Kerosene explosions in Benin

by 

Dennis E. Omoregie

 The attention of the Edo State Government has been drawn to an editorial captioned: "The Benin kerosene explosions" (The Guardian February 12, 2001.)

The editorial erroneously portrayed the State Government as slow to action in enlightening the people on the presence of killer kerosene in the state, hence a non-governmental organisation, Save Accidents Association of Nigeria (SAVAN) took over the enlightenment campaign which government ought to have done.

This is not correct and it is a mere conjecture on the part of the editorial writer. In order to put the records straight and for the author to be better informed, it is pertinent to state the facts as follows:

As soon as it became known that the cases of burns reported in the Central Hospital and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital were from kerosene explosions, the Edo State government took immediate steps to warn the people on the dangers of further use of kerosene. To this end, jingles were produced and continuously on the electronic media available in the state, advising the people on the precautions to be taken in order to avoid fire incident either from the killer kerosene or other sources. Along side this method, the State Ministry of Information carried out a street-to-street enlightenment on the same issue, using its public address equipment vans.

The government did not stop at that, as it constituted a state enlightenment committee on the killer kerosene in cooperation with the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to do the following:

• Enlighten the people on the dangers of buying or using kerosene for now;

• advise the people to return kerosene in their possession to the nearest filling station for exchange;

• help evacuate victims to the Central Hospital Benin and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital where free treatment and feeding were provided.

Posters and handbills on the message were distributed by the enlightenment teams which toured all the local government areas of the state. Local government councils, most of which had initiated their own enlightenment campaign on the killer kerosene, were assisted by the state ministry of information to carry out the campaign in their various communities.

• The state and local government enlightenment committees are still at work. It is necessary to inform you that the involvement of SAVAN in the campaign was to complement the efforts of government and not a substitute. SAVAN Enlightenment campaign was restricted to markets in Benin City where Oredo Local Government and other non-governmental agencies also carried out a similar exercise.

In view of all this, one is inclined to describe that editorial as malicious and calculated to ridicule a government that is well acclaimed for its prompt response to the welfare needs of its people, particularly during disasters, such as the one occasioned by the kerosene explosions in the state. The Edo State government did not abdicate its responsibility to enlighten the people on the disaster as was portrayed.

Dennis E. Omoregie,

Director of Information, Ministry of Information, Benin.