Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN
Residents of Akure and its environs were jolted over a deafening explosion at the dead of the night few days ago at Ilu Abo, a suburb of the state capital and some kilometers away from the Akure Airport.
The explosion also left in its trail massive destruction of property, schools and churches. We are however delighted that no life was lost.
That no life was lost was chiefly because of the outbreak of COVID-19 which made schools within the area of the explosion site to be on holiday and moderating of social gatherings. Otherwise, the death toll would have been massive.
Some of the schools in the vicinity were with boarding facilities while the churches are usually filled to the brim during their night vigils. It was only divine intervention that saved Ondo State from what would have been a serious calamity.
Different reasons were adduced as the cause of the explosion, while many were busy running stories of the explosion being of Asteroid in nature, some opined that it was a bomb detonated through mistake by people on sabotage mission. Some opined that a sinister plot against a section of the country was behind the explosion. We are delighted both the Ondo State government and the Police had set up investigative committees to unearth the remote and immediate causes of the explosion with a view to preventing such occurrence in the future.
Report of the investigation committee would go a long way at putting the issue into a proper perspective.
We observe that from the immediate assessment of eye witnesses accounts and appraisal of professional bodies, it may not be too early to conclude that the explosion was caused by poor human management. It was borne out of our usually passive concern for the sanctity of lives of other human beings by some Shylock businessmen.
The fact that the driver and the security men transported a highly explosive combustible materials from the starting point of Ogun State without detection by security agencies is a puzzle. Still, as later discovered that the driver of the vehicle did not even know the content of what he was transporting to Edo State was another sign of dishonesty which are common among Nigerian businessmen. He may have felt that the driver would have asked for more payment if he knew how close to death he was by accepting to transport such a deadly material.
We commend the prompt response of the Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu who set aside all other engagements to visit the scene of the incident and to empathise with the victims at the hospital. Still more commendable and seen as a sign of good and sympathetic leadership was the Governor’s recent promise that the state would assist the victims after the government has estimated the level of damage.
The Ilu Abo explosion has once again showed that we need to take more precautionary measures on how to manage lethal materials that can jeopardise lives of other fellow Nigerians. Our security agencies at our checkpoints should be well briefed and monitored to ensure that they do their work with honesty and utmost patriotism. Shylock businessmen seen to be toying with the lives of fellow human beings for monetary gains should be severely sanctioned to serve as deterrent to others in future.
The Hope
