THE Federal Government has been urged to make it mandatory for all petroleum dealers in the country to convey their products through rail transportation system to all states of the federation rather than the road network.

The Kwara State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Aliyu Issa Ore, who stated this in a chat with reporters in Ilorin, said such step would not only reduce carnage on Nigerian roads but ensure that the products are not diverted and would also lengthen the lifespan of the roads.

The NURTW chairman, who urged the government to fix all the refineries and the depots to ensure adequate supply of the products, stressed that 75 percent of the fuel consumed today in the country were by members of his union, saying that if government fails to alleviate the sufferings of his members in accessing the products, the union members might be forced to increase transport fares.

Ore, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to expand and repair all major federal roads across the states to reduce accidents on the highways just as he opined that a law should be put in place that only four wheel vehicles should ply Nigerian roads while heavy loads should be transported via the rail.

He said the union has been in partnership with the FRSC to reduce accidents on our roads by introducing the speed limit machines but urged the Federal Government to reduce the cost of the machine.