Call it ignorance, illiteracy, poverty, greed or outright carelessness on the part of government parastatals or citizens, but the issue is that Nigerians have lost their lives on too many occasions trying to make use of supposed one-time opportunities to survive. 

On Tuesday, October 6 2020, a petrol tanker was reported to have fallen in the Aso-Odo area of Badagry after the driver lost control of his truck which overturned on the expressway. 

As you might have seen with fallen trucks with goods and petrol, residents in the area ‘stood up to the occasion’ and started scooping the petroleum content that spilled from the truck.

The news got to social media and attracted opinionated Nigerians:

I tire for Naija o
When there'll be fire explosion
U people will start blaming govt

— Isaiah Hosa Nna (@Hosanna41574862) October 7, 2020

My brother, most are trying to survive n most don’t think about the consequences… that’s the sad truth

— Femi (@eemejis) October 7, 2020

I have watched video of they donate and sacrifice the blood of Nigerians to pay dark forces!! When disasters happen, it could be these forces taking blood as pledged by the people who have connections with them.

— profLambeau (@1_Lambeau) October 7, 2020

People would run directly to danger instead of away from it…..nawa ooo regardless of the factors.
Bad govt we gree, failed infrastructure, we gree, but must we result to hanging our necks in the gallow ourselves?

— VYKTUR ???? (@iweanya_victor) October 7, 2020

As long as the people remain impoverished, this menace will continue to occur. A man that is hungry will rather enter a lion's den to pick food than stay in his house for hunger to kill him. Hunger is sure. The lion may just not be in the mood to eat that day.

— Mr oshiobuge (@MathewS02160295) October 7, 2020

There are too many similar stories that have led to the untimely deaths of many Nigerians. Sadly, some people would prefer to defy the possibility of an explosion and endanger their lives and the lives of others by scooping fuel from fallen tankers rather than learn from history. 

One incident happened in January 2019, where at least 12 people were reported to have died while about 23 others sustained serious burns in the Odukpani area of Cross River while scooping leaking fuel from an overturned petrol tanker which exploded in the process.

About 50 persons were also reported dead the same year in Benue after a crashed fuel tanker from which they were scooping fuel caught fire, while many others sustained severe burns.

The deadly FESTAC explosion in March 2020, is another experience Nigerians ought to have learnt a lesson from. An incident which left 50 houses destroyed and 15 persons dead.

The Iju-Ishaga tanker explosion on September 24 is another case in point. But it appears that some people would rather throw caution to the wind from what we see today.

And, while we blame government parastatals like the FRSC who should, regularly, check these trucks that ply the road every other day, we might want to consider the root cause of the ignorance that causes these people to endanger their lives and/or kill themselves in the process.

The increasing rate of such incidents on Nigerian roads is alarming and must be urgently addressed.

There could be alternative means of transporting petroleum products. In the meantime, petrol tankers should only be allowed to operate at night.

On the other hand, the government needs to create jobs for our teeming population to address the high poverty rate among the youth to keep them from exposing themselves to the dangers of possible explosions from fallen tankers.