ABUJA – Motorists in Abuja on Monday decried the three-day warning strike embarked upon by the major oil workers in some parts of the country.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the strike would affect Nigerians now that the Christmas was at the corner.
Most fuel stations visited by NAN within Abuja had long queues, prompting traffic on some major roads.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said they would not call off strike except their demands were met.
The unions were pressing for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), immediate conversion of all contract staff to regular staff in accordance with the oil and industry guidelines.
Others include the transfer and termination of appointments of national officers of the two unions.
A civil servant, Mr Aboki Danladi, said that the strike was ill-timed and would impact negatively on the masses.
“The strike is very unfortunate. Why are the unions on strike at this critical time when Nigerians are trying to celebrate Christmas.
“This is not good for the masses, the whole trouble will be on the masses as usual,” Danladi said.
Mr Alex Felix, an engineer with a telecom company, said now that Nigerians were preparing to travel for the yuletide, was not the proper time to strike.
“I am sure, unless otherwise, many people will not be able to travel for the Christmas and New Year festivities due to scarcity of petroleum product should it continued.
“It is not even the matter of travelling but you know petrol touches virtually all aspect of Nigerians’ lives,” Felix said.
Felix urged the government to as a matter of urgency carry out the Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries and all other issues related therein.
Hajia Salmat Bello, a business woman, called on both the government and the two associations to work out modalities that would resolve the issues.
“With the slump in global prices of crude oil, government should reduce pump prices of petroleum products so that Nigerians will have some sigh of relief.
“We are really suffering in Nigeria when compared to other oil producing countries in terms of supply, selling and importation,’’ Bello said.
Mr Mohammed Jia, a taxi driver who came to buy fuel at the Area 10 Oando Filing Station, said that long queues were no longer good for economy.
He said that this situation should be remedied immediately by government now that the Christmas was around the corner.
According to him, he has been on the queue for over three hours without getting the product.
Mr Iwuji Leornard, a motorist who came to buy fuel at the Conoil filling Station, said that he had been on the queue for over four hours.
Leonard said that the situation was pathetic, adding that he had gone to about 10 filling stations and could not get fuel due to long queues.
Mr Muojindu Agbo, a taxi driver, said that some of the stations he went to were serving fuel on only with two pumps causing long queues.
He urged the Federal Government to ensure that the crisis was resolved so that people travelling for Christmas could go home smoothly.
Mr Masari Margimari, a motorist, said that it was unfortunate for Nigerians to experience scarcity as a result of strike.
“It is embarrassing that we produce this fuel in the country and Nigerians are experiencing this situation,” he said.
Mr Maxim, a civil servant, said the strike was sabotage because some people were making money out of the situation.
Some petrol attendants at the stations visited by NAN said they had the products in abundance, and urged motorists to avoid panic buying.
Mr Bukus Ucheabuchi, Station Supervisor, Forte Oil filing station, said that the strike had affected sales as motorists were disorderly.
According to him, there is enough fuel to serve customers as long as the strike lasted.
“So far, the stock of fuel we have will go a long way, we still have two standby trucks and as soon as we clear these vehicles we will discharge them,’’ Ucheabuchi said.
Malam Umar Farouk, Manager, Oando filing station in Wuse Zone Four, said that there was no need for panic buying as there was enough fuel in stock to serve motorists. (NAN)
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