When will our leaders – President, Vice President, Governors and Lawmakers – get tired of issuing shop-worn condolence messages to families of victims of avoidable lethal accidents, particularly boat drownings and petrol tanker explosions? These condolences now smack of apparent inability of government to address their root causes to minimise their occurrences.
Within the space of five months, Nigeria has recorded several tanker explosions which claimed the lives of over 400 people, with others severely injured. Besides the most recent ones, on September 8, 2024, a tanker accident claimed 48 lives in Agaie area of Niger State. A bigger accident that led to the demise of 209 took place in Maijiya, Jigawa State, on 15th October 2024. Tragedy returned to the Suleja area of Niger State on Saturday, 18th January 2025 with the perishing of another 86.
Just like in the historic Jesse, Delta State accident of 1998 which grimly took the lives of 1,082, the high fatalities were as a result of multitudes rushing to the accident scenes to scoop petrol. In such situations, all it needs is a single spark for hundreds to die horrifying deaths or become disabled for life, within an instant.
Unfortunately, due to poverty, ignorance and the inability of misguided citizens to resist the lure of free petrol, this tragedy will continue until government does its job to minimise the exposure of the poor to this danger.
Years of bad, corrupt and incompetent government have led to a broken system where fuel marketers have no choice but to freight their products over long distances on badly maintained highways. Petroleum products can no longer be pumped through pipeline networks to depots because of the menace of vandals. Our railway system, which used to complement the pipelines, has been out of commission for over 30 years.
Our weak law enforcement system and poor maintenance culture are not helping matters. Despite the hundreds of Police, Military and Road Safety checkpoints on our highways, rickety tankers and trucks which have no business being on the roads are allowed due to bribery and the fact that most of them are owned by untouchable “big men/women”.
There is no alternative to the restoration of the pipeline/depot network system of fuel distribution. The law enforcement agencies must find the solution to vandalisation. That is their work. The railway system restoration must be prioritised to re-enable the movement of fuel by rail. It does not make sense to truck petrol from Lagos to Maiduguri or Port Harcourt to Sokoto on our deplorable roads. That is courting disaster!
Setting up committees after tragedies is a mere fire brigade reflex action. Good governance is the only solution. Our broken system must be restored and our people re-orientated to see tanker accident scenes as death beckoning, rather than “awuff” or freebies.
Good governance is key!
