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By Henry Uche
Worried by the incessant cases of avoidable losses, workplace accidents, regulatory breaches and financial mismanagement across so many sectors, risk management professionals in Nigeria have declared an all-out war against the growing culture of recklessness threatening individuals, businesses, public institutions, national growth and development.
At the 2026 National Risk Management Conference and Awards Ceremony put together by the Risk Managers Society of Nigeria (RIMSON), the experts warned that negligence, weak compliance culture and disregard for professional standards are fueling economic waste, infrastructure failures, corporate instability in the country, and even loss of lives and properties.
They stressed that strengthening risk awareness, accountability and as well as proactive and preventive systems has become critical steps to protecting investments, restoring public confidence and ensuring sustainable growth in Nigeria’s already fragile economic environment.
With the theme: “Sustainable Technological Innovations and Risk Management for Resilient Economies”, the assembly of chief risk officers, enterprise risk managers, risk control engineers, risk surveyors, insurance professionals, legal and compliance managers, information and communication technology experts, finance and investment professionals, security practitioners, academia, oil and gas professionals, government ministries, agencies and parastatals, development institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, unanimously declared frowned at Nigerians’ lackadaisical, careless and reactive lifestyle in the midst of volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous economic environment.
With the level of increasing global uncertainty characterised by geopolitical tensions, economic instability, climate-induced disruptions, technological transformation, cyber threats, supply chain vulnerabilities, and evolving security challenges, risk analysts and safety experts painstakingly x-ray the perennial losses from tanker fire disasters across Nigeria.
During a Special Disaster Risk Management Roundtable Discourse, titled “Mitigants to the Perennial Losses from Tanker Fire Disasters”, panelists from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and Industrial Risks Protection Consultants Ltd, noted with concern the recurring incidents of tanker fire disasters resulting in avoidable human casualties, environmental degradation, infrastructure destruction, and significant economic losses.
The roundtable session precisely acknowledged existing interventions by relevant agencies, including FRSC’s “Safe-to-Load” initiative and NEMA’s Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (2024–2029), with measurable progress; however participants underlined the need for continuous review, stronger enforcement systems, improved transparency, and enhanced operational monitoring to address identified gaps, including corruption, regulatory circumvention, weak compliance culture, and inadequate end-to-end monitoring of petroleum haulage operations.
As a way forward, they proffered regulatory and institutional reforms to the federal government to first; establish a Petroleum Transport Safety Authority (PTSA) with statutory enforcement powers and a singular mandate to regulate and oversee the safe transportation of petroleum products nationwide.
Second, the federal government should establish an Inter-Agency Tanker Safety Task Force with clearly defined operational responsibilities and legally binding collaboration frameworks among relevant agencies, including NUPRC, FRSC, NEMA, NIMASA, NRC, Federal Fire Service, and relevant ministries.
Other solutions proffered include but not limited to – enactment of a dedicated Petroleum Surface Transport Safety Act consolidating tanker transportation obligations, safety standards, penalties, compensation mechanisms, enforcement powers, and institutional responsibilities.
Also, the government should adopt and domesticate internationally recognised standards for the transportation of dangerous goods, including the ADR framework, adapted to Nigeria’s operational realities.
On safety, enforcement, and compliance, the risk managers pushed for the introduction of a mandatory independent Certificate of Roadworthiness for all petroleum tankers, to allow only certified drivers to ply the roads. This, they believe, would make Nigerian highways safe for all.
“We must implement a Tanker Age and Retirement Policy to phase out ageing and unsafe tanker fleets. There is a need for mandatory minimum safety equipment standards for all petroleum tankers, including fire suppression systems, emergency shut-off valves, rollover protection systems, reflective markings, and spill containment systems.
“We need to introduce a tiered Petroleum Haulage Operator Licensing framework with separate compliance obligations for drivers, fleet owners, and corporate operators. We should strengthen driver certification systems, operational audits, haulage compliance verification, and periodic simulation exercises involving regulatory agencies, emergency responders, transport operators, and relevant stakeholders.
