Studies of risks associated with technological development in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper attempts to assess the magnitude of the risks associated with industrial and transportation technologies in Nigeria using data from various governmental agencies and private organisations. The minimum annual averages of injured persons and data from accidents associated with technological risks in Nigeria were as follows: factories - 402.4 injured persons and 5.8 deaths; petroleum industry - 106.5 injured and 45.3 deaths; road traffic accidents - 25,262 injured persons and 9,117 deaths; and railways 170.5 injured persons and 43.2 deaths. Of the eleven plane crashes reported between 1978 and 1991 the nine crashes for which information was disclosed claimed 352 lives. The highest technological risk is from road traffic accidents. The annual average death from road traffic accidents (9,117) was 1.05 times the annual average death (8,662) from communicable diseases and 1.2 times the number of deaths (7,711) from cholera epidemics in 1991. Between 1988 and 1991 there were 855 reported cases of occupational diseases with an annual average of 214 cases. Conjunctivitis, dermatitis, chronic bronchitis and bronchial asthma accounted for 91% of the 855 reported cases. The observations reflect the techno logical risk situation in Nigeria, and the need for improvements in both reducing risks and increasing the recording of risk statistics.