NOA: Tanker Explosion; Lack Of Value For Lives May Necessitate A Repeat

LAGOS – The National Orienta­tion Agency (NOA) has expressed concern over the possibility of repeat tanker explosions across the country as long as Nigerians lack attitude, value for lives.

Recall that a fuel tanker had overturned and exploded in the Suleja area of Niger State on Sat­urday killing about 86 people and injuring dozens of others.

President Bola Tinubu had urged the NOA to sensitise Nige­rians on the danger of scooping fuel from fallen fuel tankers.

Speaking on Arise TV on Monday, Lanre Issa –Onilu, Di­rector General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), said that the major cause of the prob­lem is because Nigerians have refused to change their attitudes.

He said, “This kind of situa­tion just happened a few months ago in Jigawa State, despite all that we did we still have this di­saster. If care is not taken it will still happen again in the near future.

“This is about the attitude of our people, the lack of value system that you don’t even take your own life seriously, anymore. In this part of the world we don’t want to blame the dead but at the same time we must also address the issues. The issue is that the duty of care that we have to­wards ourselves and towards our fellow citizens is no longer there and that is why we keep harping on the issue of value orientation.

“There’s nothing we can achieve in this country with­out getting the citizens who are committed, patriotic, and understand what it means to be citizens of the country. This is not only about citizens including the leadership.

“These are just symptoms of a lack of value system. We must ensure that we give the orienta­tion that is required to the citi­zenry to be patriotic, have that value orientation that will make them to be good Nigerians.

“You see, we can look at these issues from various an­gles, first and foremost the Ni­gerians of old wouldn’t look at the issue from the advantage that they can take from spillage of the fuel. You’re going to look at it from the point of view that somebody’s investment has gone to waste and that sympa­thy was what you would see in Nigerians of old. These people didn’t even care that the prod­ucts belonged to somebody. It was somebody’s business that had been wasted.”

He said that when the Jiga­wa disaster happened in October last year where over 144 people died, the agency engaged the community leaders across the country, mobilised its local gov­ernment personnel, visited the traditional rulers, market lead­ers, leaders of motor parks and various artisanal associations to sensitise them on the danger involved in scooping fuel from fallen takers, but regretted that people still indulged in the act.Tap Here To Read Full Details