It happened again on Monday 10th September, 2018 in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State. Monaco Gas Filling Station on Jos Road went up in flames following gas leakage from its gas plant. The ensuing inferno from the gas tank and gas cylinders killed and injured many people. Painfully, unknowing passers-by on the ever-busy Lafia-Jos Road accidentally got onto the scene and were consumed. Though residential buildings near the gas plant were not badly affected, residents were traumatised and anguished.
The Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, on a visit to the scene said nine persons including a little child were killed. Some of those who survived it were so badly burnt that they will never find living like before. This, like other numerous fire incidents in Nigeria made people to wonder about the preparedness of government to keep the environment safe.
The Lafia incident is second of such this year. Last January, seven people were killed, eight burnt when a gas plant by name Second Coming Nigeria Limited exploded on CMD Road in Magodo, Ikosi Isheri Local Development Area of Lagos State in similar circumstance.
In the last two months, it has been one tale of misfortune or the other in Nigerian cities. Most of these ugly incidents are caused by unwholesome human activities which could have been avoided if authorities had done what they are supposed to do efficiently and dispassionately.
The building collapse incident in Jabi, Abuja on Friday 18th August, 2018 where fatalities were recorded was said to be a result of poor construction works. From preliminary report released by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), it was apparent that construction works were not professionally done. “But we found the material wasn’t good on the site. We’ve also gone to the foundation and found out that the foundation was at 800mm — less than a metre deep. I’ve also looked at the starter bars that came out for the columns. Sixty-four diameters, 16mm. They look too slim for a structure of that height,” the Director-General of NBRRI, Prof. Danladi Matawal told Viewpoint Housing News. This happening in Abuja, the seat of power, where there are numerous professional and regulatory bodies leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
Also, much of the flooding that has displaced people in communities across Nigeria is partly caused by poor environmental ways. Apart from residents dumping waste indiscriminately, planners are said to not have properly done their work and ensured proper urban regulation. You walk in a typical Nigerian settlement and you wonder whether town planners are truly at work there.
Then of course, the tremor in Abuja. Though it seemed to be a natural occurrence, scientists have not ruled out human activities as cause of the incident. The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) early this month issued a directive suspending quarrying and mining activities and borehole drilling in Mpape, Garki and Gwarimpa districts of Abuja due to the tremor. FCTA maintained that there shall be no such activities in these places until the outcome of investigations on the cause(s) of the incident.
Speaking at Mpape, the epicentre of the incident, the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr Chinyeaka Ohaa said preliminary reports indicated that rock blasting, quarrying, mining as well as indiscriminate drilling of boreholes are likely causes of the tremor. According to Ohaa, it became necessary to suspend all quarrying activities on various sites of Abuja, especially Mpape, Garki, Gwarimpa and contiguous areas. But then one might ask, why did FCTA wait till the tremor happened to issue this directive when there had been indiscriminate blasting of rocks in the hilly and scruffy settlement of Mpape?
In September 2016, an adjoining state to FCT, Kaduna was hit by earth tremor which forced many to flee. The incident which affected Kwoi the headquarters of Jaba Local Government Area and environs prompted the Kaduna State government to take measures towards relocating those around the rock considered epicentre of the tremor. The Kaduna Sate government’s moves came to naught because the assistance expected to come from the federal government did not come. Experts at the Kaduna State University (KASU) had urged government to evacuate residents because the Kwoi tremor has capacity to become an earthquake.
Another thing that has left a sorry tale in our cities is terror attack perpetrated by insurgents. Almost daily, towns and villages are raided by gunmen with many houses razed and lives lost. Security men hardly come to the rescue of the people citing difficult terrain among other factors. How long will this happen for us to redesign our settlements to curb it?
There have been reported incidents of bill board frames falling down or beams of overhead bridges snapping and crushing pedestrians. Ugly as these incidents are, no culprit has been named.
All this put on a scale, shows that Nigeria has suffered monumental losses. This is too bad for a society whose citizens are only struggling to meet minimum living conditions.
Back to the Lafia gas fire that moved many to tears. Many questions have been asked like: Was the gas plant’s positioning approved by authorities or it was case of the owner of the business having his/her way? Volatile and inflammable as gas can be, should it be sold where it was? Why should such a commodity be sold that close to a major road like the Lafia-Jos road? What role did the fire service play when news reached it that gas was leaking? What about the ubiquitous gas vendors in Lafia?
The governor’s visit to the scene and verbal condemnation are not enough. Weeks after the incident, he has yet to tell the world what preliminary investigations have unravelled. He should move away from the usual Nigerian leader’s fashion of come “condemn and go” to taking a decisive action. We would like to know those who approved the siting of that plant there, less than 100 meters away from a major highway. The governor and his lieutenants should tell us what they are doing to forestall similar happening. They should revisit similar facilities, especially those in built up areas of the state like Akwanga, Nasarawa Eggon, Keffi, Mararaba. Those that should be closed down should be closed or be relocated.
Mararaba in particular which lies on the fringe of FCT is thickly populated and any incident of this nature can be really catastrophic. This part of Nasarawa State is poorly developed even though it has potential to yield huge revenue to government. Government should critically look at all activities that threaten safety of the people like indiscriminate drilling of boreholes, quarrying, mining and hazardous processing of raw materials and take corrective measures. This is not for Nasarawa State alone. Urban and regional authorities across the states of the federation should learn lesson(s) from this.
Above all, town planners and supervisory officials, fire service people in particular should sit up and do the work they are paid to do. Inspection is not a one-time thing. Those saddled with the responsibility of constantly checking to ensure that standards are maintained should frequently visit the facilities to ensure that materials in use are up-to-date and activities there conform to safety standards. Our cities will get a new lease of life if agents of government step up work on proper city planning and management.
