Motor park workers, particularly, drivers in Osun State have protested at the Old Garage in Osogbo, rejecting the proposed appointment of a park manager and calling on Governor Ademola Adeleke to allow the existing leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, to continue.
The drivers, who gathered at the motor park on Monday morning, said they are okay with the current leadership of Alhaji Kazeem Oyewale, popularly known as Asiri Eniba who has restored peace to the parks and should be allowed to continue his tenure.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the NURTW Secretary of Olorunda Branch and Deputy Assistant State Secretary, Alhaji Fatai Oyegoke, appealed to the governor to work with the union.
“Our appeal is that the state governor should have sympathy with us, and he should be ready to work with us too. If he calls us, we are ready to work with him.”
Oyegoke said the union was not affiliated with any political party, adding that its members were prepared to comply with government directives, including ticketing arrangements.
He described Asiri Eniba as a man of peace with extensive experience in the transport union, saying the parks had not witnessed violence since he assumed leadership.
Also speaking, Comrade Ojo Abidemi of Olorunda park, branch three appealed to the governor to leave the NURTW structure intact, saying they are all comfortable with the tenure of Ansiri Eniba
“Please, let us leave the National Union as it is and allow it to continue functioning, during the four years that we spent under the previous administration the whole public knows what happened. I went through it, other people went through it as well”
“But with this new government that has come in, led by Alhaji Asiri Eniba, the way this journey is going has brought joy to us, his followers, and to the entire public.”
Abidemi said the various groups operating within the parks had been working together peacefully under the current leadership, adding that the union members did not want anything that could disrupt the existing peace.
Another protester, Alhaji Lateef Adeegbe of Olorunda park, branch one said he had spent about three decades in the transport business and described the current situation at the garage as peaceful.
“We, the people who have been working in this garage and doing our business here, peace has returned and there is no trouble or disturbance. So, let them leave things as they are.”
Adeegbe added that the union was willing to cooperate with the state government on ticketing and other requirements.
Similarly, Comrade Olateju Kazeem of Olorunda park, branch one said commercial vehicles had continued to operate peacefully since Asiri Eniba assumed leadership.
“If we look at the period since Alhaji Asiri Eniba assumed the leadership, we can see that there has been no fighting and no more disturbances in Osun State.”
He appealed to government and other authorities to allow the NURTW to continue under its current leadership.
The protesters maintained that they were ready to work with the state government but opposed any arrangement they believed could disrupt the peace they said had returned to the motor parks.