Regulators must do more to stem the problem
It was another hell on earth for several families in the country, following the explosion of a fuel-laden tanker along Bida-Agaie-Lapai Road in Niger State. The incident occurred when a tanker loaded with petrol (PMS) collided with a trailer truck loaded with travellers and cattle from Wudil in Kano State en route Lagos. No fewer than 48 persons reportedly lost their lives. Scores of others were injured while about 50 cows died on the spot. The tanker from Lagos on transit to Kano, loaded with fuel was said to be on top speed when it lost control, fell down and was engulfed with fire. According to the Director-General, Niger Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abdullahi Baba Arah, another trailer that conveyed cows and humans and two other vehicles were affected.
While we commiserate with the families of the deceased, the frequency of these accidents should compel action from the relevant authorities. Although the real cause of the disaster is yet to be officially ascertained, it is being blamed on reckless driving, bad road, and absence of traffic control at a critical intersection. But this is a problem that has gone on for years. The number of fatalities arising from petrol tanker explosions on our roads is getting increasingly high. That is aside the billions lost to such fire incidents.
The Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) recently launched a stakeholders' initiative involving the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and other key players to identify and resolve factors responsible for petroleum tanker crashes and explosions. MENAN's Executive Secretary, Clement Isong, said the analyses of several petroleum tanker-related crashes revealed that issues included drivers' mental alertness and attitude, overloading of trucks, far exceeding safe limits, and inadequate maintenance.
In January 2019, six months after a tanker truck loaded with petrol fell and spilled its contents on the Otedola Bridge axis on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, bursting into flames and killing several motorists, a similar tragedy occurred in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State. The tanker was heading outside the state capital when it suddenly lost balance towards the Federal Housing Estate along the Odukpani axis of the highway and fell off. A few months later, dozens of villagers were killed in Ahumbe, Benue State when a tanker laden with petrol exploded on the Alliade/ Makurdi Federal Highway in the Gwer East Local Government Area. The tanker driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle while trying to dodge a pothole.
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In the wake of these tragedies, there were conversations about the nightmare that fuel tanker drivers have become in the country, but nothing has been done to tackle the menace. In four separate incidents within a spate of one week in 2015, no fewer than 100 people were killed with property worth hundreds of millions of Naira destroyed. In Onitsha, Anambra State, 85 fatalities were recorded when a petrol-laden tanker lost control and rammed into a public motor park. Several buildings, vehicles and property worth millions of Naira were also consumed by fire. Scores of others were left with different degrees of burns.
Meanwhile, in most countries, petroleum products are transported through pipelines and not by putting thousands of trucks on the road every day as we do in Nigeria. Therefore, to stop the serial calamities on our roads, a solution must be found to the challenge.
