An Australian hard rock band, sang the ‘Highway to Hell’ to reflect the arduous nature of travelling continuously on the freeways. In the lyrics, they sang about ‘living easy, loving free, season ticket on a one way ride’ while Bon Scott, the lead singer croaked, ‘don’t stop me’. The 86 souls, and still counting, that roasted at the Dikko junction, in Suleja, Niger State, in a petrol tanker fire may never have heard the song. But surely, they rode the highway to hell.
No doubt, poverty and ignorance are contributory factors to the grim reaper that petrol tanker explosions have become for Nigerians. According to the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, about 265 lives, have been lost to tanker explosion fires in the past five months. Ironically, a fallen tanker laden with fuel looks like free gift, in the midst of grinding poverty, and like bees attracted to honey, the poor and ignorant converge to scoop free fuel that could earn them some quick bucks, forgetting that every scoop, could become an excruciating death pang.
Sadly, many of the next victims may never hear about the fate that befell the most recent victims, and even those before them. After all, ignorance is a bliss. I recall that a former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff, sometime in 2006, boasted that 95 percent of his subjects are illiterates and as such, he was not bothered by any negative media report. He told the gathering of journalists that he does not care what they write about his government.
But like his colleagues, he forgot that an uneducated population suffers other disabilities and not ability to read about his poor governance. He did not know or he cares not that illiteracy is a highway to poverty. In 2023, the World Bank estimated that about 104 million Nigerians, which approximated to 46 percent of Nigerians lived in poverty. The figure is still high, despite governmental programs, as the World Bank estimate that 40.7% Nigerians, are still below poverty line as at the end of 2024.
According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), deprivation of education, contributed 35.6% to the cause of Multidimensional Poverty Index, in Nigeria as at 2021. And as at 2023, the illiteracy rate in Nigeria is estimated at 31%. The theme of the 2023 edition of the International Literacy Day: ‘Promoting Literacy for a World in Transition: Building the Foundation for Sustainable and Peaceful Societies’ captures the challenges of the country. Without doubt, illiteracy engenders poverty, insecurity and other socio-economic challenges.
Unfortunately, instead of investing in education, some states waste scarce resources on white elephant projects, most recently, on airports. According to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), only three out of the 22 airports, under its management are profitable, yet a state like Zamfara, which finds it difficult to meet its recurrent obligations, is building an airport. After wasting scarce state resources to build underutilized airports, the burden of maintenance is shifted to the federal agency, FAAN, to bear the brunt of a wretched economic decision.
So, Nigerians stymied in crass poverty, see a fallen tanker, laden with scarce petroleum product, fuel, as God-given opportunity to earn some quick money, for free. To further compound the state of anomie, state governments do not place any premium on a functional and modern Fire Service. Obviously, very few states have invested resources in buying modern fire fighting vehicles, equipment and accessories, which could come handy, when faced with a special type of fire, as happened in Suleja. Sadly, the Federal Fire Service may just be a little better.
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For this writer, the negligence and lack of capacity by the federal and state fire service bears substantial responsibility for the tragedy at the Dikko junction in Suleja, Niger State. If either the federal or state fire service were well equipped, with the manpower and the specialized chemicals to fight fuel-fire, the scene of the accident would have been cordoned off, and neutralized within few minutes of the incident. But most states don’t even have a functional Fire Service, and some Federal Fire Service in states, don’t have functional firefighting trucks, not to talk of specialized kits and materials.
The Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) indicates that 52% of Nigerians are living below the poverty line, which translates to over 105 million people living on less than $1 per day. There is no indication whether a community having access to basic safety measures like fire fighting equipment is a factor in determining the living standard index. But there is no reason why it should not be, considering the challenge posed by fire in the lives of the people in a community.
One wonders what will be the fate of Nigerians should a fraction of the fire incident that has engulfed parts of California and Los Angeles, recently, happen in our dear country. Despite the massive fire-fighting capacity, both in the air and on the ground by the counties, states and even the US government, towns and lives have been razed. Interestingly, the Fire Department of New York City’s budget of $2.68 billion when converted at N1,500, is about N4 trillion, which is the budget of several states in Nigeria, added together.
So, while not advocating for the entire resources of each state in Nigeria to be appropriated to the Fire Service, it is saddening that while state government engage in several white elephant projects, basic necessities like a functional fire service is neglected. This writer witnessed a fire incident more than five years ago, in Satellite Town, a suburb of Lagos. Both the federal and state fire services were called about the same time. Interestingly, the state fire service arrived within five minutes, well kitted and able to put out the fire.
Sadly, the federal fire service never showed up. The embarrassing incident was reported to a top official at the headquarters in Abuja and if I recall properly, it was a subject of intervention on this column. Of note, the government of the President Muhammaudu Buhari made a lot of investment in the Federal Fire Service, which may have translated to efficiency. Hopefully, the latest incident will attract the attention for a comprehensive review of safety measures, with regards to the movement of highly inflammable gasoline products, across the country.
While deeply commiserating with the families and victims of the latest incident, relevant state and federal agencies should establish a standard protocol on how to deal with petrol tanker accidents. With Fire Service in the forefront, there should a multi-agency protocol, involving the security agencies on the immediate steps to take when such incident happens. The embarrassing screamer across the world media, that 70 or more Nigerians were consumed by an avoidable fire incident de-markets the country. Poor Nigerians, must not be allowed to rock the highway to hell.
