Those who say what God cannot do does not exist use the statement as a figure of speech, hyperbole to be specific. Of course, God, the Almighty Creator, is known for doing only good things – not necessarily ‘all’ things. It is in the same sense that I couch the title of my piece today. Corruption is a killer. It does nobody any good. Yet, because I want to emphasise the seriousness of the subject matter that I am about to unveil here, I choose to stick to the hyperbole. Indeed, what corruption cannot do in Nigeria does not exist.
The fuel tanker explosion at Dikko Junction, Niger State last week, is one tanker fire too many. Tankers conveying petroleum products have become sources of sorrow as they continuously cause disastrous road accidents with shocking loss of lives and property. The Dikko tragedy followed a known pattern. It was reported that a speeding fuel tanker crashed in Dikko Junction between Niger and Kaduna States. The residents gathered to take from what they saw as easy spoils. But in the process of scooping fuel that spilt on the tarred road, the upended tanker exploded with a heavy flame that killed all the residents trying to scoop fuel as well as others who attempted to rescue them. About 98 persons died while about 69 were injured.
The gory incident is just an addition to the series of many other such explosions in recent times. Two other reported explosions in September and October 2024 had already claimed 268 lives, bringing the total death toll from tanker accidents to 366 in just five months. Just think about it. Almost 400 hundred thousand Nigerians were lost in a couple of months, with hundreds of others injured. Which country suffers such tragedies in such rapid succession, even in times of war or natural disasters? It is a situation that would push even the most level-headed leader to start thinking out of the box.
Even conspiracy theories would be excused at this juncture. Lest we forget, there are many ways of sabotaging a people and ‘innocently’ killing its citizens. Could these incessant tanker fires be another way of unleashing weapons of mass destruction, by way of accidents, on the citizens without raising any suspicion? A food for thought.
Indeed, many of us would blame the people who refuse to learn from the tragedy of others. Those who rush to scoop fuel when the tankers fall on their roads. Those who, after seeing the news of exploding tankers and the roasted victims, still dive into the scene when such accidents happen in their neighbourhood. Those who seek every opportunity to grab what they can when they can, regardless of the risks involved.
Someone would say it is behaviour borne out of sheer greed and, perhaps, the pressures that emanate from poverty. But I say, it is a behaviour that has much more to do with deep-rooted corruption in our society. It is not just about risking their lives in the pursuit of a means of survival. It is not ignorance, stupidity or lack of regard for human life. I believe it is that imperceptible drive to grab a cut from the national cake; the same atavistic proclivity ingrained in corrupt politicians.
Citizens keep dying in an all too familiar scenario. Many of the deceased had gathered to siphon fuel from the leaking tanker and then perished when the vehicle burst into flames. These ones are seen as looters and thieves who die in the process of trying to take what they should not take. Thus, there is such an intensity in their desperation that needs to be studied. Why is this happening all the time? Why is the government unable to unplug the masses from raging infernos, if only to save them from their selves?
This is why I agree with those intellectuals who shift the discussion from the motivations of disenfranchised individuals to the contexts that normalise this risk-taking behaviour. The July 6, 2013, edition of The East African, interestingly approached this conversation. The editor draws a direct line between fuel siphoning among urban youth and money laundering among Uganda’s parliamentarians.
John Campbell, through a guest blogger, in his Council on Foreign Relations blog post, “Uganda’s Oil Tanker Explosion: More Than Poverty?” wrote, “Poverty and greed are insufficient explanations for the siphoning acts of slum dwellers and government officials. Anthropologists emphasise the zero-sum worldview that prevails across much of sub-Saharan Africa, wherein individuals–rich and poor–perceive resources as limited and opportunities as fleeting. Conditions of uncertainty are evident across the continent; in this milieu, unguarded government accounts and overturned tankers are windfalls, not moral dilemmas.”
Freebies are hard to resist. During elections, for example, many people who have sworn that they would resist the largesse from politicians find themselves swallow their words. When the trucks pull in with the free bags of rice, they start rushing to grab their share. If you asked them, they would tell you it is their money the politician used to buy the goodies. They would believe that they would beat the politician at his own game by taking his largesse and still voting against him. But they never knew how unprepared they were in the game of riding the tiger.
This is just one side of the coin. The other side speaks to the corruption in the system, which brings about a lack of infrastructure, oversight deficiency and poor emergency response – all creating the perfect atmosphere for such tanker disasters. The contractors give kickbacks to the legislators and executives that facilitated their road contract awards, and this enables them to deliver low-quality roads – and sometimes nonexistent roads – to the masses. Nobody is called to account. The roads and bridges collapse, and the tankers start dropping like children’s toys.
What about the other end, which involves the responsibility of drivers and road traffic authorities? This is an area that nobody is talking about. When you ply the Nigerian highways, you see the interstate tanker drivers carry on as if they are lords of the road. Nobody stops them for driver’s license checks or alcohol tests. It is taken for granted that they are qualified to drive and that they are in the right mental state for long-distance haulage. This is unwise on the part of law enforcement officers who never raise an eyebrow. They are eager to stop SUVs, cars and buses, but will allow the trailers, tankers and articulate vehicles to reign supreme. One usually gets this sense that the tanker drivers are more qualified than the bus drivers. Or, that they are driven by angels!
The government must beam a spotlight on the road traffic sector with the urgency it now requires to save the citizens. Fuel tanker haulage should not be treated as general goods haulage. There should be stricter checks on the maintenance of tankers, including regular inspections and mandatory updates to older vehicles, just the way we are now told to check our domestic gas cylinders to forestall gas explosions. In the short term, the government must enforce mandatory upgrades to safety equipment, including explosion-proof valves, stronger tank structures, and automatic fire suppression systems, to mitigate the risks posed by transporting volatile substances. In the long run, transporting dangerous and highly inflammable substances by road using tankers should be channelled to safer alternatives such as rail or pipeline transport, because they are less prone to accidents.
By Greg Odogwu
