Abuja — Queues are yet to disappear from filling stations in major Nigerian cities, four days after tanker drivers suspended a three-day strike to press for less expensive diesel, good roads and a pay rise. Motorists are still feeling the pains of that strike by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

In this matter, NUPENG's cause is every other Nigerian's cause. The high cost of diesel (N160 per litre) is affecting the cost of food and transportation. Kerosene is out of the common man's reach. Nigerian roads are still death-traps. In times of oil boom such as these, oil-rich nations smile to the bank; the people get more prosperous and happier. Why should Nigeria always be an exception?

It will be in everybody's interest for government to head off another such confrontation with the tanker drivers. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Odein Ajumogobia, who met with NUPENG before the strike was called off, promised that the government would ensure the price of diesel was reduced. It is high time the administration moved from making promises to taking action. Time is running out.