Reuben Abati On Pipeline Explosion
Aderemi Ojikutu
chanced on a burst pipe, Nigerians of all grades would carry containers
of a thousand descriptions to scoop fuel illegally. They would struggle
for the finished petroleum product, the black gold. At the site of the
theft they would haggle with customers and set up a market of death in
the presence of a volatile material. Housewives even go to this market
with babies strapped to their backs.
And when tragedy results, there is no escape. Each tragedy does not
teach any lessons. The next time a pipeline is available for
scavenging, the people simply do not bother.
I have been told that poverty explains the problem. But it does not
provide a complete explanation. Poor people do not fight their poverty
by endangering the very life that they seek to improve. A wise poor man
should know that his condition can only improve if he remains alive.
How many buckets of fuel can anyone scoop to escape the poverty trap?
Those who scoop fuel and die in the process are not like the suicide
bombers of international fable; they are not soldiers defending any
sovereignty; they are not ethnic militias challenging the politics of
Nigerian nationhood; they are people who are prepared to die for
nothing. They are so frustrated with life, they are ready to risk it
for the price of death. Self-murder on a mass scale in the process of
mere self-gratification is a reflection of the psyche of society
itself. That kind of death is condemnable. It is stupid. And yet this
is what we see daily in today's Nigeria.
Of what use are Nigeria's security agencies if they cannot always
enforce law and order? The police are becoming too notorious for acting
as spectators in situations where they should act decisively. Illegal
oil bunkering on the seas usually involves the deployment of high
finance and equipment. The Ilado tragedy provides useful hints in this
direction.
Oil is a curse to Nigeria. For 50 years, it has brought Nigerians much
agony. Over-dependence on oil wealth, the scramble for it and for its
control, has robbed the nation of the opportunity to look in other
directions, and think more creatively. The people of Ilado and the
neighbouring communities face a clear and present crisis: their source
of water, the sea that runs through their villages has been polluted.
Their beaches have become emergency graves. Both government and civil
society groups should come to their rescue to prevent an outbreak of
epidemic. It is a pity that the country lacks the capacity to identify
the dead. Their individual identity is forever lost. That perhaps, is
the bigger tragedy.