No fewer than 80 persons have been killed and property worth millions of Naira destroyed in fuel tanker explosions in four states. Some state governments, transport experts and stakeholders are back to the drawing board for a solution to falling tankers and an end to the explosions, ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE reports.
ANAMBRA STATE Governor Willy Obiano couldn’t hide his grief penultimate Sunday. He wept on seeing the carnage and charred remains of 69 persons, including an expectant mother and children who were burnt, after a petrol tanker rammed into the Asaba Motor Park in Onitsha, the Southeast commercial hub.
Barely 48 hours later, a similar incident occurred in Lagos when a petrol laden tanker fell off the Iyana-Ipaja Bridge and exploded around 2a.m.
Though no lives were lost, many lost virtually everything they had laboured for. Traders who keep daily proceeds in their shops lost their goods and money.
A victim, Mrs Bisi Idowu, said: “I am naked now, with nothing in the world.”
That night, fuel tankers also caught fire in Magbon, Badagry and Ojo.
On June 5, at Idimu in Alimoso Local Government Area of Lagos State, another tanker exploded, destroying about 34 houses, 70 shops and one tricycle. At Oribawa, Bus Stop on Lekki-Epe Expressway, 48 hours later, a similar incident occured.
On June 3, 10 persons died when a petrol tanker rammed into the roadside market on Ilesa-Akure Road, following a brake failure. A similar incident was recorded in front of the Ambrose Alli University, in Ekpoma, Edo State.
Tragic routine
Falling petrol laden tankers are becoming a routine.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) said petrol tankers and articulated vehicles constituted over 70 percent of the terror on the roads. It identified over-speeding, drink driving, poorly maintained vehicles and bad road networks as some of the causes of accidents.
A recent statistics showed that 70 percent of about 358 accidents between 1999 and 2002, involved articulated trucks. The survey said about 32 per cent of truck drivers are negligent, immature and inexperienced to handle the vehicles as they are below age 30.
How did we get here?
Economic growth was stunted. Public infrastructure, especially road and railway, suffered when the Federal Government’s National Economic Development Plan was stopped in the 70s because of the 30-month civil war.
The abandonment of the railway service resulted in the government providing an easier route to cargo and passenger transportation.
The unregulated scenario left all manner of operators engaging in transportation of goods, including flammable items like petroleum and gas products.
FRSC said about 100,000 petroleum tankers are operating on the nation roads as at today.
The collapse of other NNPC depots also made Lagos, with a forest of 45 private tank farms, the supplier of all the products needed across the country.
A source in FRSC said if all tankers and trailers lined up in a single file from Apapa, they would almost reach the Ibadan, Oyo State capital’s defunct toll gate.
Derelict depots and unsafe pipelines
To avert petrol tanker accidents, transport experts averred that all the depots across the country must work.
“If all depots in Kano, Borno, Warri and elsewhere work optimally, the products would be supplied by the pipelines through the depots and tankers would not need to travel far distances to load for end-point supplies, an expert advised.
He canvassed an urgent de-centralisation of the loading of petroleum products by the Federal Government to reduce pressure, especially on the Lagos roads.
The Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association (MOMAN), Mr Obafemi Olawore, who spoke in the same vein, flayed the situation where Lagos remains the only loading depots for all petroleum tankers in the country.
He said the situation where 100,000 tankers come to Lagos to lift the product is not only cumbersome and unhealthy, but over-stretches the state’s road infrastructure.
It also leads to weariness on the part of the drivers who are under pressure by their employers to deliver timely and on schedule.
Similar view was canvassed by the FRSC Lagos Sector Commander Mr Hyginus Omeje, who urged the Federal Government to revisit all challenges inhibiting the effective functioning of all NNPC depots with the aim of finding a lasting solution to them.
The pipelines, he said, must also be adequately utilised and policed for effective supply of the products to all the depots in the country.
A panel and summit
Because it remains the nation’s economic capital (hosting the busiest gateways either by air or sea), Lagos, which controls about 70 percent of Nigeria’s industrial and commercial activities has continued to attract articulated vehicles and trucks.
Mr Ayo Ogunbiyi, a staff of the Lagos State government contends that a state housing 22 industrial estates, 2,000 industrial complexes, a Free Export Trade Zone (FETZ), 10,000 commercial complexes, representing 60 percent of the nation’s industrial and commercial ventures, 70 percent of national maritime cargo freight, and 50 percent of nation’s petroleum products consumption, needs to be proactive in preventing accidents.
In his work; “Lagos fire, articulated vehicles and road accidents,” Ogunbiyi argued that since increased influx would bring more accidents and fire explosion government need to plan.
That was exactly what the state Governor Mr Akinwumi Ambode decided to do when he set up a committee to probe the accidents.
