•Govt must fix our roads to avert strike by tanker drivers

Nigerians are used to fuel scarcity occasioned by inadequate supply of petroleum products, which is the result of bad governance because the country is a major producer of crude oil and therefore should have no business importing fuel. But they are likely to experience another variant of fuel scarcity very soon, unless the Federal Government and marketers, haulage companies as well as their workers reach an accord on the daunting challenges confronting the operators, particularly the issue of bad roads.

The situation is perplexingly disappointing because fuel is supposed to be transported via pipelines, not by roads. Indeed, that is what obtains in several parts of the world. But, rather than ensure that our network of pipelines is made functional, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), the agency in charge of petroleum pipelines in the country merely wrings its hands in frustration, and blaming the situation on pipeline vandals. We are aware that all manner of contracts had been awarded to secure the pipelines. What has happened to the contracts and the billions spent to execute them? What has become of the several promises by the Nigerian Armed Forces to protect the assets? Gone with the winds?

We have no choice but to address the issue of the pipelines. A situation where only about 38 percent of the facilities, as explained by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), is functioning is definitely unacceptable. Vandals or any other band of criminals cannot be greater than the state. That the pipelines keep getting vandalised in spite of the many contracts awarded to secure them is indication of the inappropriateness of that strategy.

We need a new paradigm.

Our public officials, particularly those in the oil industry, are about some of the most travelled in the world. If they are serious and desirous of putting an end to pipeline vandalism, they would do it. What is required is studying how it is done elsewhere and replicating same here. Some experts have suggested the idea of deploying technology to secure the facilities. That we are either foot-dragging on this or not even considering it at all is indication of likely complicity by some people benefitting from the present arrangement, or just our usual reluctance to put our money where our mouth is; or both.

However, making the pipelines functional may take some time. In the meantime however, the roads must be made motorable not only for tanker drivers hauling fuel but for other travellers as well. In recent years, the Federal Government has been announcing various road contracts. Specifically, the Director of Highways in the Federal Ministry of Works, Chukwunwike Uzo, in 2018, said such projects were estimated to cost about N2.8trn. Only last month, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the government was executing 800 contracts and 13,000 kilometres of roads and bridges nationwide.

Nigerians want to feel the impact of such construction works as early as yesterday. We know that the present government inherited most of these bad roads, but that cannot be excuse to abandon them or work on them at the government’s pleasure. We must accord them the appropriate priority within the limits of available resources.

Again, this could pass for medium term recommendation. Road construction does not happen overnight. Yet, we cannot wait for years to move fuel and commute on the highways. The government should therefore meet with the leadership of the tanker drivers with a view to assuring them that palliative works would begin soon on the highways nationwide to at least allow for better travelling experience. And this should not be the usual government promise that won’t be followed with action.

Nigerians are already going through hell, adding fuel scarcity to their burden would be one too many. The government should not wait for the tanker drivers to down tools before engaging them. This time, they have reasons to go on strike because of the government’s failure to make their working environment conducive. They spend longer time on the roads because of potholes and craters on several highways. Their vehicles sometimes get stuck, necessitating their bringing in tow trucks to pull them out.

Bad roads not only damage their vehicles, thereby increasing their costs of doing business, it is also a security risk, especially in these times of insecurity in the country. Bad roads inevitably bring the tanker drivers into avoidable clashes with policemen at some checkpoints. We must fix the pipelines and protect them, whatever it is going to cost us. Transporting fuel by road does a lot of damage to the roads because of the heavy nature of the products as well as that of the articulated vehicles conveying them.

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