5 things Lagos govt says it will do to prevent another tanker explosion

The Lagos State government held a preliminary meeting following the tanker accident which led to the deaths of nine persons and the burning of 54 cars on Thursday, June 28, 2018.

There was a press briefing after this preliminary meeting. Here are 5 resolutions the government reached:

1. Tankers will now be restricted to designated routes

According to the Lagos State government, trailers, articulated trucks, long vehicles and tankers will no longer be allowed to roam the metropolis like other regular cars.

“The Lagos State government has restricted movement of fuel tankers to designated trailer routes going forward”, the statement read.

2. These are the designated trailer routes

Tankers and articulated trucks will only ply routes designated by the government.

Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos, Ladi Lawanson, said: “As an immediate response to the latest incident, the Lagos State government hereby announces the following measures: fuel tankers are hereby directed to ply the designated trailer route, that is, Apapa-Oworonshoki expressway via Ogudu to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway”.

3. Road worthiness certificate is now mandatory for tankers

The Lagos State government says it is now "mandatory for all articulated trucks coming into Lagos to obtain the Ministry of Transportation’s Road Worthiness Certificate at any of the designated centres within the next 30 days".

New centres to obtain the certificates will be established along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in order “to quickly cope with the expected demand for this service,” the government says.

4. No one knows who owns the tanker

The Lagos State government says it is still trying to find out who owns the tanker that exploded on a busy bridge, costing lives and cars.

According to Lawanson, “the affected tanker which exploded was registered in Nasarawa Local Government, Kano State, with registration number NSR 888 YC, and had changed ownership 13 times since purchase.

“The tanker was manufactured in 1999 by Mack Trucks Inc at its assembly plant in Winnsboro, United States. This truck was designed as a 14,959kg (approximately 15 ton) drilling rig with low bed, but it was converted in Nigeria from a drilling rig to fuel tank carrier to carry 30 tonnes.

“From this preliminary investigation, the truck should not have been loaded to the weight of 30 tonnes, which is twice its pulling capacity”.

The commissioner also said further investigation into the current ownership of the tanker and other related details are ongoing.

5. Tankers won’t be allowed to climb bridges

No, the Lagos State government won’t ask tankers to ply the roads only at certain times, because doing so will badly affect the Nigerian economy.

The Commissioner said; “Any restriction of such would undermine supplies and threaten the wellbeing of the Nigerian economy since there is high demand for petroleum products across the country”.

However, the government says there will be barriers on bridges to stop articulated trucks dead in their tracks.

According to the Commissioner, “the government, in partnership with all the stakeholders, would set up joint-enforcement of the operating laws, while barriers would be installed on bridges in Lagos to prevent articulated trucks”. The bridges were given as “Ojuelegba, Mobolaji Bank Anthony, Ekodeso, Abule-Egba, Lekki-Ajah, among others”.