Opinion: Apapa explosion: The menace of oil depots

by Ejike Alphonsus Kanife

Why should potentially dangerous facilities like bomb arsenals and oil depots be situated too close to residential and business areas? Or conversely, why should people be allowed to build houses and live too close to such dangerous facilities?

It was around 11:35am on Wednesday the ninth day of January this year and I was at my house in Apapa enjoying the quiet and using the same opportunity to work on a project when suddenly an explosion, the type of which I haven’t witnessed since the January 27, 2002 Ikeja bomb blast suddenly cracked, shaking my three storey building to its foundation and terminating my internet connection. Are you kidding me?  I hurried to my balcony from where I could see people running out of their homes and into the streets and to wherever. Some were running to schools to pick up their children, others were making frantic phone calls, pacing up and down, uncertain where to head to. Others still just fled, stumbling in and out ditches, getting bruised but still not minding.

I threw some clothes on and hurried outside where the rumour that the dreaded Boko Haram sect might have struck was fast spreading. From outside I could see a cloud-like billow of thick smoke rising in fury and darkening the skies.  A few houses from mine, some people struggled to put the jerking form of a middle aged man into a car. They said he was taking a nap and had had a seizure the moment the blast occurred. The street was in general commotion as people fled in all directions, even elderly citizens. Shop and business owners closed shop and fled. Okada riders manoeuvred their bikes dangerously on the streets, threatening to knock down many a fleeing person.  A pastor seized the opportunity to preach conversion but no one seemed to be interested. “No be who dey alive go convert?” someone in whose way the preacher seemed to be asked. Even the police and custom officers joined the commotion as many were seen fleeing the zone. I eventually made it close enough to Tin-Can and got the full first hand gist that a ship discharging petroleum products caught fire which led to the explosion at the MRS tank farm. Scores were said to have been injured.

This horrific incident, just like the Ikeja bomb blast calls to question the issue of town planning. Why should potentially dangerous facilities like bomb arsenals and oil depots be situated too close to residential and business areas? Or conversely, why should people be allowed to build houses and live too close to such dangerous facilities? It’s really hard to place it. The road from Westminster down to Liverpool and Apapa Wharf is riddled with these oil depots of different oil companies. It leaves one wondering if just this one explosion could have this effect, what would happen if a chain reaction were to occur? The whole of Apapa, Ajegunle and beyond might go up in smoke.

It furthermore calls for an inquisition into the rationale behind the establishment of fire stations because as well as I know there is no fire service station at Apapa, despite the sprawling presence of these extremely inflammable facilities so close to residential areas, and despite the fact that water, the major weapon for fighting fire is in abundance in the area. Eyewitnesses actually claimed that there was first a fire because they saw smoke rising from the facility, before the explosion about ten minutes later. Maybe the fire could have been contained were there a fire station nearby. But then, maybe it is expected that the individual oil companies should have their own fire services, but if the companies look out for themselves, what about the residential population?

When I was growing up as a boy, I remember seeing  few, if any of these oil depots. All we saw from home were the towering decks and masts of ships as they berthed. But these oil companies came and took that view away from us, leaving us instead with their giant, cylindrical and dome-shaped containers. Thus, it would be unfair of me if I finish this article without criticizing the reason why oil companies have their farms in such a densely populated area in the first place. The oil companies are there to make the discharge of their imported refined oil product; PMS, Diesel easy, a situation that wouldn’t be necessary had we had the common sense and simple ability to refine our own oil. These oil depots should ideally be situated close to the source of their products. In saner climes, that should be close to a refinery, far away from cities and residential areas. But in Nigeria, because we import a product we should easily manufacture right here, these depots are sadly situated at sea-ports, the closest the Nigerian oil companies can get to their foreign manufacturers.

The many random, albeit catastrophic consequences that the many misrule of our governments, both past and present could have are yet to be seen. This is just one of them. While I sympathize with those who were victims of this event, I want to also urge the oil companies to be more careful in ensuring that due procedural safety checks and measures are observed since the objects of their trade are extremely volatile. As for the government, I don’t have anything to say to them. Enough had been said already. In Ajegunle, we have a saying that “old man wey no gree hear word, dem go kuku flog am cane like small pikin.”  Meaning, strokes of cane should be enough for the unwise.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

One comment

  1. I would rather say that the residential areas shouldnt be located close to the oil depots. Most of the depots have been there for year. Who ever gave approvals for residential building close to the area should be sanctioned

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