Most Cooking Gas Cylinders in Nigeria are Time Bombs -SON

By ZION Olalekan

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of purchasing second hand cooking gas cylinders, saying that most of them are more than forty years old and could best be described as time bombs waiting to explode.

Speaking at a sensitization workshop for maritime operators in Lagos, Director of Inspectorate and Compliance Directorate of SON, Eng. Obiora Manafa advised Nigerians to always contact SON offices scattered around the country in order to get a list of accredited manufacturers of cylinders.

Marafa also warned that there is an increase in fake lubricants in circulation, especially those labelled as ‘Mobil Oil’.

He said some unscrupulous Nigerian importers are in the habit of travelling outside the country to import fake lubricants and label them in the name of existing brands.

According to him “People travel outside the country to buy substandard lubricants and place Mobil on them, it is not every Mobil lubricant that you see in the market that is genuine, and we have discovered that they are faking the Mobil engine oil as well as other company’s lubricants”.

Marafa explained that the lifespan of a metallic cylinder is fifteen years, he however revealed that most of the cylinders being imported into Nigeria are above fifteen years, he said many of them are forty years old.

Speaking, he said that SON has so many seized cylinders in its custody, including used cylinders and new cylinders, according to him, used cylinders are contraband and Nigerians are not allowed to bring them into the country.

“The reason is that when you bring these used cylinders, they are expired already, they have been thrown away, but our people go over there and bring in these cylinders, they go over there and sought them from the waste bin and start bringing them into the country, these are time bombs that they are bringing into the country.

“The lifespan of a metallic cylinder in fifteen years, so when you are using a cylinder that is above fifteen years, just know that you are using a time bomb.

Most of the cylinders being imported into Nigeria are above thirty years, some are forty years old”.

Eng. Marafa advised that it is better for us to buy a new cylinder in order to save our lives. When you hear about gas explosions, houses burnt and lives lost, so many things destroyed, you reason why you should not spend N8, 000 to save your life by buying a good cylinder.

“We have a list of companies approved to bring in these cylinders, we have list of factories that SON has already certified, that we can beat our chest that they have quality system and every of their cylinders meets standard. If you desire to buy a cylinder, call SON and we would tell you where to buy the cylinder. Please don’t buy used cylinder anymore, if you know anyone buying it, tell the person it is bomb.

“Destroying some of these items is also challenging for us at SON, sometimes we need to hire machineries to handle them, before we destroy any item, we seek court order, and before we burn some of them we have to get permission of LAWMA in Lagos State or other environment bodies of other states, burning constitutes environmental pollution” he said.