“Don’t Use Compromised Soldiers, But Drones For Pipeline Surveillance”, TUC Urges FG

 

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TUC President, Comrade Osifo with other executive members at the media briefing yesterday in Lagos.

By Sylva Emeka-Okereke, JP, Publisher

Piqued by the growing incidents of pipeline vandals in the country, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, has urged the Federal Government to do away with the use of soldiers, instead deploy drones for surveillance, as soldiers may compromise their responsibilities.  

President General of the TUC, Festus Osifo, who dropped the hint yesterday, while briefing newsmen in Lagos, on the state of the nation, lamented rising oil theft, as well as pipeline vandalism in the country.

According to the TUC boss “affiliates of TUC and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, is planning sensitization across the six geopolitical zones, because we felt, it is fundamentally-wrong for the crude oil theft to continue unchecked”

Osifo also noted with dismay that the nation’s excess crude account has depleted to ground zero stressing that aside from the initial seed fund of $1 billion, there has been no funding in the last ten years.

Pipeline vandals, the bane of nation’s economy 

He however urged the Federal Government to wake-up from its slumber and do the needful, adding that governance is about repositioning the nation for economic growth while ensuring that citizens enjoy the wealth of the nation.

“Federal Government must implement stiffer penalties on culprits involved in crude oil theft. This will serve as deterrent”, he stated.

In the same vein, the TUC has warned government to desist from any move to sell-off government assets, including the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and General Hospitals across the country.

It equally raised concerns over some national issues like insecurity, lingering ASUU strike, dwindling economy as well as the sliding nature of the nation’s currency over dollars.  “You must be proactive, innovative and scientific in tacking the issue of terrorism ravaging the country”, TUC told government.

Osifo, who recalled the resolutions reached at the recently-concluded Triennial Delegates Conference in Abuja, which is still being contested in the court by aggrieved members, however urged the Federal Government to resolve the failed earlier privatizations, instead of going ahead to privatize more enterprises.

Warning on the consequences of privatization of government enterprises, Osifo said they would resist it, urging it to first fix the issues of DISCOs and GENCOs, which they had earlier privatized.

“’We say no to privatization of general hospitals or tertiary health institutions across the country. The common man will no longer afford health care. If we allow government to sell all these hospitals to businessmen, we are finished”, Osifo stated while noting that Nigeria lacks strong regulatory bodies for strict adherence to the rules.

He explained that when crude oil price was $140 per barrel, Nigerians were buying diesel at N150 per litre, saying that now the crude is costly, diesel price has risen to over N750 per litre

He averred thus, “if we allow the parallel market to dictate what happens to our economy, we are in for more surprises, and worse times ahead. It means that, if the price of dollar rises to N1000 in the parallel market, it means we will be buying diesel at above N1000 per litre”