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!”
Canada.com says that the pipeline has blown up. No word on casualties. So who died now? Obasanjo or fuel scoopers?
December 28, 2006 at 11:27 am
Do we blame OBJ for this one……….they have been warned….they know fire burns, they had time to leave……now many of them wont live.
I am so pissed off!
December 28, 2006 at 11:31 am
It appears there is a leaking pipe somewhere close to the site of the last fire.
Red Cross: Pipeline leak caused no blast:
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/12/28/nigeria.pipeline.ap/
December 28, 2006 at 12:20 pm
It is very sad, especially given how many time this has happened before.
December 28, 2006 at 2:40 pm
This is like the kid who was told not to play with fire…
Considering the fire looks so enticing, bright and interesting, I might as well touch it.
I don’t come from a oil producing country so this might sound like a stupid question. How is it that peole have access to the pipes where they can steal the oil. Are the pipes above ground? I always thought it would be kept away from people for both a profit and a security reason.
December 28, 2006 at 5:02 pm
Josh: Some of these pipelines are above the surface or buried, in shallow ditches. They usually run for several hundred miles and fairly accessible to any determined person.
December 29, 2006 at 1:19 am
The problem definitely comes from the head (as you so accurately stated, “a fish rots from its head). As much as I know greed has a huge part to play in this, what do we expect people who have been stricken with dire poverty for many years now to do? Thieves looted the pipes, and I’m sure gist started spreading that there is free fuel somewhere…
My prayer is that this act of corruption and greediness will not rear its ugly head again, I pray that people will learn a very important lesson from this tragedy: patience is a virtue and greed leads to death…
All in all, OBJ is to blame sha…
December 29, 2006 at 6:22 am
It’ll happen again.
Nigerians are very good at discounting the future, i.e. placing a much lower value on tomorrow than today. It’s not really surprising - surviving in Nigeria is so difficult you have to live one day at a time, and planning ahead is a luxury very few can afford.
So just like the ants that are chased away from a cube of sugar, while the memory of this explosion remains fresh, nobody but the most hardened types will venture near a leaking pipe. But after a month or so, as the memory fades, necessity bites and courage returns, the chances of a repeat incident will mount…
December 29, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Met lots of food for thought here.
December 30, 2006 at 4:20 am