The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) says it will train and retrain tanker drivers on road safety as part of efforts to reduce road accidents drastically in the country.

The Zonal Chairman, Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch, NUPENG, Lagos Zone, Saheed Omogbolahan, made this known at the opening of a training programme held on Tuesday in Lagos.

The theme of the training is, “Driving Culture and Safety on Nigeria Roads”.

Mr Omogbolahan was represented by the state Zonal Chairman, NUPENG, Tayo Aboyeji.

“Today’s training is not the first of its kind, but the 10th edition and it will be a two-week exercise because we want to equip tanker drivers with the knowledge and skills they need to be professionals.

“The drivers will be trained on how to behave well on the road in terms of driving and obeying traffic laws.

“We have the Federal Road Safety Corps, Vehicle Inspection Service and other agencies here with us to lecture the drivers on what is expected of them as they carry out their duty on the roads, “ he said.

Mr Omogbolahan said that the rate of accidents among tanker drivers had reduced drastically over the years because of the training.

He, however, urged the government to do more by ensuring the roads were maintained, saying, “Some accidents are caused by bad roads.

“We, however, expect that the drivers, through this edition of training will improve on what they have learnt over the years and maintain the standards set for them

“We want to declare zero tolerance for accidents of tanker drivers because we believe it is achievable, “ the chairman said.

Also, the General Manager, Lagos State Drivers Institute, Afisat Tiamiyu, lauded the leadership of the union for organising the training.

Mrs Tiamiyu said that the training was necessary and should be carried out regularly to ensure the drivers were fit to drive.

According to her, tanker drivers are very key to the economy as they ensure petroleum products are moved across the country to the benefit of Nigerians.

“Therefore, we need to collaborate with other organisations to continue to train drivers; you and I know what happens on the road; crashes everywhere, loss of lives and property.

“We believe that bringing drivers to the classroom environment toward imparting safety tips to them will go a long way to reducing accidents on our roads.

“Also, the drivers need to be safety conscious, as well as be on the safe side of the law of the state.

“If you disobey laws, definitely, you are going to be punished for it; so, we do not want to wait until they are punished.

“We believe doing the right thing from scratch will go a long way to educating them to be on the right side of the law,” Mrs Tiamiyu said. 

(NAN)