Our society is progressively shedding the flexibility to tell apart between hazard and alternative. What ought to ordinarily make us run for our lives has, sadly, turn out to be a possibility for some folks to danger every thing in pursuit of speedy achieve. The tragic petrol tanker explosion and fireplace incident at Oluku Market, Benin City, Edo State, on October 15, 2026, is a painful reminder of this disturbing actuality.
The incident, reportedly triggered when a petroleum tanker fell close to the busy market, ought to compel us to mirror deeply on our perspective in the direction of security, human life and the determined wrestle for survival in our society. The query we should ask ourselves is that this: Why ought to a catastrophe turn out to be a possibility to some folks?
When a petroleum tanker falls and its contents start to spill, the pure response must be to maneuver away from the scene as shortly as doable. Yet, in our society as we speak, some folks see such a harmful scenario as a possibility to gather gas, ignoring the potential of an explosion that might price them their lives.
Should we name it ignorance, greed, desperation or a mix of all three? Whatever the reason, the implications could be devastating.
The painful reality is that we appear to have forgotten the teachings of earlier tragedies, together with the Jesse gas explosion in Delta State a few years in the past. Such incidents ought to have taught us that spilled petrol shouldn’t be a present, and a fallen tanker shouldn’t be a possibility to turn out to be rich. It is a severe hazard that calls for speedy warning.
Unfortunately, the cruel financial realities dealing with many Nigerians have made survival more and more tough. Poverty, unemployment and the rising price of dwelling have pushed many individuals into determined conditions. However, no financial hardship ought to make us gamble with our lives. What is the worth of accumulating a couple of litres of gas if the value might be one’s life?
Idris Rufai,
