Preventing the kind of explosion that killed five persons, injured 77 and damaged 58 houses in Ibadan must require much more than the executive order signed into law by the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.
The governor’s reaction is medicine after death, more so as there are a plethora of laws for which there was no enforcement, against the various actions leading to the explosion. It would seem that governments all over the country are in the bad habit of waiting for disasters to happen before showcasing their toughness.
It would be recalled that Lagos State government had also issued a warning against members of the public keeping explosives at home or in unauthorised places. This was the government’s reaction to the Ibadan explosion of January 16 in the Bodija area of the Oyo State capital, which is another sad reminder of how unsafe life has become in the country. It is also a testament to the government’s poor attention to issues of security. It is one incident that has left too many questions in its trail, central of which is how governance has been handled so casually.
In a sharp reaction to the tragedy, Makinde signed into law Executive Order 001, 2024, on handling and storage of harmful substances. In a brief signing ceremony, held at the Governor’s Office, Agodi, Ibadan, Makinde said the move became imperative in the light of the incident where explosives were stored in a residential area.
According to the governor, apart from the 58 houses that were visibly damaged within the immediate vicinity of the explosion, 230 others had to be subjected to structural integrity tests, to ascertain their levels of impact and fitness for continued use. They include 13 houses within 50 metres radius of the explosion site; 40 houses at 100 metres radius; 122 houses at 200 metres radius and 53 houses within a 250 metres radius. That gives a good idea of the scale of the deadly blast. Aside from buildings, vehicles and other items of commercial value were also destroyed.
Preliminary statement by the governor indicated that the blast was the handiwork of illegal miners who occupied one of the houses at Dejo Oyelese Close, Adeyi Avenue, Bodija and who allegedly stored explosives in residential areas. He said investigations were ongoing, and all those found culpable would be brought to book.
Beyond the executive order, Makinde should walk his promise to bring all culprits to nook. Notably, he had moved swiftly in filing a report on blast to the Federal Government which has responsibility for mining under the country’s constitution. The governor has presented the report, which presumably contained all information needed to get to the root of the deadly incident, to President Bola Tinubu.
Sadly, Nigerians justifiably have reservations about the government’s action so far, given that government reports and investigations are hardly given necessary follow-up after the hue and cry of an incident. Citizens also don’t get to make input and participate in investigations of incidents in which they are directly impacted. For instance, how many voices of survivors within the immediate vicinity of the explosion are captured in the report at a time they were yet to recover from the shock and trauma? What explanations did the government have from community associations around the epicenter of the accident, the landlord and community development associations that govern the area? It must be emphasized that security is local and community leaders should have an inventory of what comes in and goes out of their areas of jurisdiction.
The incident of illegal mining has become an environmental menace and security threat to communities around mining sites. Apart from degrading the environment, there are no security checks around mining communities. The origin and nationalities of some miners are doubtful. They evade taxes that are due to the government and turn mining sites into ungoverned spaces where illegal arms are stored. The case with Zamfara is well recorded.
In December, the Minister of Solid Mineral, Dele Alake, lamented that powerful Nigerians are involved in illegal mining and are responsible for other criminal activities, including sponsoring banditry and terrorism. Alake made the claims when he defended his ministry’s 2024 budget in the House of Representatives. These are very weighty allegations that require urgent and serious response from this administration on plans to contain the menace.
There is also the question about the logistics of storing and transporting explosives, especially within highly populated living areas. It is inconceivable that explosives found their ways into Bodija, Ibadan, which is not a mining settlement. It is hard to imagine that owners of the explosives were able to beat all security checks in transporting and storing lethal substances in that community until that incident occurred. The question is: how many more of similar explosives are hidden away all over the country?
Giving an update on the industry, President of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Dele Ayanleke said the association was not aware of details of the miners whose explosives caused the explosion while blaming it on lack of enforcement of regulations by agencies involved in mining licences. According to him, it is the government that licenses operators to handle explosives when they are issued with mining titles. Such operators are entitled to apply for purchase of explosives, in addition to a special purpose-built storage for the explosives. Upon approval, the construction of the storage must be supervised right from the foundation to the roofing by the Mines Inspectorate Department of the ministry in line with the specifications. These steps are followed each time approval is needed and details of these are shared with agencies like the Department of Security Services (DSS) and the Anti-Bomb Squad of the Nigeria Police. Anything outside this procedure according to Ayanleke is illegal.
From all indications on the Ibadan blast, there are serious security lapses along the chain of those who are responsible for regulating and monitoring the mining sector. Due processes in mining have been abandoned with serious implications for the safety of persons and security of the country.
Government should go the whole hog to fish out those responsible for the explosion, either directly or indirectly. Reports of the accident should be made public while all victims should be adequately compensated. Government should apply all rules that relate to the extractive industry, for crude oil mining as well as solid mineral extraction, without discrimination. Nigeria’s mining sector is said to be worth $700 billion and boasts of 44 different types of commercially viable minerals. This is the time for the government to tap into it and use the proceeds to boost the economy, instead of abandoning it to private and faceless characters. This is the time to do a who-is-who in the mining sector to unveil operators that are legal and those that are illegal. And there should be severe consequences for infractions.
