Inevitably, Nigerians are battling to come to terms with another human tragedy. The latest carnage, which occurred at a gas plant in Abule-Ado, Amuwo-Odofin area of Lagos, on Sunday, was triggered by a series of massive explosions. For the reason that the gas plant is situated near the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation System 2B oil pipeline, the fire also destroyed scores of buildings and cars parked in the vicinity. With Nigeria’s notoriety for laxity in enforcing safety regulations, there is still a sense of danger ahead, especially when a gas plant is coterminous with an oil pipeline.
From the 17 deaths recorded on Sunday when the explosion occurred, the toll hit 20 on Monday. The victims included a family of four, Henrietta Alokha, the principal of a nearby Bethlehem Girls’ College, workers in the college and churchgoers. Tragically, Alokha, a Catholic nun, died trying to save her pupils from death. The injured are up to 50 persons. About 50 buildings went down under the impact of the explosions, which were felt many kilometres away in the western part of the state. Hundreds were rendered homeless and businesses displaced. Sadly, it came about two months after an oil pipeline explosion in the Abule-Egba area of the state incinerated five people in January.
Although the final report of investigations into the incident is in the works, preliminary findings indicate that the accident occurred because critical institutions of state failed woefully in their responsibilities. According to media reports, a truck collided with gas cylinders at a gas processing plant, which prompted the initial explosions. The explosions might have been contained at the plant, but the fire escalated rapidly because the facility operated near the NNPC oil pipeline’s right of way. Because of this unpardonable negligence, an avoidable disaster occurred.
That strongly suggests that the calamity and others before it are preventable. Ordinarily, businesses, buildings, schools and trading activities are prohibited from the NNPC RoW. If the NNPC and its subsidiaries and the Lagos State Government’s urban planning department had been alert to their duties, the three schools, the buildings and the gas processing plant would not have been operating close to a source of danger. This shows that in Nigeria, laws for the greater good are on paper only, as enforcement is in the breach. It should not be so.
For now, all that Nigeria is doing is damage limitation, which is inexcusable. In response to the incident, the Lagos State emergency responders, the National Emergency Management Agency and other institutions moved in to curtail the inferno. At that point, they were just being reactive, helped by an element of luck because vehicular traffic is usually lighter on Sunday mornings. On a busy weekday, it would have been more difficult.
To avert disaster of this nature in the future, these institutions should be proactive. Lagos, for instance, ought to have established standard fire fighting stations at different locations in the sprawling metropolis. Furthermore, it has to start a rigorous enforcement of town planning laws. Currently, buildings and businesses are erected on NNPC RoW, under high-tension transmission cables, under bridges and dangerously close to canals. Under these bridges, traders, artisans and shanties occupy the spaces. Instead of preventing these structures, demolishing already existing ones and prosecuting their owners who compromise the integrity of these combustible facilities, government remains aloof, waiting for disasters to happen.
The Department of Petroleum Resources, the Products and Pipelines Marketing Company and the NNPC, organisations saddled with the management of the oil assets, also have questions to answer. Their statutes give them control over the management of RoW across the country. In spite of this, they are so lax that structures are built and trading activities take place on these delicate oil assets. The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, told a bewildered nation that in the 18 years to 2019, hoodlums vandalised the corporation’s pipelines 45,347 times. During these times, several fire disasters have occurred on these pipelines in Ijegun, Abule-Egba, Isheri (all in Lagos), Osisioma, in Abia State (2018), and Jesse, in Delta State (1998).
These disasters are unwarranted. The NNPC should wake up to its responsibilities. In conjunction with the state governments where its assets are located, it should properly secure the pipelines. Without wasting time, it should constitute a special team to demolish all structures abutting and sitting on the oil pipelines, prosecute their owners and strategise on how to monitor encroachment in future. To be fair, the NNPC embarked on such demolition in 2014, but it is apparent that that cause has been long abandoned. To instil sanity, this should be strategically revived, not minding whose ox is gored.
A judge-led public inquiry is the best chance of getting at the truth about what happened, ensuring that nothing similar happens again, and providing the authorities with evidence for any prosecutions. This will reduce the negligence within the ranks of its workforce and is the standard practice in other countries, helping to keep public and private sector officials in check. This was the case in South Korea in 2014 when The Sewol, a ferry carrying 476 passengers, mostly pupils of Danwon High School in Ansan, capsized on the sea. Apparently feeling the weight of the calamity, Kang Min-gyu, the vice-principal of the school committed suicide. Following repeated pipeline disasters in Mexico, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador campaigned for office in 2018 with a pledge to stem the tide. On assuming office, he instantly cracked down on “huachicoleo” (or moon-shining), deploying thousands of marines to guard the pipelines. He shut down other pipelines to deny oil thieves access.
There should be a collaborative effort to help those affected, especially for emergency compensation. Public-spirited lawyers should assist victims and their families to take legal action against the parties found responsible for the devastating fire.
