a nightmare to travelers. It could through its agencies and with the support of the National Assembly save us all from the mess by declaring a state of emergency on this road that is a life-wire of the nation’s economy.
But while expecting the Federal Government’s permanent solution, Governor Wike of Rivers State can also do good by finding a temporary measure to the road. In Wike’s score card, road construction remains one of his winning points and this feat cannot be sustained if people and residents of Rivers State continue to suffer avoidable trauma due to terrible conditions of Trunk A roads in the state.
In fixing the dangerous spots on the Eleme Junction-Refinery road axis of the East – West Road, let Governor Wike also extend this temporary measure to Eleme Junction to Oyigbo axis of Aba Road which is also a Trunk A road and in a state of abandonment.
By fixing these federal roads so far neglected by the central government, Governor Wike would not only be improving his profile as “Mr Project”, but would also be helping the nation in averting another national disaster that goes with a nation-wide oil workers’ strike.

Chris Oluoh

Oil & Energy

Can Cheap Batteries Deliver COP31’s 35% Electrification Goal?

Published

6 days ago

November 9, 2026

The Tide

Electrification will be the major focus of the COP31 United Nations climate conference, to hold in Antalya, Türkiye, from today, November 9 to 20, 2026. The host country will invite the attending nations to sign onto a voluntary pledge to reach 35 percent electrification on a global level by 2035. J

ust a year ago, this target may have seemed overly ambitious, but now, experts say that a number of factors, including volatile oil and gas markets stemming from the war in Iran, paired with enormous advances in clean energy technologies, have put that goal within “striking distance.”

The months-long closure of the Strait of Hormuz has catalyzed the clean energy transition and the rate of electrification around the world. Before the United States and Israel began their military offensive in Iran back in February of this year, one fifth of the world’s oil and gas trade flowed through the Strait of Hormuz. Its abrupt closure therefore sent global oil and gas markets into turmoil and sent energy-importing countries around the world scrambling for alternatives, especially ones that they could produce and control on their home soil. And, just like that, renewable energy became the new face of energy security.

“Wind and solar cannot be embargoed, blockaded, or shut off by a foreign power,” David Frykman, General Partner at Stockholm-based venture capital group Norrsken, wrote in an op-ed for Fortune earlier this year. “Every terawatt-hour of domestic renewable generation is a terawatt-hour that no adversary can weaponize.”

But there is another, quieter force that has made this rapid global pivot toward renewable energies possible – the energy storage boom. Energy storage is critical to ensure grid stability in the face of rapid electrification and the increasing representation of intermittent energy sources like wind and solar power in national energy mixes. Major advances in the sector in recent years have made battery storage more affordable and more scalable than ever before – just in time for the world’s most recent bout of ‘fossilflation.’

“What’s really become a game-changer in the past two years is the rapid deployment of large-scale batteries that can hang onto ever larger amounts of power to be used throughout the day to smooth out demand and avoid overtaxing the grid,” Forbes wrote in a Monday report.

The second quarter of this year saw the United States’ largest-ever energy storage expansion, at 20.2 gigawatt-hours of additional capacity, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. That puts this year’s total additions at 30.8 GWh – and counting.

“Although President Trump is no fan of renewable energy or batteries, utility-scale energy storage capacity still nearly doubled to 165 GWh from 88 GWh in the first 18 months of his administration,” the Forbes article goes on to detail. “Grid operators, utilities and data center developers are all buying batteries as fast as they can to meet power demand and improve grid reliability. As a result, battery energy storage systems supplied more electricity to the grid in the year’s first eight months than in all of 2025.”

Ironically, despite his best efforts, Donald Trump is overseeing one of the United States’ most significant clean energy booms in the nation’s history as solar and wind have simply become too cheap to fail. And the United States is not alone. Buoyed by a flood of cheap solar panels and battery storage systems coming out of China, even the world’s poorest countries are experiencing clean energy revolutions.

“Some countries are pulling off stunningly fast energy transitions, adding solar so rapidly, it’s become a major source of electricity over the course of years — not decades,” reports CNN.

Pakistan has become the surprise poster child of this trend as residents install rooftop solar and batteries faster than any other market on Earth, as these systems provide electricity more cheaply and reliably than the country’s own beleaguered energy infrastructure. In addition, emerging economies including Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Morocco, Kenya, and Namibia have all overtaken the United States – the world’s largest economy – in their clean energy transitions.

By Haley Zaremba

Oil & Energy

MAN, Ministry Tackle High Electricity Costs, Erratic Supply

Published

6 days ago

November 9, 2026

The Tide

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has said it is working with the Federal Ministry of Power to address high electricity tariffs, unreliable grid supply and rising energy costs that are undermining industrial production and competitiveness in the country.

