Unbridled gas cylinders explosion in Nigeria
Several years ago, African women built primitive hearths in the form of a u-shaped brick wall to cook without matches, if you didn’t keep the home fire continually burning and use a large metal lid to cover the embers of the fire at night you woke up to find the ashes cold like a dog’s nose. What it meant was that you might need to walk miles to borrow fire from your neighbours the next morning.
Today, cooking gas has gained wide acceptability among the womenfolk because of its energy efficiency; precise temperature control, immediate heating and cooling, lower operating cost and the ability to work without power. But our kitchens have become a den of death due to the number of deaths caused by explosion of cooking gas cylinders in Nigeria.
The pertinent question is, why would a cylinder explode?
There are a lot of factors that have been identified by experts, ranging from importation of fake cylinders into the country, expired cylinders to lack of proper training on the use of cooking gas.
According to Mrs. Nkechi Obi, a former national coordinator of the Women in LPG Group, bringing fake cylinders into the country “is like bringing explosives into homes, which can be deadly.’’
I was listening to a radio station last week with a team of experts invited to educate the masses on the disturbing trend of cooking gas. They itemized some steps which include: How to use cooking gas, safety precautions to be observed in-cylinder handling, what to do if there is raging fire and checks for leakages and cylinder maintenance, among other safety issues highlighted.
What do we do if there is a raging fire at home? “The first thing is to check if there is a possibility to switch off the valve, if it is not possible, the person should run for his life like an antelope pursued by a lion and evacuate everybody in the house.’’
Having a fire blanket in the house is another good way to douse the fire at its embryo stage. They emphasised on the importance of fire blanket. According to them, a fire blanket is a very helpful safety device which is used to put off small fires. A fire thrives on three elements; heat, oxygen and fuel and a fire blanket’s work is to cut off the oxygen supply. It can be gotten at the safety fire shop of fire service offices nationwide.
It is a global standard that cylinders are taken for reassessment every five years, but in Nigeria the LPG cylinders are mostly metallic with a lifespan of roughly 15 years which should be destroyed after expiry date but in reality what do we do? We romance rickety cylinders and even repaint them severally to make them look handsome.
How do we stay safe? As individuals we can prevent mishap by checking substandard cylinders, old valves, worn out regulators, among others. By taking these preventive measures, we would have saved ourselves of unwanted danger.
The government policy on LPG has to be more stringent. Reports available have it that most people are unaware of safety checks of gas cylinders, the media therefore should educate and encourage people to be cautious while cooking as it is still the cleanest source of energy.
Olusanya Anjorin
Lagos. olusanyaanjorin@gmail.com