NUPENG To FASHOLA: "We Cannot Remove Petroleum Tankers From Apapa Roads‎"

UNBELIEVABLE: Wharf Road, Connecting The Lagos Ports Complex (LPC) In Apapa Free Of Vehicular Traffic Yesterday
Photo: Roland Ekama

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has said that it is not possible to comply with the 48 hours ultimatum handed down to petroleum tankers to vacate the Oshodi-Apapa expressway and other roads leading into Apapa.
General Secretary of NUPENG; Comrade Isaac Aberare in an exclusive chat withShipping Position Daily in Lagos yesterday, said that moving the petroleum tankers away is a herculean task that cannot be accomplished in 48 hours‎.
Even though he assured of the union's readiness to comply with the directive of the Governor, Aberare noted that the gridlock has extended from Apapa down to Ijesha Bus Stop.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, had on Wednesday chaired a meeting with the stakeholders in the oil industry, where the government directed the tankers and trucks to vacate the bridges and roads.

“No tanker should be seen on Eko, Liverpool and Coconut among other bridges. By Thursday, the tanker owners should make one lane available for motorists to use pending the expiration of the ultimatum for enforcement to begin,” the commissioner said.
The NUPENG scribe said that it would be difficult to move the trucks away in 48 hours through the same blocked route.
"The herculean task of clearing the gridlock I think may not be possible within the 48 hours time frame, if you pass through Apapa-Oshodi expressway this morning, you will see that the tanker queue has extended from Apapa to Ijesha bus stop which is more than 15 kilometer stretch"
"To move all these tankers through the same blocked roads within 48 hours is not possible"
"However, we will not oppose the ultimatum; we will do everything within our powers to comply with the directive" the NUPENG secretary assured.
The union leader also noted that Governor Babatunde Fashola being the governor of the state and the chief security officer of the state, might have noticed that the suffering being experienced along the Apapa-Oshodi express road is unquantifiable, hence the directive for trucks to vacate the expressway.
"If in his wisdom he wants the place to be cleared so that there could be easy passage, it is within the purview of his office to do so. And haven given such order, he will ensure that it is enforced"
When Shipping Position Daily correspondent visited the tank farms yesterday, there were indications that the tanker drivers are not ready to comply with the directive of the Governor.
Our correspondent noticed that the tankers were still maintaining their queues on the expressway.
One of the drivers who claimed to have come from Ibadan to load product in Lagos said "where are they expecting us to move to? I have been here for a week now and you want me to just leave, it is not possible".Another driver who craved anonymity described the governors' directive as an empty threat, even as he called for the decentralization of tank farms and fuel distribution allocations.
Thev same position on the 48 hours ultimatum was given by another NUPENG chieftain.
The South-West Chairman of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Mr. Tokunbo Korodo, the trucks causing the gridlock may not leave the roads soon as directed by the Lagos State Government.
Korodo told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Thursday that only three depots out of over 50 in Lagos had petroleum products to dispense.
The development had compelled hundreds of trucks to head for the three depots to lift oil.
He said the development was the key reason for the unprecedented traffic jam that had locked down Lagos in recent days.
Korodo named the three depots currently loading fuel as Capital Oil and Gas Tank Farm, Ibeto Oil and Gas Tank Farm and Integrated Oil and Gas Tank Farm, all in Apapa.
He said the gridlock could ease if trucks, queuing for oil, would load and leave Lagos by weekend.
It was however confirmed yesterday that, naval personnel have been deployed to clear the tankers and container trucks drivers from all the roads leading to the seaportshttp://shippingposition.com.ng/article/nupeng-fashola-we-cannot-remove-petroleum-tankers-apapa-roads%E2%80%8E