Grandiose Parlor

On May 13 2006, a petrol (gasoline) pipeline exploded at the waterside village of Ilado, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of Lagos killing at least 200 people, according to reports in Yahoo! and an earlier post on this site. Seven months later, up to 700 people in another suburb of Lagos died again from yet another petrol pipeline inferno. This time a day after Christmas; a period notorious for fuel scarcity in Nigeria.

The incident in May prompted the Nigerian president to order security services to uncover the “cause of the deadly blast”, according to media reports. One would wonder why the president needed to give such a pronouncement; given the nature of the event an investigation is expected, I think. Up till now, the findings of that investigation has yet to be disclosed, at least publicly.

This time around, the same government is making the same statement, once again: “Nigeria’s government has promised measures to avoid future disasters…The government is encouraging the establishment of more refineries… so there will be less incentive for people to try to profiteer from the sale of petroleum products, blah, blah, blah”, writes the BBC, quoting the Nigerian information minister.

If there is one thing those running the show in Nigeria know very well to do, that is making statements, empty statements that have little or no meaning. How many policy statements have been issued in regard to fighting crime and armed robbery, solving the Niger-delta sectarian violence, improving education and health care, or alleviating poverty in the society? In fact, there is a federal government funded program on poverty alleviation in Nigeria. Well, one doesn’t need to do any laborious and fanciful evaluation studies to figure how well the program has impacted the people!

As the blogger at Ijebuman’s diary opines on the boxing day’s fatality, Ignorance-Poverty-and-Greed (IPG) are the root causes of the endemic Nigerian pipeline explosions that have killed more than 2,000 people since 1998. I would rather tag this Poverty Ignorance and Greed (PIG) as I did in an earlier post in May. What happened was really “piggish” in my opinion. This time around, however, I believe the Ignorance and Poverty factors have stopped being relevant. After 7 lethal pipeline explosions over an 8-year period, I would expect my people to have known the dangers in scooping and tapping petrol from a punctured pipeline. Only the admixture of poverty and greed can effectively override the fear-factor and common sense nature has innately bestowed on us as a protective mechanism.

As unfortunate and pitiful as this event was, the lackadaisical attitude towards property and human lives in Nigeria shouldn’t come as a surprise, as it appears the rot and complacency demonstrated by the leaders is being mirrored in the ignorance and greedy tendencies of its followers. After all a fish rots from the head.

I can only hope that my people - who are fond of saying in pidgin English: “awuff no dey run belle” (translated as “freebee can do no harm” - now know that petrol “awuff” (freebee) can in fact have very lethal consequences. Picture: recovered from the scene. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye.

Related posts:

Just Thots of a Naijaman: …Of Politics and Scarcity in the Midst of Plenty

Black Looks: Burning Alive in Nigeria

Chxta’s World: The Pipeline(s) Affair

Grandiose Parlor:The Admixture of Poverty, Ignorance and Greed is Lethal!”