President Bola Tinubu has said that it was his responsibility to ensure that the four moribund government owned refineries in the country work for the benefit of the people.

The President made the commitment on Thursday when he met a delegation of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) led by its new President, Comrade (Dr.) Salimon Akanni Oladiti, at the Presidential Villa.

He equally urged the union leaders to transfer the benefits of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), a cheaper energy being used by their tankers, to the people so as to lower the cost of transportation to commuters across the country.

The President, who acknowledged their support and contributions to the nation’s economic development, told the nation’s economic was undergoing a turnaround for the better but said it was not easy managing democracy in the country.

Responding to comments from Oladiti, the President said: “The refineries that you mentioned is going to come back to work. We’re just building a very firm reset and structural reworking of the economic of it. Ordinary flame and smoke of refinery doesn’t mean that it’s working until it’s profitable and yield the value for which it is built.

“I’m not a man who go look, come back and everything because I’ve accepted the asset and liability of my predecessors. No matter what has happened in the years past, it’s my responsibility now as the president to fix it, make it work for the largest common value of our population. I take responsibility for that, and I’m going to do it.”

Thanking the union leaders for their understanding of his efforts to reposition the nation’s economy and free funds for infrastructure development, the President urged them to ensure that the benefits they get from the use of CNG as cheaper cost of energy, compared to diesel/petrol, benefits the masses directly.

He said: “Equally, the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas. Well, I will appeal to you, we will do more. We will encourage you, but ask your drivers to let it trickle to the commuters too. Because whatever benefit that is coming from CNG is going to in the pocket of truck owners. It’s not spreading as fast as I would like it, but it should spread.”

Commenting the impact of the economic gains of his administration on the masses, Tinubu said: “Who are the people receiving the salaries in the local government administration? Are they not common men and women receiving salary regularly at the state level, are they not common man and woman? The ordinary people receiving salary at the federal government regularly, and it affects all the market women around us, including your wives.”

He however said it was difficult managing democracy in the country. “It’s not easy to manage a democratic regime, full of twists and turns, hill and valleys, and all of that. But it’s through perseverance, endurance, and good determination that we can bring about a relief of a newborn baby and a pregnancy, you see the joy of life. It is the motherhood that is painful, but the joy is everlasting and I will promise you, you will enjoy better Nigeria.”

The National President of NUPENG, in his comments, pleaded with Tinubu to intervene in the  challenge of casualization of workers by the international oil companies (IOCs).

He said: “our relationship with the International Oil Companies and the indigenous players in the upstream sector has been very cordial. However, we want to seize this opportunity to bring to your attention an unhealthy trend we have been trying to correct with little to no success. It is the
casualisation of workers, particularly in the upstream sector.

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