The Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, has blamed the Niger tanker explosion on poor leadership at the community level.

Naija News reports that the petrol tanker explosion in Essa community, Katcha Local Government Area of Niger State, which occurred on Tuesday, left 42 people dead and over 60 injured.

The unfortunate incident occurred when a tanker overturned on the dilapidated Bida–Badeggi–Agaie Road and exploded as residents attempted to scoop up the fuel.

Speaking on the incident during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, the DG described the incident as “frustrating” and avoidable.

“It’s very frustrating, but we saw it coming. After the Dikko explosion (earlier this year) in Niger State, the President gave us a marching order to conduct a nationwide sensitisation,” Issa-Onilu said.

He said the agency had engaged stakeholders, including community leaders, religious leaders, security agencies, and youth groups.

“Our findings show that sensitisation alone won’t solve this problem. People are aware of the danger but ignore it.

“It’s the failure of leadership at the community level. This particular incident involved the entire community,” he said.

Issa-Onilu noted that the agency met with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to review safety measures.

He explained that the downstream petroleum agencies were already developing new regulations to prevent such incidents

The NOA DG condemned the act of scooping fuel from fallen tankers, describing it as criminal and morally wrong.

“Why do you go near a spillage when you know the risk involved?” he asked, noting that “It happened in Dikko recently; it shouldn’t happen again.”

He said the behaviour reflected the decline of moral values in society and stressed that spilt petrol is private property, and taking it amounts to theft.

“Our values have eroded over the decades. Parents should ask their children why they want to take what belongs to another person.

“Even that fuel belongs to someone’s investment. The act of taking it is theft and prosecutable,” Issa-Onilu said.

According to him, community members should assist in salvaging products only to help the owner, not to take advantage.

“It’s beyond a fallen tanker. It’s a whole-of-society issue tied to value orientation,” he added.

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