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With effect from this Monday, December. 19, no petroleum tanker would be allowed to move in the night on all roads in Nigeria.
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, handed over the order, Sunday, as he expressed concern over the high rate of road traffic crashes involving petroleum tankers in the country, describing the situation as “worrisome”.
The Corps Marshal, who was speaking at the technical session of Branch Working Committee of Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union under the auspices of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas of Nigeria (PTD-NUPENG) in Lagos, charged the union members to do more to bring the current rate of tanker-related crashes in the country under control.
Oyeyemi noted that FRSC Management has consistently demonstrated its concern for safety and security of haulage operations in the country through enhanced collaboration with stakeholders for joint action against road carnage, stressing that with the concerted efforts of the Corps in collaboration with PTD-NUPENG, the nation started enjoying respite in truck related crashes. But expressed worry at the recent upsurge in the crashes with resultant fatalities, saying the trend must be tackled through strict adherence to safety standards by haulage operators.
The Corps Marshal called on the participants at the technical session to critically examine the current crash situation in the country, especially as it affects tankers and trailers and come out with appropriate solutions that could address the menace.
“This technical session is particularly imperative at this period of the year when increasing report of crashes involving tankers and trailers and their resultant fatalities have alarmed the nation,” he stated.
He commended the leadership of the PTD-NUPENG for its commitment to road safety campaigns initiated by the FRSC, assuring that the Corps would remain committed to making the nation’s roads safer through public enlightenment, enforcement and sustained collaboration with stakeholders.
“As a nation that relies heavily on road for distribution of petroleum products, Nigerians had been agitated by the rate of tanker and trailer crashes recorded and the accompanying fatalities whenever the products spill and catch fire,” he noted.
Oyeyemi further recalled that in the aftermath of the tanker crash that occurred in Onitsha, Anambra state on 31st May 2015 which claimed many lives and destroyed valuable property, FRSC took some far reaching measures to prevent future reoccurrence, noting that while the measures immediately stabilised the situation, the resumed upsurge in crashes especially in October and November was alarming and unacceptable.
The Corps Marshal enumerated some of the actions taken by the Corps towards ensuring safe trucking system in the country which include the National Summit on safety of haulage operations organized in Abuja last year, recertification and retraining of tanker and trailer drivers which was flagged off in Orile Area of Lagos state and taken to twelve centers across the country coupled with the deployment of 169 personnel of the FRSC to 43 tank farms and depots located in Lagos, Delta, Cross River and Rivers states to enforce strict adherence to minimum safety standards by tanker drivers under the Safe-To Load programme.
The FRSC boss however frowned at the practices of some tanker and facility operators which are capable of undermining the safety measures. These he said, include use of motor boys to drive tankers; interference of some stakeholders in the operations of the Safe to Load Programme, non use of retro-reflective tapes by some drivers to illuminate their vehicles in the night and non use of safety valves by some tanker drivers to prevent oil spillage even if the truck falls. He further noted that these practices are more common among independent marketers, pointing out that the major markers have been exemplary in their safety measures.
“With these discoveries, there is the need for concerted efforts by stakeholders to address these challenges through joint efforts. That is why today’s technical session is timely and strategic to the search for collective solutions to safe haulage operations in the country,” Oyeyemi noted. He added that based on the current cost of acquiring a tanker and all its necessary spares including the petroleum products they convey, the 30 tanker crashes recorded in the country between January and December this year must have caused the nation over a billion naira in economic loss, aside the human lives lost to the crashes.
“I therefore, call on all of you to be critical of the existing practices of some haulage operators and come up with workable agenda that could be deliberated upon at the Executive meeting scheduled for tomorrow with a view to finding lasting solutions to the scourge,” Oyeyemi stressed.
In his remarks at the occasion, the National Chairman of PTD-NUPENG, Chief Salmon Oladiti, commended the FRSC Corps Marshal for his sincere commitment to issues of safety of haulage operations in the country, noting that his regular consultation on safety issues is most appreciated by members.
According to him, the enhanced collaboration he has sustained between the FRSC and union is yielding positive results, as most of the safety messages being promoted by the FRSC are well received by members of the union instead of suspicion and lukewarm attitudes that characterized such relationship in the past.
Oladiti assured the Corps Marshal that members of the technical committee have noted his observations and would use the opportunity of the meetings to stress the need for all members to be safety conscious. He further noted that as part of the safety measures being taken to ensure compliance by members, the union has ordered the importation of retro-reflective tapes and is making arrangement with some vendors to install speed limiting devices and calibration of members’ vehicles as directed by FRSC to promote safer road environment.
As part of the activities at the technical session, the Corps Marshal’s message was translated into the three main languages of Hausa, Igbo and Yorba by some senior officers of the FRSC, while the Corps Marshal would also make a presentation at the Executive Committee meeting during the two day conference.
