by The Ajasa News | February 1, 2025 11:56 am
By Felix Ndukwadan Theman, fnarc, rsss, MLCJ, MSMPS
For quite sometime now, Tanker Explosions with trail of deaths and destructions that accompany every incident have become a recurring decimal in Nigeria. In Sept, 2024, 59 people were killed in Niger State when a Tanker collided with a goods carrying truck leading to the spill of fuel and subsequent explosion of same.
In Oct same year, another Tanker crashed in Jigawa State and in spite of the previous experiences, the last being just a month earlier, residents around the site of the incident rushed like bees to scoop spilling fuels out of the slain tanker. Like the last incident, same fate fell on them but this time, it was far reaching, over one hundred and eighty persons were killed and burnt and more than twice of that number were injured.
On the 18 of Jan, 2025 as if to open the year with another tragedy, a fuel Tanker fully loaded with petroleum products crashed around Dikko in Niger State and still as though previous lessons haven’t been learnt, they merely fell on deaf ears, residents in a similar fashion struggled with buckets, kegs and any other container they could find to scoop as much as their containers could carry from the stream of the escaping fuels.
Unfortunately again, without sufficient warning, there was ‘a big bang’ abruptly ending the struggle to help themselves with the fuel. Wailing and screaming immediately rend the air as thick smoke and raging fires billow into the highest heavens, taming the arms fire fighters and other responders who came a little too late to contain the fires. As of last count over ninety persons have been killed in such a gruesome manner and countless others maimed by the raging fires.
From all the experiences so far and after every incident, short term solutions are always proffered by government agencies and other stakeholders during condolence visits to government officials and community leaders. In addition to such solutions, there are often condemnations as to the things that have gone wrong. However, such solutions are never followed through until yet another tragedy strikes. There has never been any comprehensive policy framework that covers the entire gamut of issues affecting the haulage of inflammable materials with a consistent follow up to avoid a repeat.
In the last three months alone, over four hundred lives have been lost and still counting, hundreds of others injured. Unfortunately, these deaths and injuries affected people that had nothing to do with the crashes directly, but largely arising from the oil spillage and explosion that followed affecting scavengers and other hoodlums who wanted to benefit from the spilling fuels. Lessons from previous incidents have not been sufficient enough to deter residents from this risky and irresponsible behavior.
A cursory look at the trend of tanker crashes and the accompanying Explosions with the harvest of deaths will reveal the fact that there is a lot more that needs to be done at various levels, the industry, government and the community levels if this trend may be reversed.
At the oil industry level, haulage of highly inflammable petroleum products are still largely by road relying heavily on the tanker. Over the years, the network of pipelines spread across the country to reduce the distance tankers will have to travel to supply their products have gradually declined in terms of their usage. As s consequence to this loss of pipelines, the depots have since become moribund. Arising from this drawback, every single drop of petroleum products will have to be carried by road thereby opening the flood gate of all manner of tankers being constructed and deployed for use. Who checks and verifies the integrity of the tankers being locally fabricated in almost all major towns in the country? Should the tankers meet international standards, won’t the rate of spillage perhaps reduce?
In addition, most of these tankers are not fitted with even the least of the safety valves that prevent the spilling of the products in case of any crash. Efforts in the past to compel industry players to comply with this simple but all important safety component of the haulage of inflammable petroleum products have consistently been circumvented. Datelines upon datelines came and went till the entire agreement to implement this provision went to sleep.
Another aspect that needs a closer look is the driver attitude in terms of speeding and other violations that increases risks of crash, Driver qualification in terms of training and suitability. A simple comparison with transporters of LNG will reveal a complete variation. When was the last time a LNG tanker crashed? What of the maintenance of the tankers themselves to ensure that constantly they meet minimum standards to be allowed on the roads.
The FRSC safe to Load programme which allows operatives at the various Tank Farms to evaluate the suitability of any truck before they are loaded is a good initiative, but what’s the level of cooperation with the operators and other stakeholders to make it more efficient. It leaves much to be desired.
What of the size of the tankers being produced as far as the approved axle load is concerned on Nigerian roads? The impact on the roads, the safety and ease of carriage and the distance each tanker travels all contribute to issues at stake requiring
a comprehensive policy framework that incorporates all the issues.
At the government level, there’s a lot that needs to be done to increase the safety rating of particularly the Federal highways. There should be no pretence over their state currently nationwide as they contribute greatly to the crashes themselves. Government should prioritize the federal highways and institute a system by which their maintenance will be consistent and timely not until they completely fail before any meaning works may be carried out.
Regulations and the strict enforcement of such regulations is the hallmark of any healthy system. It is the responsibility of the government through the relevant institutions to make the laws and enforce them. Where such laws are broken, such institutions are duty bound to apply the laws with the view to ensuring that no one gets away with any violation without punishment.
At the community level, Nigeria has generally witnessed a decline in terms of respect for law and order and for constituted authority, value orientation has shifted to material things not minding how such will be acquired. Some have argued that poverty, ignorance and lack of self value have led people to behave in manner that’s not consistent with sanity and rationality.
To address these issues with a view to entrenching a more secure system, there should a stakeholders conference to bring to the table all issues affecting the haulage of inflammable petroleum products. Industry players must adjust to the reality that things must not remain the same and government institutions must equally wake up to the occasion, insist on regulations and there must sanctions for violation.
However, the saddest part that won’t be resolved easily is the belief that poverty is the greatest inducer of this irresponsible behavior. Poverty and ignorance won’t go away quickly for people to begin to behave rationally. In addition, the value system won’t also change suddenly for people to begin to behave in such a manner that conforms with high standards of morality.
Nevertheless, the Local Governments, traditional institutions, the National orientation Agency, Religious bodies, Civil Society groups and the media can do a lot to reverse this trend. The Federal government should work asidiosly towards reviving the network of pipelines and the deports, increase the distribution of rail lines with a view to reducing the number of trucks on our highways, increase the lifespan of the roads and generally make the roads safer.
Felix Ndukwadan Theman,
Writes from FRSC Housing Estate Lokongoma, Abuja
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