Tinubu gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja when he received the national executive of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), led by its National President, Comrade Salimon Akanni Oladiti, at the State House.
The President said the government would not allow the nation’s refineries, which have absorbed huge public investments over the years, to waste away, stressing that their revival must be based on sound research, technical assessment, effective management and a sustainable business model.
Responding to NUPENG’s appeal for the revival of the refineries, Tinubu said the government was adopting a systematic and evidence-based approach to addressing the structural, operational, financial and managerial challenges that had hindered their performance.
“The refineries that you mentioned are going to come back to work; we’re just building a very firm resetting and structural reworking of the economy of it.
“Ordinary flame and smoke of a refinery doesn’t mean that it’s working until it’s profitable and yields the value for which it is built.
“I’m not a man who goes looking back on everything because I’ve accepted the assets and liabilities of my predecessor. No matter what has happened in the years past, it’s now my responsibility as president to fix it and make it work for the greatest common good of our population. I take responsibility for that, and we will do it,” he said.
Tinubu appealed to stakeholders, including organised labour, to support the administration’s reform programme, describing democracy as a process that requires patience, sacrifice and collective commitment.
“I promise you, you will enjoy a better Nigeria,” the President said.
On the implementation of local government autonomy, Tinubu said the constitutional issues surrounding its implementation were being reviewed, with a view to possible fine-tuning, and appealed for understanding among stakeholders.
The President also paid tribute to the late former NUPENG leader, Frank Kokori, recalling their shared struggle for the restoration of democratic rule in Nigeria.
“You brought good memories of my relationship with Frank Kokori; may his soul rest in peace. We struggled for this democratic dispensation together, and it was very tough for us to have this democracy, and you have been a very good partner of the government in progress,” he said.
Tinubu further promised greater inclusion for NUPENG in the implementation of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), while challenging the union to ensure that the benefits of the programme translate into tangible relief for commuters.
Earlier, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, commended NUPENG for acknowledging what he described as the positive impact of the Tinubu administration’s reforms.
Idris said the recognition by the labour union was significant, particularly against the background of past tensions between organised labour and government over economic policies.
“Your Excellency, it is not common that you find trade unions come back to the President and say, ‘Thank you for what you have done.’ I think this is an uncommon situation,” the minister said.
He recalled that the organised labour movement had previously commended the President after he approved an increase in workers’ wages and indicated that there was no need to wait five years before reviewing the minimum wage.
Idris said it was particularly significant that NUPENG, an influential union at the heart of the petroleum sector, had acknowledged the administration’s major economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy.
“For their leader to come and recognise the reforms that you are doing, especially the major reforms you undertook in this country, the removal of fuel subsidy and also acknowledging that everywhere you go is a construction site in this country, is a good development,” he said.
Speaking earlier, NUPENG President Oladiti commended Tinubu for what he described as the courageous decision to end the fuel subsidy regime, saying the policy had helped halt decades of financial drain on the nation’s resources.
He said the resources freed by the reform were increasingly being channelled into infrastructure and other critical sectors of the economy.
Oladiti particularly praised the administration’s renewed investment in the rehabilitation and construction of federal highways, citing the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the 1,068-kilometre Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.
“For our members, a good road is the difference between arriving home safely and never arriving at all. Every stretch of highway rehabilitated or constructed means fewer accidents, fewer spillages, fewer lives lost, and less stress for the men behind the wheels,” he said.
Oladiti said the impact of the road projects was already being felt by tanker drivers and other road users, describing improved road infrastructure as one of the reforms directly affecting the working lives of NUPENG members.
He, however, urged the President to sustain efforts to revive the country’s refineries, arguing that functional refineries would strengthen national energy security, reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and create more jobs for Nigerian workers.
At the end of the meeting, the NUPENG leadership decorated President Tinubu as the Grand Patron of the union.