Those accidents, Ambode said, must be tackled and those culpable prosecuted.
Ambode urged strict compliance with the traffic law and directed total enforcement of the law.
He asked the Secretary to the State Government Mr Tunji Bello’s 10-man panel to investigate the immediate and remote causes of tanker explosions.
He charged the committee to prepare guidelines for the ethical conduct for tankers and articulated vehicles drivers and to task insurance operators to come up with new policies aimed at protecting the victims.
The FRSC said it would also be organising a national summit for tanker drivers and owners at Abuja.
The Lagos and Ogun Zonal Commander, Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Nse Obong Akpabio, who disclosed this said the crashes are worrisome, and the Corps Marshal Boboye Oyeyemi, has ordered full investigation and total enforcement.
He said the summit with the theme: “Haulage operations for national development,” is to address the ugly trend of tanker crashes in the country.
Akpabio urged tanker owners to train their employees and improve the maintenance of their vehicles.
He said all old articulated vehicles must also be removed from the roads.
Workable suggestions
Besides the effective optimisation of the depots, Olawore challenged the Federal Government to fix all inter-state road networks, and ensure these roads have appropriate road infrastructure fittings such as reflective signs and markings.
State governments should also complement this by fixing the inner roads, making movement easy for all motorists.
He said all the three tiers of government must not relent, but increase their spend on the provision of safe, motorable roads across the country.
He equally canvassed the return of tank wagon train services, adding that the train ought to be optimised as it could carry more products out of the Ports from where it could be redistributed to other parts of the country.
According to him, since two years ago when the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) acquired 40 oil bearing tank wagons, they are yet to be put to use.
He said because each wagons carries 100,000 litres of petroleum products, it is evident that wagons would go a long way in resolving the carnage on the road.
Olawore equally called on the Federal Government to address the concentration of tank farms in Lagos.
According to him, since the standard global practice is to relocate the ports to more remote areas anytime communal activities are catching up with it, it would not be bad idea if federal government begin to consider the relocation of the ports and the tank farms from Apapa to deflood the area and reduce the exposure of residence along the axis to danger.
He called for the strict enforcement of all traffic laws on errant drivers and owners of the vehicles by all state governments.
Olawore called for the duplication of drivers institute such as it exist in Lagos across the country for the regular training and retraining of all professional drivers including petroleum tanker drivers.
He equally canvassed strict compliance to speed limit by tanker drivers, whether on intercity highways or intracity road network.
The MOMAN chief, called for regular health checks, including eye tests for all drivers and their assistants, even as he challenged them to always observe rest to avoid fatigue on the road. The drivers must regularly be subjected to tolerance training.
He said on no account should any driver hand the steering over to his assistant as this have been known to be reasons behind many accident cases in the past.
Olawore called on vehicle owners to ensure regular maintenance of their vehicle. “The maintenance is not only about the engine, other aspects includes the electrical workings, new good tyres, good wipers, headlamps and rear lamps on the vehicles. Owners must also install a tracking device on all their vehicles,” he said.
PTD spokesman Comrade Adebayo Atanda said the PTD leadership has directed that no driver should henceforth drive at night.
According to him, this is to further assist emergency responders as it is usually easier and quicker to respond to any emergency at daytime than if it happens at night.
Secondly, he said “all drivers have been told to refuse to sit behind the wheel of a vehicle which is not fit for the roads.”
He said PTD is ready to work with the VIOs in all states to weed out old tankers and ensure they are promptly removed from the road.
Atanda who said the association is equally committed to reducing the carnage on the roads, challenged the government to fix the roads before taking their anger on the drivers for accidents which might have been prevented had the roads been good.
NEMA’s Southwest Media Coordinator Mr Ibrahim Farinloye said there is need for massive citizenship education on how to react to emergencies.
According to him, rather than helping the situation, the massing of people at scenes of incidents are drawbacks for emergency responders as it hinders evacuation and safety operations.
“We need to begin to sensitise the people on what to do in case of emergencies. How do they respond, how can they help those in distress, and who to call. Most times getting to the scene of incident becomes hazardous even to emergency responders as such places would have been taken over by miscreants,” Farinloye said.
Conclusion
Even as the government also considers the role of the citizens in helping to minimise the trauma of tanker accident and attendant explosion, there is also the need to ensure harsh punishment is meted out to reckless drivers to serve as deterrent.
Since issues of negligence such as reckless driving, driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, fatigue, and inexperience among others are at the heart of over 80 percent of the crashes, stiff penalties ought to be meted out to drivers and their employers and owners whose costly mistakes have caused others untold hardship.
‘If all depots in Kano, Borno, Warri and elsewhere work optimally, the products would be supplied by the pipelines through the depots and tankers would not need to travel far distances to load for end-point supplies’
