Since the explosion of a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered car in Edo state on Thursday, October 17, Nigerians have been asking questions about the safety of CNG in Nigeria.
These safety concerns didn’t start yesterday either; they’ve been around since August when President Tinubu launched his CNG initiative to give Nigerians access to a cheaper and cleaner means of transportation.
If there’s anything that sounds like safety to a Nigerian, it’s definitely not the idea of keeping a cylinder in the boot of their car. Because of this, President Tinubu’s effort to encourage Nigerians to convert their cars to CNG-powered cars has been met with criticisms and theories that keeping CNG cylinders in the boot is a love letter to death.
The CNG car explosion in Edo was the “I told you so” moment the spreaders of these theories have been waiting for but the real question remains – “Is President Tinubu’s CNG initiative a safe option for Nigerians or a death trap? We asked an expert to give us the facts
What does CNG mean?
There’s a high chance you’ve seen a cylinder in a Nigerian driver’s boot recently. These cylinders contain Compressed Natural Gas which is the alternative President Tinubu is proposing to replace petrol in Nigeria. CNG can power cars and generate electricity.
Is CNG safe in Nigeria?
You might find this hard to believe if you’ve seen videos from the scenes of the Edo explosion but according to Mr Oluwafemi Joseph who is a CNG coordinator at AUTOGIG International Resources, compressed natural gas is safer than the petrol that powers most Nigerian vehicles if properly installed. It is also less flammable than Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is the common gas used for cooking in Nigeria.
For most Nigerians, the thought of keeping the CNG cylinder at the back of their cars is the terrifying part but Joseph confirmed that the mapping process needed to determine the weight distribution of CNG for converted cars proves that the trunk is the safest place to store the CNG cylinder as long as the one being used has been confirmed to be of high-quality by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
What caused the CNG car explosion in Edo?
It’s normal to make a mental note to yourself to never explore the CNG option after seeing the CNG car explosion in Edo state news but experts like Joseph have confirmed to Zikoko Citizen that the explosion was an avoidable accident. According to him, the recent explosion is the risk associated with using substandard CNG cylinders and patronizing unauthorized centres. This he said, is because the substandard cylinders cannot withstand the compression of CNG and when that happens, explosions like these become unavoidable.
A statement from the management of the NIPCO filling station where the incident happened confirms Mr Joseph’s explanation: “Unfortunately, the cylinder installed in the vehicle—later identified as a fake and fabricated, substandard unit not designed for CNG—exploded after filling with just around 4 SCM of gas,” a part of the statement read.
Where do I find CNG stations in Nigeria?
If you ever decide to convert your car to a CNG-powered car, experts recommend that you go to the centres that have been inspected and verified by the Nigerian government. You can find CNG centres close to you here.
CNG itself does not put you at any risk of explosion or other kinds of accident but low-quality cylinders and patronizing centres that have not been verified by the government do. So if you must use CNG at all, protect yourself by going to verified conversion centres.
