Our society is steadily shedding the power to tell apart between hazard and alternative. What ought to ordinarily make us run for our lives has, sadly, change into a chance for some individuals to threat every part in pursuit of fast acquire. The tragic petrol tanker explosion and hearth 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 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 change into a chance to some individuals?
When a petroleum tanker falls and its contents start to spill, the pure response ought to be to maneuver away from the scene as rapidly as potential. Yet, in our society immediately, some individuals see such a harmful scenario as a chance to gather gas, ignoring the potential of an explosion that would value them their lives.
Should we name it ignorance, greed, desperation or a mix of all three? Whatever the reason, the implications will be devastating.
The painful fact 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 just isn’t a present, and a fallen tanker just isn’t a chance to change into rich. It is a severe hazard that calls for fast warning.
Unfortunately, the cruel financial realities dealing with many Nigerians have made survival more and more tough. Poverty, unemployment and the rising value of residing have pushed many individuals into determined conditions. However, no financial hardship ought to make us gamble with our lives. What is the worth of amassing a couple of litres of gas if the value may very well be one’s life?
Idris Rufai,
