Any reference to the Otedola Bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as one of Nigeria’s death corridors will not be an exaggeration. The reference is underscored by the fatal accidents occurring on the bridge ever and anon. The latest of the tragedies, involving a gas-laden truck, occurred last Tuesday during the peak traffic hours.
The Spokesperson of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Olusegun Ogungbemide, while detailing how its rescue operatives acted in collaboration with the Fire Service and other emergency responders to contain the burning gas truck, said the prompt action prevented further destruction and potential fatalities. About 16 persons were severely injured and two fatalities recorded. In all, about 15 vehicles were involved in the multiple collision and several private properties in the corridor were completely razed down. The accident was believed to have been caused by a break failure.
Reacting to the tragedy, the FRSC boss, Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, expressed deep concern over the preventable nature of the accident and reiterated the importance of strict adherence to safety protocols for vehicles carrying hazardous goods. He warned fleet managers, vehicle owners and drivers to prioritise safety measures in managing their fleets to avoid such calamities in future.
The notoriety of the Otedola Bridge became a source of serious concern to the federal government in August, 2018, that prompted it to come up with a policy to ban importation of heavy duty haulage vehicles, which had run for more than 10 years, with effect from January 1, 2020. The verdict was handed down during the Stakeholders’ Forum for Haulage Operators in Nigeria held at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in Abuja.
The forum was convened after a fatal road crash involving a petrol tanker on the notorious bridge where over 55 vehicles were incinerated and several lives perished… all in one fell swoop. In attendance at the meeting were all stakeholders in the private sector and representatives of ministries, departments and agencies with the aim of evolving an all-inclusive strategy that would engender a lasting solution to the menace of road fatalities involving haulage and other related vehicles on our highways.
The forum endorsed the immediate implementation of compulsory installation of standard speed limiters in all haulage vehicles in the country. It also resolved that haulage vehicles without safety valves and required number plates would be banned from loading petroleum products henceforth and urged all relevant agencies like the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Nigeria Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the FRSC and other relevant agencies to sustain the enforcement of the Safe-to-Load policy.
The forum also decided that periodic checks of all haulage vehicles must be carried out at relevant loading points, stressing that payment of National Transportation Allowance (NTA) and bridging claims to tanker operators would henceforth be contingent on compliance with minimum safety standards.
Participants at the forum also agreed that single operators of haulage vehicles must be duly registered with the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), while the FRSC is expected to establish appropriate command and control centres to monitor and ensure compliance with safety on the highways.
In addition, the meeting sanctioned the convocation of bi-annual meetings in order to sustain government engagement with stakeholders to exchange ideas and share information for the sustenance of safer road management in the country. It agreed that Inter-Ministerial Stakeholders Committee should be established to ensure effective implementation of the Plan of Action with a mandate to brief the government on the progress of implementation of the programme on monthly basis.
In our previous editorial, we welcomed the proposed ban of importation of heavy duty vehicles aged more than 10 years into the country as one of the solutions to the incessant fatal crashes on our highways. We also recalled the advocacy of the former National President of NARTO, Dr. Kashim Bataiya, that the government should halt the importation of 60,000-litre capacity trucks into the country. He was, however, quick to add that the federal government should give truck owners five years to recoup their investments.
Bataiya also advised the government to set a maximum capacity for trucks at 45,000 litres. He urged the government to set up weigh bridges across the major highways at 100 kilometres intervals to ensure that vehicles conveying goods above 30 tons were checkmated, suggesting that such heavy haulage should be done by rail transportation.
There is no gainsaying the fact that such high capacity trucks contribute to a large extent in ruining our highways most of which are poorly constructed owing to the corruption embedded in the system. Road contractors are more often than not shortchanged by government officials. When that is done, the former are then compelled to deliver low quality projects. Indeed, Nigeria is paying heavily for the collapse of the rail system across the country. Railway transportation kept major haulage of goods across the country away from the highways until the 80s.
However, five years down the road, the policy has remained a pipedream. This is unfortunate. Considering the frequent occurrence of fuel tanker accidents leading to explosions and loss of human lives in recent times, we urge the relevant bodies not only to revisit the initiative but also implement its contents without any further delay.
We also call on the FRSC and other relevant agencies to garrison their men at the bloodthirsty Otedola Bridge with a view to exorcising the demons that are consuming lives and properties in that corridor every now and then.