Our society is regularly dropping the power to tell apart between hazard and alternative. What ought to ordinarily make us run for our lives has, sadly, grow to be a chance for some folks to threat every little thing in pursuit of rapid achieve. 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 replicate deeply on our angle 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 grow to be a chance to some folks?
When a petroleum tanker falls and its contents start to spill, the pure response ought to be to maneuver away from the scene as shortly as doable. Yet, in our society at present, some folks see such a harmful state of affairs as a chance to gather gasoline, ignoring the opportunity 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 results will be devastating.
The painful reality is that we appear to have forgotten the teachings of earlier tragedies, together with the Jesse gasoline 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 chance to grow to be rich. It is a severe hazard that calls for rapid warning.
Unfortunately, the cruel financial realities going through many Nigerians have made survival more and more troublesome. Poverty, unemployment and the rising value 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 amassing a couple of litres of gasoline if the value could possibly be one’s life?
Idris Rufai,
