Time Bombs at RAINOIL and CYBERNETICS TANKFARMS OGHARA

       If the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR)will not grant approval for the establishment of a fuel service station in a strictly residential area,then how did the same DPR throw the book of regulations away and approve the establishment of three petroleum storage tank farms of over 100 million litre capacity in the hitherto sleepy and strictly residential neighbourhood of Oghareki?.
        For those who don't know,a tank farm  is a compound containing a collection of high capacity tanks,into which ocean going vessels discharge their highly inflamable petroleum cargo,usually fuel or premium motor spirit(PMS),Diesel(AGO),or Kerosene.
        Oghareki,a part of Oghara Kingdom,is a settlement by the bank of the River Ethiope,reputed to be at least 100 feet deep making it a suitable waterway for deep sea liners.It is about 10 kilometers from the Idjerhe Kingdom with which she shares the same Local Government Area,Ethiope West Local  Government Area.
        The latter Kingdom  has Jesse as it's chief settlement.Jesse needs no elaborate introduction as the petroleum pipeline inferno which claimed a thousand plus lives on october 18th 1998 is still easilly recalled by all.
       The mind boggling facet of the Oghara tank farms siting is how the authorities;the DPR,the PPMC,the State Governor,the House of Assembly,the Local Government Authorities,the Oghara Monarch and other stake holders could so hastilly push the Jesse fire disaster,and the lesson it was meant to serve out of their minds and aquiesce to the status quo of the petroleum industry.
       The storage capacity of Rainoil Oghara is 50 million litres,and going by that size,should not be anywhere close to any residential area,because if accidentally ignited,will create a conflagration which will surely engulf everything within a fifty kilometer radius at least.
       Immediately,the serene world class Amena Hotels and Resorts sharing a common fence with Rainoil will be wiped out,guests,staff and all.The Union Bank building and everyone therein will burn to soot,the Western Delta University hostel located next to the late Oghara King's palace,inhabitants and all will be consumed,the adjoining Uherevie Primary School,Pupils,Teachers et al,Orefe Secondary School;Students,Teachers and others,the Oghara Police Station;Policemen,cell inmates and the adjoining Rainoil service station will all be vapourized.Even the Ethiope West local Government secretariat,and the United Bank for Africa and their staff,customers and all will be fried.
      Somewhere in between,all the fully laden tankers,and their Drivers,who usually hang around for a while to enable them siphon a few litres,or take a beer or two,or just catch a little sleep before hitting the road,will also catch the inevitable fire as it spreads around the area.
       On the other side of the Oghara Ajagbodudu road,the Cybernetics tank farm  will also be ignited and the 500+ residential housing units and their occupants with it.Of course the Ogharaki Baptist Model college,Sage Global college and the not too far off Catholic Our Lady of Nigeria College will also be razed down,as will be the entire Ajagbodudu Palm Plantation,quarters,residents,goats,chickens etc.The resulting fire will even stretch as far as the Koko road.
       Unavoidably too,the vibration from such explosion will shatter glass windows of houses and vehicles in adjoining areas several kilometres away,and the fire will even burn right across the river into Sapele town, and the Sapele thermal power station at Ogorode,which is just across the river and a stone's throw from Rainoil tank farms will burn like a piece of firewood in the harmattan.
      While this collateral damage and calamity rages,the state fire service will stand by helplessly because they are not fitted to cope with a fire of this dimension,as was also the case with the Jesse fire which was put out over a month later,by a fire fighting company from the United States.As it all plays out, the countless profiteering stakeholders now being befriended by the bankers including the DPR,the PPMC,the Delta State Government,the Petroleum Minister,the Presidency,the Ethiope West Local Government ,the Oghara Monarch and community leaders would have all become like the Sentry  who fell asleep.

TO BE CONTINUED.