The association said the collaboration would focus on developing sustainable energy solutions for manufacturers, including renewable energy, battery storage, captive power generation and improved electricity distribution.

Speaking during the second edition of the Manufacturers Energy Security and Energy Efficiency Summit in Lagos, the President, MAN, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, regretted that high electricity tariffs, unreliable grid supply and heavy dependence on fossil fuels had made industrial production exceptionally difficult.

Okoye said energy expenses consumed nearly half of some factories’ operating budgets, weakening their competitiveness, increasing product prices and threatening jobs.

He said manufacturers had continued to operate their own power infrastructure despite paying for electricity from the national grid.

“When energy expenses claim nearly half of a factory’s operating budget, competitiveness evaporates, retail prices skyrocket, and jobs are placed on the line,” he said.

Okoye said the association was moving beyond advocacy to implement practical solutions through its Industrial Energy Cost Reduction and Energy Support Programme, as key partners in delivering the initiative.

According to him, the programme would promote factory-roof solar installations, battery energy storage systems, captive natural gas generation and smart energy management networks to reduce production costs and protect manufacturers from global fuel price shocks.

He, however, stressed that manufacturers needed affordable, long-term financing to undertake the energy transition.

“We cannot finance 21st-century industrial transitions with 30-day commercial bank loans at cut-throat interest rates,” Okoye said.

He said the summit would bring financial institutions, climate funds and green investors together to develop long-tenured, low-interest financing instruments, carbon credit opportunities and asset-financing

Also speaking, the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, warned industrial customers against unauthorised electricity connections.

He disclosed that investigations had uncovered about 14 industrial customers along a particular corridor who owed more than N400m in unpaid electricity charges over several years.

Tegbe said such practices deprived the electricity sector of revenue needed to sustain power supply and unfairly burdened consumers who paid their bills.

“Such conduct deprives the sector of revenue that we need to sustain the supply, and unfairly burdens consumers who pay honestly,” Tegbe said.

The minister vowed to recover the outstanding charges and hold those responsible accountable, urging MAN to encourage its members to maintain lawful electricity connections and comply with applicable regulations.

Tegbe acknowledged that manufacturers continued to struggle with electricity interruptions, poor power quality, vandalism and electricity theft, adding that the government was directing investments towards addressing the underlying problems.

Speaking on behalf of manufacturers, the MAN South-East Chairman, Ada Chukwudozie, said energy had become a question of survival and competitiveness for Nigerian manufacturers.

She said manufacturers were increasingly financing and managing their own electricity infrastructure while struggling with rising production costs and limited access to capital.

“We are effectively running a second power system paid for by ourselves, besides the grid we also pay for. And that is why for the Nigerian manufacturer, energy is no longer simply an operational issue. It is a question of survival and competitiveness,” Chukwudozie said.

She explained that unreliable electricity supply forced manufacturers to make difficult choices between purchasing energy and raw materials, maintaining equipment and paying workers.

The regulator added that manufacturers could strengthen their competitiveness by adopting cleaner energy sources as international markets increasingly imposed environmental and carbon-related requirements on products and supply chains.

Oil & Energy

Reps Panel Dismisses Petition Against NIPCO gas Licence

Published

6 days ago

November 9, 2026

The Tide

The House of Representatives has dismissed a petition seeking the cancellation of gas distribution licences awarded to NIPCO Plc, ruling that the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate their allegations.

The decision followed a review by the House Sub-Committee on the Petition concerning NIPCO Plc, which rejected the complaint filed by the Nigerian Energy Security Watch Group (NESWG) for lacking substance and evidential support.

The petition had called for an investigation into, and the suspension and cancellation of, gas distribution licences issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to NIPCO for Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Osun states, as well as the Lagos and Lekki Free Trade Zones.

Announcing the decision last Thursday, the Chairman of the Sub-Committee, Peter Aniekwe, said the petitioners relied on hearsay and failed to establish any wrongdoing in the licensing process.

“At its sitting today, the Sub-Committee resolved not to proceed with the investigation, and the petition is accordingly dismissed,” Aniekwe said.

The committee, which also includes Dahaltu Shehu, was constituted in October to examine the petition. It was granted an additional 14 days on October 26 to conclude its assignment.

Aniekwe said the issuance and regulation of gas distribution licences were statutory responsibilities of the NMDPRA under the Petroleum Industry Act, while stressing that the National Assembly would continue to exercise oversight over the process.

He disclosed that the regulator had committed to completing and rolling out gas distribution licensing in the fourth quarter of 2026, adding that the committee would monitor the implementation.

“Nigerians deserve a gas market that is open, competitive and safe, and investors deserve rules that are clear and stable,” he said.

The lawmaker reaffirmed the House’s commitment to considering petitions from individuals and organisations with genuine concerns about the petroleum sector, saying “each complaint would be assessed on its merits”.