From 2015 till this year, I twitted about tankers again and again. Including one that was dripping fuel in traffic... It never spurred any action. I also twitted about folks scooping fuel when another tanker took a nap on one of our roads. No advocacy went out... This foolishness has become rooted in poverty from the days of bursting pipelines in Niger Delta.
We are reminded again of the risk of stationing or moving these tankers in the heat of traffic!
Many questions on my mind... Were people running towards or away from the tanker before or when the explosion happened?! Do we have emergency plan which includes educating people about taking flight in fuel or fracas fury?!
Few years ago, we lost my friend's husband in a railroad tragedy in Minna. When negligence of railroad signal warden led to not closing tracks, my friend and her husband found themselves slightly on the rail tracks while a train was in motion... She wanted to run but was spending time trying to convince him to let them run (the error of oneness), people succeeded in pulling her out but his decision to "quickly" reverse led to him being magnetised... He made it to the hospital but never made it out.
In US schools, even children know what to do when there is an active shooter or fire situation. Why? Drills are done regularly to ensure everyone is conscious + ready to act when danger looms. I was caught in the middle of it once and I had read plenty Psalms before realising it was a drill!
How prepared is an average Nigerian?
An average Nigerian is not wired to call an ambulance or rapid response... An average American will call 911 when a snake is sighted. This escalates solution to checking the area for the root cause. A Nigerian? We'll call a family or friend, then slow down and move close enough to take pictures, then use our family or friend's solution and it ends there till next time...
The day we attended an out of town funeral as a family and we almost had a crash in the bus hired by our church was the day my father developed a travel plan. Never again would we all be in the same bus on a trip to honour anyone. He said later that, he looked round and realised that it was only his family that had four of us on the same bus - If the bus had crashed, 4 of us including our parents would have gone. We were spared but he took precaution to avert such in future.
What will come out of the lives lost to this inferno, many more before it, many many more in the wake of terrorism, greed and corruption... 🤔
May we find lasting peace.
We are reminded again of the risk of stationing or moving these tankers in the heat of traffic!
Many questions on my mind... Were people running towards or away from the tanker before or when the explosion happened?! Do we have emergency plan which includes educating people about taking flight in fuel or fracas fury?!
Few years ago, we lost my friend's husband in a railroad tragedy in Minna. When negligence of railroad signal warden led to not closing tracks, my friend and her husband found themselves slightly on the rail tracks while a train was in motion... She wanted to run but was spending time trying to convince him to let them run (the error of oneness), people succeeded in pulling her out but his decision to "quickly" reverse led to him being magnetised... He made it to the hospital but never made it out.
In US schools, even children know what to do when there is an active shooter or fire situation. Why? Drills are done regularly to ensure everyone is conscious + ready to act when danger looms. I was caught in the middle of it once and I had read plenty Psalms before realising it was a drill!
How prepared is an average Nigerian?
An average Nigerian is not wired to call an ambulance or rapid response... An average American will call 911 when a snake is sighted. This escalates solution to checking the area for the root cause. A Nigerian? We'll call a family or friend, then slow down and move close enough to take pictures, then use our family or friend's solution and it ends there till next time...
The day we attended an out of town funeral as a family and we almost had a crash in the bus hired by our church was the day my father developed a travel plan. Never again would we all be in the same bus on a trip to honour anyone. He said later that, he looked round and realised that it was only his family that had four of us on the same bus - If the bus had crashed, 4 of us including our parents would have gone. We were spared but he took precaution to avert such in future.
What will come out of the lives lost to this inferno, many more before it, many many more in the wake of terrorism, greed and corruption... 🤔
May we find lasting peace.
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