Team Lead, Platforms Africa, calls for pipeline repairs, use of trains as alternative for fuel transport amid NMDPRA’s March 1 deadline
As Nigeria moves to implement a ban on 60,000-litre fuel tankers, Team Lead of Platforms Africa, Adeola Yusuf, has expressed concerns over the effectiveness of the measure in addressing tanker accidents.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has earlier announced a ban on 60,000-litre fuel tankers from operating on Nigerian roads.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, February 19, in Abuja, Ogbugo Ukoha, NMDPRA’s executive director of distribution systems, storage, and retailing infrastructure, said the ban, which would take effect from March 1, would mitigate truck-in-transit incidents.
Reacting to this development in an interview published by Legit.ng, Adeola Yusuf, an energy policy analyst, acknowledged the government’s intention to curb fuel tanker mishaps but argued that the measure alone would not eliminate the problem.
He said: “Even though that may have some kind of effect, I don’t think that alone will stop fuel tanker explosion and accidents on Nigerian roads.”
Adeola Yusuf, a globally recognised award-winning energy journalist attributed the accidents to the poor state of Nigerian roads, saying: “Part of what contributes seriously to tanker accidents is the bad roads. The NMDPRA ought to have provided an alternative.”
After Platforms Africa Report, Oil Ministry Director Queried, Minister Disowns Claim
Hours After Platforms Africa Exclusive, Police Begins Nov Salary Payment
Oil Theft: Fact And Figures Of A National Emergency, By Adeola Yusuf
‘Contained, No Casualties’ NNPC Gives Update As Fire Rocks Cawthorne Channel 1 Barges
‘Drill Or Drop,’ NUPRC Begins Idle Oil Blocks’ Recovery, Announces 2025 Licensing Round
Adeola Yusuf suggested that the NMDPRA should focus on fixing the country’s pipelines, which would enable easy transportation of fuel products rather than trucks.
As he put it: “What the NMDPRA should be doing now, in addition to the effort made to stop loading of 60,000 litres trucks, is to ensure that those pipelines are fixed.”
He further proposed the use of trains to transport inflammable products, as it is done in other countries pending when the pipelines are fixed. The analyst also stressed the importance of ensuring the good condition of trucks and collaboration with road safety agencies to minimize accidents.
Adeola Yusuf concluded: “Beyond adopting other means like train transportation, they should see more to the state of the engines of those trucks. They need to engage in serious collaboration with road safety agencies like the FRSC, the VIO, even the police to ensure accidents of fuel tankers on Nigerian roads are totally stopped.”
Platforms Africa
