Nine die in pipeline fire, collapsed building

[Kunle Oyekanmi]

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/27/21.html

[Adebayo, Ayodele (CDC/NIOSH/DSHEFS)]

While I consider this a very sad (and recurring) story, there is an even sadder (and also recurring) story in the link below. Notice the red cross official on the right, is it ignorance or is lack of facilities? What is the cost of gloves compared to treating HIV or HCV or whatever?

http://thepmnews.com/

 

Ayo Adebayo

OEM MD

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From: afr...@googlegroups.com [mailto:afr...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kunle Oyekanmi
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:41 PM
To: afr...@googlegroups.com
Subject: (AfrOEM) Nine die in pipeline fire, collapsed building

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/27/21.html

[Adebayo, Ayodele (CDC/NIOSH/DSHEFS)]

While I consider this a very sad (and recurring) story, there is an even sadder (and also recurring) story in the link below. Notice the red cross official on the right, is it ignorance or is lack of facilities? What is the cost of gloves compared to treating HIV or HCV or whatever?

http://thepmnews.com/2008/05/27/2965

[Kunle Oyekanmi]

1. What solutions do can one proffer to the problem of pipeline explosions?

All the pipeline tracks in Nigeria are known to the NNPC/PPMC. They need to share the information with security agencies in Nigeria and come up with a plan to secure the pipelines to stop further acts of vandalization/tapping or whatever name might have been coined for unauthorised accessing of petroleum products from this source. This has become an issue of public health, safety, and security in Nigeria.  

Sometime in the past, I suggested that the primary reason for individuals going through such obviously dangerous and potentially fatal means of getting petroleum products be examined and dealt with.  That appears to be a long term issue. The poverty that has ravaged the people of Nigeria is one contributory factor. Another is the disregard for doing things the proper way, which is self evident in every facet of our society.

A short term solution to address this seemingly worsening problem will be to mobilize security forces along the crucial points on the course of pipelines. It might seem illogical to some but this may temporarily stem the tide of pipeline assault. A potential problem with this idea is that the security forces mobilized may collude with vandals or even set up operations for themselves to do the same thing they are supposed to prevent. The answer to that will be to prosecute anyone caught to the fullest extent of the law in the books.

Another solution, which will probably be more of an intermediate term solution will be to provide the resources to cordon off the pipeline tracks with barbed wires and fences thereby denying easy access to the public. Of course, there are individuals who will not be deterred by such incoveneniences and will attempt to cut them or dig under them. Well, such people should be prosecuted to deliberate damage to public property. Has this been effective as a form of deterrence in the past? Probably not. In the alternative, low voltage electricity can be connected to the barbed wires or fences to discourage anyone from attempting to damage them.

Another potential short term solution, which may actually be useful in the long term as well is to mobilize the people from the communities close to the pipelines into volunteer groups through the cooperation of the community leaders. They can secure the pipelines in their areas for some form of remuneration from the government. They can also serve as the eyes and ears of the security agencies in their areas to prevent acts of pipeline destruction in the name of "tapping." Everybody benefits when public property is protected.

All of us lose in some form or another when public property is left to the whims and caprices of vandals.

The big question of poverty and wilful disregard for public property need to be addressed by our policymakers for the long term.

We cannot continue to sit by and watch lives, innocent and not,  put at great risk and in some cases destroyed through the continued acts of vandals.

2. What about collapsed buildings?

If Nigeria has been able to combat the issue of fake drugs through NAFDAC, I think it is appropriate to consider setting up an agency/outfit that will focus specifically on the constuction industry to ensure that the appropriate standards and codes are followed. There is a building boom in Nigeria. However, there has been a lack of capacity to enforce existing building codes and regulations. Why has this been the case? There are not enough building inspectors to watch for lapses, deliberate or not, on the part of builders. The spate of collapsed buildings can be avoided. If there is a dearth of professionals in that area, we should plan towards training more individuals to fill the positions created through the growth of the building industry. 

An important issue, which is very rampant in Nigeria and has never been addressed is the issue of people living in uncompleted houses and building on themselves. This is a safety issue and ought to be discouraged as much as possible. In my opinion, local governments should be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that houses are completed before people are allowed to move in.

We should not always have to wait for disasters to be the trigger for action. We can forestall a lot of these problems by just investing upfront in building our capacity to ensure the protection of lives and property and perhaps the the future of Nigerian children.

 

'Kunle Oyekanmi

OEM Physician

 

Kunle Oyekanmi <kunl...@yahoo.com> wrote:

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/may/27/21.html