Nigerians are said to be very superstitious people. There must be hidden and sometimes, diabolic reasons why some bad things happen to people, especially when such happenstances seem coincidental or are repeated in uncanny ways.
Three Saturdays ago, another petrol tanker explosion occurred on one of the bridges on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
A fuel-laden tanker was said to have gone up in flames at the Kara end of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, resulting in the usual huge traffic on the road which of course spilled into major parts of Lagos, causing more hardship for those who did not heed or hear of the incident early enough to stay home.
Several vehicles were reportedly trapped in the inferno which occurred about 1.00am Saturday night and blazed through the morning because there were no fire fighters on the scene early enough, being middle of the night; even the first fire engines to show up were attacked by hoodlums who have made their home around and under the bridge.
Kara Bridge has become very popular, along with its counterparts on the same axis,Otedola Bridge and Long Bridge, as sites of petroleum tanker accidents and explosions. Even the Anthony Bridge, linking Apapa and Oshodi with the Gbagada Expressway to the Third Mainland has lately joined as tanker accident-prone scenes.
With the yuletide around the corner, it is good to put strategies in place to avoid these preventableaccidents which have made people wonder at their frequency and the susceptibility of these bridges to such accidents.
There is therefore an urgent need for all the stakeholders involved, including the Federal and State Governments, and tanker owners and drivers to work out measures to avoid tanker crashes.
Last September, oil marketers under the aegis of Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) held a workshop in Abuja, to examine causes of frequent cases of road traffic crashes involving petroleum tankers and trucks, leading to wanton destruction of lives and property.
Following that workshop, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha convened a meeting of strategic stakeholders lastMonday, 23rd November, 2020 at the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), National Headquarters, Abuja.
The meeting which had in attendance, representatives of MOMAN, NARTO, FRSC and Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation was said to have taken far-reaching resolutions aimed at tackling the menace of petroleum tanker crashes in the country.
The resolutions include:
- That the Secretary to the Government of the Federation should consider securing a Presidential Directive for urgent intervention in the provision of soft loans for truck renewal, using similar template as applicable to pharmaceutical companies and other sectors of the economy at the peak of COVID-19.
- That NNPC should re-activate failed and vandalized pipelines in the country to reduce the burden on the transportation of petroleum products by road. This is aimed at providing a long term solution to the safe, efficient and sustainable transportation of petroleum products across the country.
- A timeline to be set for the enforcement of the maximum load capacity of 45,000 litres of petroleum products by trucks operating from the Tank Farms across the country.
- Enforcement of all safety standards including anti-skid, anti-rollover and anti-spill (safety valves) be prioritized within a given time frame as outlined in a similar communiqué reached in 2018.
- Government to consider issuing directives on enforcement of the 10-year policy on importation of trucks, so that any articulated vehicle that is beyond 10 years of age should not be allowed into the country.
- FRSC, MOMAN and NARTO to organize a joint enlightenment campaign for articulated vehicle drivers, including production and placement of jingles in different languages on radio and television, production of handbills and also convene a news conference within two weeks.
These resolutions are timely; however, there remains the issue of the political will to put in place proper logistics of distribution of petroleum products across the country.
The number of tankers crisscrossing the length and breadth of Nigeria to deliver petroleum products, particularly the highly inflammable PMS, is scary. While a lot of investment has been made by the government on petroleum pipelines, confidence seems to be more on vehicular movement of the products.
A lot has been written about the poor state of the roads, their poor maintenance and the fact that old tankers are allowed to be brought in to be used for this very dangerous operation. A good rail system will solve this problem of vehicles that are not roadworthy being used for this purpose. But the story of our rail network is another one of woes and un-kept promises.
Another story of un-kept promises has to do with the assurances to make the refineries work. If the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna were revamped as promised, the trucks will not need to move products over long distances. The same goes for the overhauling of the ports in Port Harcourt and Warri. As it currently is and with the huge number of these trucks on Lagos roads which has created the famous and unsolved Apapa gridlock, the tank farms in Apapa seem to be the sole receptacles and storage of imported petroleum products.
With all the listed problems still begging for solution, the end does not seem to be in sight to the frequent accidents on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and elsewhere. There also must be something defective in the design, structure, construction and maintenance of Kara, Otedola and Long bridges that makes them prone to these tanker crashes that have claimed several lives, especially when residents swoop in on the products to try and scoop free petrol which is not very friendly to such acts, because a little spark results in fires that consume everything in sight.
Or is there something I have missed out about these bridges? Some Mammy Water probably angry at the vibration of the bridges from the weight of the tankers? But do all the bridges even have water below? I am not so sure of that – except the water cannot be seen with the naked eyes!
Epa Ogie Eboigbe, veteran journalist, broadcaster and public affairs specialist writes on, and analyses current and historical issues with a ‘wise pen’.
