Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, on Thursday, said about 80 per cent of the 10,000 petroleum tankers used for transporting products across the country lack critical safety features needed for the safe transportation of such commodities by road.
MOMAN’s Chairman, Adetunji Oyebanji, disclosed this in Abuja at the ‘Truck Renewal Workshop’ organised by Association and Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners.
Oyebanji explained that MOMAN was already discussing with NARTO on the need for fleet renewal, adding this would lead to the replacement of unsafe trucks in the fleet of transporters.
He said, “With about 10,000 trucks involved all over the country hauling products majorly from the South to the North, about 80 per cent of these trucks do not have anti-skid.
“They don’t have anti-rollover, anti-spill protection, automatic braking systems, onboard cameras and onboard tracking system required for safe transportation of petroleum products by road.”
MOMAN chairman, who noted that pipelines remained the most effective and efficient means of transporting petroleum products, stated that the idea of a truck renewal plan was not novel to Nigeria.
He said the idea had been carried out in neighbouring countries, whose trucks boast the requirement of safe petroleum transportation.
Federal Road Safety Corps Corps Marshall Boboye Oyeyemi, said the corps was set to begin the enforcement of ‘no-safety-vale-no-loading policy’.
He said the policy would address the alarming cases of killings on the roads caused by tankers and trucks.
Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Saraki, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Mass Transit Administration, Angela Keyede, blamed most road accidents on human errors.
Keyede added that such accidents could be avoided if drivers exhibited enough discipline while on roads.