Oyo Transporter Frowns At PTD Strike, May Opt For Railway

Kehinde Adebeshin, also known as “Baba Ibeji,” is a well-known transporter in Oyo State and the organizer of the pressure group “Know Your Right.” He has warned the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and its branch, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), against pressuring the Nigerian government to consider the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) as the nation’s preferred transportation option for transporting petroleum products.

Following PTD’s industrial action in Lagos State to protest the “persistent harassment” of tanker and petroleum product drivers by Task Force police officers and LASTMA officials in Lagos State, an unexpected call was made.

Adebeshin lamented the repercussions of the suffering that PTD’s action had caused Nigerians since Saturday, February 22, 2024, despite the fact that the Union’s leadership had called off the strike on Wednesday, February 25, 2025.

He referred to the Union’s decision as an act of economic sabotage and said it was regrettable that the union had so blatantly disregarded the Lagos e-call-up enforcement, which was in place to control truck activity and keep the already crowded city orderly.

Adebeshin criticized the overzealousness and haughtiness of PTD and its parent organization, NUPENG, on a lack of subtlety, incompetence, and administrative indiscretion.

He also voiced his displeasure with the strike’s effects on telecom providers, who warned of an imminent outage in Lagos and Ogun states due to the three days in a row that the strike prevented diesel from reaching their service sites.

Parts of Adebeshin’s comments from Tuesday are as follows:

“The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and its Branch, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), have publicly allowed the Nigerian government to view the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) as a preferred mobility alternative nationwide for lifting petroleum products and completely stop transportation of products through the road due to a lack of tact, competence, administrative discretion, and leadership gaps in operations.”

Sadly, NUPENG and PTD have given business owners and Nigerians in general the opportunity to designate them as economic saboteurs who run the risk of receiving an invitation from the DSS. The Union must be able to accurately assess situations critically before down tooling. The Union shamelessly neglected to verify whether vehicles detained by the Lagos State Task Force and LASTMA authorities had not violated the current Lagos e-call-up rules, which were intended to control truck operations and preserve order in the already crowded city. Being a hindrance to the government’s well-meaning policies and programs is an insult that should never be accepted.