“We need to strengthen enforcement and significantly increase penalties for safety violations, negligence, overloading, poor maintenance practices, and operational non-compliance. More importantly, we need to introduce criminal liability provisions for companies and directors whose negligence contributes to fatal tanker incidents”
They went on to suggest the establishment of a National Tanker Operator Registry containing operator safety records, inspection history, incident records, and licensing status. This, they opined, will go a long way to mitigate aforementioned associated risks.
“We need to deploy technology-enabled warning systems, emergency notification platforms, digital tracking systems, and coordinated public communication mechanisms for tanker incidents.
“Nigeria must develop regional tanker safety coordination frameworks in high-risk transportation corridors across the country. There is a need to strengthen technology-enabled monitoring systems covering tanker certification, loading verification, route tracking, driver compliance, and end-to-end operational accountability from loading depots to final destinations” they maintain.
Similarly, safety professionals at the confab charge the government to strengthen state and regional emergency preparedness systems through improved funding, training, simulations, equipment acquisition, and coordinated response mechanisms. But more importantly, there is a need to strengthen emergency response infrastructure through the establishment of strategically -located rapid response and fire intervention points along high-risk transportation corridors to improve emergency response time and reduce disaster impact on the people.
Just like the Insurance Policyholders’ Protection Fund, Loss Prevention and Risk Control Experts sought for the Legislation of a ‘Mandatory Victim Compensation Frameworks’ with defined timelines and minimum compensation thresholds as a form of Social Protection. They added: “We need to establish a Petroleum Haulage Victims Support Fund backed by operators, insurers, and relevant stakeholders”
At the roundtable, a past president of RIMSON and Executive Director, Industrial Risk Protection Consultant Ltd, Engr. Jacob Adeosun, further highlighted the importance of clearly defining accountability across the petroleum haulage value chain.
Adeosun emphasizes that effective mitigation must address the interconnected responsibilities of drivers, fleet owners, transport operators, enforcement agencies, and members of the public whose actions contribute to recurring tanker-related incidents and losses.
While examining the critical intersection between sustainable technological innovation and proactive risk management as strategic drivers for economic resilience, institutional sustainability, public safety, and national development; panelists explored the role of emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, digital systems, data-driven governance, cyber resilience frameworks, and integrated risk management structures in strengthening adaptive capacity and enhancing institutional preparedness across sectors.
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They recognised that risk management is no longer merely a compliance function but a strategic enabler for governance, economic sustainability, infrastructure resilience, operational continuity, value creation, and long-term national competitiveness.
To get Nigeria out of the woods, economic experts informed that sustainable technological innovation remains a critical cornerstone for building resilient economies capable of withstanding and adapting to environmental, economic, technological, and geopolitical disruptions.
Accordingly, they implored the government and private sector institutions to increase investments in sustainable technological infrastructure, digital transformation, research and development, as well as human capital development.
These they believe will be achieved when there is a conscientious collaboration between the public and private sectors for innovation, strengthening institutional resilience, improving productivity, and promoting inclusive economic growth.
Unanimously they agreed, “sustainable technological innovation should align with environmental sustainability, social inclusion, economic efficiency, and long-term national development objectives. Institutions should adopt integrated approaches that combine innovation, governance, sustainability, and proactive risk management in strategic planning and operational systems.
“Risk Management should be treated as a strategic governance and decision-making tool and should be institutionalised across public and private sector governance structures as a core component of strategic planning, budgeting, investment decisions, infrastructure development, and policy implementation.
“Organisations should transition from reactive and silo-based risk management approaches to integrated, proactive, intelligence-driven, and enterprise-wide risk management systems.
“Boards, executive management, and policymakers should embed risk considerations into organizational strategy, operational planning, and performance management systems. Organisations should promote risk-awareness cultures that encourage transparency, continuous monitoring, accountability, open communication, and data-driven decision-making.
