By Olakunle Olafioye
Nigeria is in a desperate search for solution to incessant road crashes involving heavy duty vehicles.
The country recorded a surge in road accidents caused by heavy duty trucks ferrying fuel with the attendant carnage in some parts of the country in the last few months.
In October last year, no fewer than 180 people reportedly lost their lives when an overturned fuel tanker burst into flames in Majia, a farming town in Jigawa State.
The victims who were reported to be those who went to scoop fuel were burnt beyond recognition, throwing the entire Jigawa State into mourning.
The fuel tanker was said to be travelling from Kano and heading for Nguru in Yobe State, when the driver, according to reports, lost control of the vehicle.
Following a similar incident, the Niger State governor, Mohammed Umar Bago last month placed a ban on heavy duty trucks from plying Dikko Bridge in the State in the aftermath of an accident which reportedly claimed no fewer than 100 lives in the state.
The ill-fated truck, according to the Director General of Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba-Arah, exploded as the fuel was being transferred into another truck after the truck had earlier collided with another one in Suleja Local Government Area of the state.
According to reports, Nigeria has recorded 28 oil tanker accidents, resulting in 468 deaths since March, 2023.
The casualty figure represents more than 15 per cent of all accidents and nearly 25 per cent of the fatalities recorded since 2009.
Between 2009 and now, a period of 16 years, Nigeria is said to have recorded 172 oil tanker crashes which resulted in nearly 1,900 deaths.
The development, which is, indeed, worrisome has attracted the scrutiny of the government with moves by both the legislative and executive arms of the government simultaneously searching for a lasting solution to the menace.
Last week, the Senate came up with a proposal to ban heavy duty vehicles from plying the nation’s major roads during the day time and restricting their movements to only nights.
This followed the introduction of “A Bill for an Act to amend the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act, 2007, to restrict the daytime movement of heavy-duty vehicles and for related matters,” during plenary.
The bill sponsored by the lawmaker representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko, seeks to restrict the operations of heavy-duty vehicles to between 12:00 midnight and 6:00 a.m except in cases of emergency.
On the proposed sanctions, the bill stated that “while an individual violator is liable to pay a fine of N500,000, corporate offenders are to pay a fine of N5 million if the proposed legislation becomes law.
The vehicles used for daytime operations may be seized and impounded for up to 30 days.
But while other motorists hail the proposal, which they believe will instill some level of sanity and decorum on the nation’s major roads during day time, some drivers of heavy duty vehicles said the proposal lacks a human face, arguing that it does not bode well for those driving heavy duty vehicles.
A truck driver, Mr Isiak Usman, said that the proponents of the bill did not view the problem from a broader perspective, adding that those blaming road crashes involving heavy duty vehicles wholly on the drivers or the size of the vehicles were biased in their reasoning.
According to Usman, “I don’t know why people find it difficult to tell the truth to the authorities when matters like this arise. Road accidents are caused by a number of factors, including bad roads, mechanic issues, reckless driving, poor visibility and the likes. But among these factors, the issue of the poor state of our roads ranks chief among these factors.
“The government should focus more on the state of our roads if they are serious in addressing road crashes in this country. Restricting the movement of heavy duty vehicles to late hours is not the solution to this problem.
“In fact, I think it is more dangerous because in addition to other factors that could cause accidents in day time, those of us driving articulated vehicles will also have to contend with visibility problem on the highway.”
In his own contribution, Mr Michael Elegbede said that heavy duty vehicle drivers and their cargoes would be at the risk of criminal elements due to the security situation in the country if pushed to ply only at nights.
“The government should have a rethink about the proposal because of the implications. The safety of every Nigerians, including all drivers and their cargoes should be of concern to the government too.
“If the government is planning to restrict truck drivers to night trips alone, they should start by improving security in the country too to guard against cases of truck hijack by hoodlums and to safeguard the lives drivers too,” he said.
In another breath, the Federal Government has revealed that fuel tankers with a capacity of 60,000 litres and above would not be allowed to ply the nation’s roads starting from March 1.
The decision, Sunday Sun gathered, was arrived at with the aim to stem the rising cases of accidents involving petroleum trucks.
The ban, it was further revealed, would be extended to trucks exceeding 45,000 litres by the last quarter of the year.
The decision, which was revealed to newsmen in Abuja by the Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ogbugo Ukoha, has attracted criticisms from the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
NARTO expressed its concerns over the policy, warning that the decision could lead to financial losses of approximately N300 billion for tanker owners.
The President of the association, Yusuf Othman pointed out that nearly 2,000 trucks, each valued at about N150 million, would be affected, arguing that poor road conditions, driver errors, and inadequate vehicle maintenance contribute more to accidents rather than the tanker size.