Avoidable Tragedies

Residents of Lagos are still counting their losses arising from fire ignited by petrol tankers that crashed at Iyana-Ipaja, Idimu, Badagry and other parts of the state. Victims lost shops and houses worth millions of naira to these avoidable tragedies that occurred in less than one week apart.

In an editorial we published recently in the wake of the Onitsha tanker fire disaster on Sunday 31 May that resulted in the death of over 75 people and destruction of houses and other properties, we warned that it could happen again anywhere in the country due to the recklessness of tanker drivers on the nation’s roads. Here we are now bemoaning the serial tragedies caused by fuel tankers in Lagos State.

The magnitude of the havoc wreaked by truck drivers is so colossal that the government must rein them in now. Most of the truck drivers are youths who do not seem adequately equipped to drive heavy trucks. This could be seen from their devil-may-care attitude on the road that has left many road users dead or maimed for life.

Truck drivers generally have been known to be above the law as they drive recklessly and park their vehicles indiscriminately on roadsides thus endangering other people’s lives. It is not as if they do not contribute to the socio-economic development of the nation as they transport goods across the length and breadth of the nation. But they shouldn’t perform this essential role at the expense of the lives of other Nigerians.

Again, the number of trucks in the city of Lagos and on the nation’s highways is too high. Most of the highly inflammable liquid these trucks convey on the roads could be transported by rail. Other essential commodities such as cement and iron rods conveyed by trucks could also be transported by rail to ease the burden heavy duty trucks exert on the roads. It is these trucks that shorten the lifespan of the roads by damaging them. We don’t want to believe insinuation that owners of haulage companies do not want the rail transport sector to thrive in order to protect their own business.

Government must restore sanity on the roads by curtailing the excesses of truck drivers. Traffic officers should ensure that trucks are roadworthy and the containers they convey are properly fastened to the body of articulated trucks. Bad roads equally contribute to the carnage on the roads. The causes of these avoidable tragedies must be addressed to make the cities and the nation’s highways safe for the citizens.