Engineers seek legislation to end building collapse, fuel tanker accidents

2026-02-22 - 12:35

By Daniel Abia Nigerian Institution of Safety Engineers, NiSafetyE, has reiterated its commitment to embark on extensive lobbying of the National Assembly and the 36 state Houses of Assembly to enact a law that would empower the body to checkmate incessant building collapses and oil tanker accidents in the country. The Institution of Safety Engineers, a subsidiary of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), decried the alarming rate of increase in cases of fuel tanker accidents across the country and the frequent building collapses, which have taken so many lives and destroyed millions of properties over the years. The institution attributed this unfortunate incident to a lack of strong legislation. Speaking during the investiture of the 5th national chairman of NiSafetyE in Port Harcourt over the weekend, the new chairman of the body, Dr Andrew Monday Abanum, said he would intensify awareness campaigns to educate tanker drivers on the need to consider safety as a top priority in their chosen job of conveying petroleum products from one point to another. Dr Abanum regretted that whenever a tanker laden with petroleum products is involved in an accident and the product spills, “the devastation is usually too massive as people at the scene of the accident get burnt and property worth millions of naira is destroyed in the process”. According to him, “our campaign will be extended to ensuring that the tankers on the road are of quality standard, the drivers must be certified to be of good mental health, while the government must ensure that the roads are in good shape, devoid of potholes”. The 5th NiSafetyE national chairman promised that every petroleum tanker must be subjected to the safety test of the standard organisation of Nigeria, SON, before it is allowed to ply the road, so that even if there is an accident, the product will not spill over. On frequent building collapses in the country, Dr Abanum said the incident was of great concern to the Nigerian Institution of Safety Engineers, advising that some ways to end building collapses include ensuring that engineering jobs are given to certified engineers to handle. “Substandard building materials in the market space must be examined. Quality materials must be considered. The structural design and other necessities must be thoroughly taken into account before any building project is carried out. “This is why in my two years as the national chairman of NiSafetyE, we will lobby the National Assembly and the 36 states’ Assembly to make legislation that will empower our organisation and other safety bodies to check the excesses of some disgruntled elements who flout safety orders and instructions”, he said.