“Risk professionals should be empowered with relevant tools, data systems, predictive analytics, and continuous professional development opportunities to respond to emerging risks effectively”
Considering the threatening cyber-attacks, data breaches, digital vulnerabilities, artificial intelligence-related risks, and attacks on critical national infrastructure, RIMSON’s President/Chairman of the Governing Board, Abbas Idris in a communique issued by the Society, maintain that there is an urgent need for stronger national cyber resilience frameworks and enhanced protection of critical digital infrastructure.
Idriss called on the government and relevant regulatory institutions to strengthen cybersecurity policies, data governance, cyber insurance, digital risk regulation, and technology governance.
“Organisations should implement proactive cyber risk management systems, including cyber pre-insurance audits, vulnerability assessments, threat intelligence monitoring, and incident response frameworks. The insurance sector should develop innovative cyber insurance products and risk financing mechanisms to support businesses and institutions exposed to digital and cyber risks.
“There is a need for improved collaboration among government agencies, technology institutions, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders in addressing cyber threats and digital vulnerabilities”
Cognizance of the evolving complexity of national security risks, including terrorism, organised crime, infrastructure sabotage, and geopolitical instability, security experts during the discourse deliberated on National Security and intelligence-driven risk management as it affects human and other resources.
“Suggestively, Nigeria’s security architecture should adopt more intelligence-driven, technology-enabled, and collaborative approaches to national security management. Real-time threat intelligence systems, surveillance infrastructure, secure communication systems, and predictive security technologies should be strengthened across critical sectors.
“Greater investment should be made in community engagement, social cohesion, public trust, and non-kinetic approaches to security management. While the public and private institutions should develop adaptive business continuity and operational resilience frameworks to respond effectively to evolving security threats, the government should strengthen inter-agency coordination, intelligence sharing, and public-private collaboration in national security management.”
Given the indispensability of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in today’s world, management experts opined that sustainable development and resilience requires integrating ESG principles into institutional and national planning systems.
Accordingly, they challenged corporate entities to align operational and investment strategies with sustainability principles and global best practices, while emphasis should be placed on climate adaptation, environmental protection, responsible innovation, and social inclusion.
“Risk management frameworks should support inclusive growth, public welfare, institutional resilience, and sustainable economic transformation. Risk management considerations should be integrated into development planning, infrastructure projects, social impact initiatives, financial inclusion programs, and public policy implementation.
“Capacity building, institutional learning, and proactive risk management culture and awareness should be a top priority. Therefore, the government, institutions, and professional bodies should intensify investments in risk management education, professional certification, and capacity development.
“Risk awareness campaigns should be strengthened across schools, institutions, communities, and workplaces. Greater collaboration should be encouraged among professional bodies, academia, development institutions, and the media in promoting risk management awareness and education.
“Organisations should prioritise continuous learning, adaptive leadership, and resilience-focused professional development. We call on government institutions, regulatory agencies, corporate organisations, development partners, professional bodies, academia, civil society and citizens to embrace proactive, technology-enabled, intelligence-driven, and sustainability-focused risk management as a national imperative for economic resilience, institutional stability, public safety, and sustainable development.
“Nigeria must move beyond fragmented and reactive responses toward coordinated implementation, strategic collaboration, and long-term resilience-building across all sectors of our national life. The managers of this country should work hand in glove with professional bodies like Risk Management Society of Nigeria and operational agencies in conducting independent reviews, risk assessments, simulation exercises, and capacity-strengthening initiatives aimed at improving existing safety and disaster management frameworks.
“This is because a resilient economy can only be built through a deliberate integration of sustainable technological innovation, proactive risk management, strong governance systems, institutional adaptability, and collaborative national action. Again the future of risk management lies not merely in compliance or incident response but in building systems capable of anticipating, adapting to, and thriving amidst volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environments,” they reiterated.
