Abuja, Nigeria — Authorities in Nigeria believe equipped plans to overview safety protocols for the transportation of gas after a lethal tanker accident and explosion in Jigawa divulge killed extra than 140 other folks Wednesday.
President Bola Tinubu talked about the overview would per chance be “swift and comprehensive,” but some observers are skeptical that safety requirements will toughen.
The tanker crashed in the village of Majiya and a transient time later burst into flames, killing and injuring many who had gathered around the wreckage to scoop up spilled gas.
Tinubu talked about a overview of transport protocols for gas would per chance be implemented in partnership with diverse divulge authorities and that offenders of the current regulations would per chance be punished.
It’s now now not obvious what the current regulations would per chance be.
The president also despatched top govt officers including his protection and transportation ministers, alongside with meals support and scientific supplies, to the place of Wednesday’s atomize.
Economic analyst Eze Onyekpere talked about he doesn’t inquire any current measures from authorities.
“It is a very unfortunate situation and position because the leadership of the country has not been proactive about planning for transporting of whether it’s crude oil or refined petroleum,” Onyekpere talked about. “The government is not known to think through issues, they just latch on when there’s a public outburst.”
The accident in Jigawa comes barely one month after one more tanker exploded after it collided with a truck in Niger divulge, killing Forty eight other folks.
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Tinubu has ordered the Federal Motorway Safety Corps, or FRSC, to toughen enforcement of already existing toll road transport protocols, including regulations on night travels and reliable patrols.
Vitality skilled Chukudi Victor Odoeme talked about the current measures are welcome, but is skeptical about compliance.
“The federal government thinking at this point that it’s the time to put policies in place is a good one, but the only snag I see in this is compliance,” he talked about. “It has to do with enforcement, it’s not actually about the laws. Load limits have always been there, but it has never been enforced. They have to do a lot of enforcement, I don’t think it’s in creating new policies.”
Nigeria’s 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) of oil pipelines are generally susceptible to vandalism, and petrol suppliers largely count on tankers to transport gas around the nation. However due to poorly maintained roads and push aside for existing toll road measures, tanker accidents are trendy.
Onyekpere talked about the govt. needs to repair and give protection to the pipelines.
“If those pipelines were secured and maintained, that would have been the cheapest and easiest way of transporting these things in such a manner that would not expose Nigerians to a lot of risk,” Onyekpere talked about.
In 2020, extra than 500 other folks died from about 1,500 tanker accidents, in accordance to the FRSC.
