Over one year has passed since the Japanese tsunami caused about seven nuclear meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The immediate result was that about 50 km radius of the plant’s range, dangerous radiation rays affected lives and properties.



Initially, there were tight restrictions on the export of products from the nuclear meltdown affected areas by the Japanese government. As time has passed, the restrictions are becoming more relaxed, and now, more and more products with dangerously high levels of radiation are being shipped to several ill-regulated markets. This is most especially the case with used vehicles, which are hardly subjected to the same level of safety testing as brand new vehicles, prior to shipment.



Immediately after the nuclear incident, governments of countries around the world installed radiation testing equipments at the ports of entry. Australian government was among the first to test 700 vehicles in the June of 2011; this testing has continued till date and thousands of cars are tested monthly.



In Chile, port workers and custom agents staged a protest against their government for not immediately destroying 21 vehicles found with traces of radiation. In the view of the Chilean Nuclear Commission, the radiation levels found was not high enough to cause damage to humans. The workers thought otherwise and forced the government to revisit its decision.



In a July 2012 report, Russian government stated that it has so far denied entry to about 300 cars proven to come from the nuclear explosion district and found with very high levels of radiation. The Daily Telegraph of UK not too long ago, reported that fraudulent Japanese used-car dealers were selling vehicles “exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation to unsuspecting buyers.”



Cars having up to twenty times the permissible level of radiation have found their way to African countries where several governments are clueless or unconcerned about such health risks. Governments of Kenya and Tanzania however, are among the few African countries, who, unable to afford the high cost of testing all incoming vehicles have expressly banned the importation of cars from Japan into their markets. Kenyan government went as far as destroying some cars after it hired independent firms to test for radiation levels.



Uganda imports between between 4,000 – 5,000 cars monthly, several of them used. The government of Uganda, concerned about the threat to its citizens sent a delegation to Japan headed by the House committee leader on trade and which included officials of Uganda National Bureau of Standards. The delegations reported upon return that “it was established, through random scientific tests as well as motor vehicle inspection records, that many used motor vehicles destined for export markets from Japan are contaminated with significantly high level of ionizing radiation, way above recommended levels.”



Nigerians buy more used cars than brand new cars, and Japanese cars are the favorite of most first-time and budget car buyers. For the sake of peace of mind, one must desist from thinking of how many radiation drenched cars have already found their way to the Nigerian market. Most radioactive materials settle on the body of the car, windows and seats, and no amount of scrubbing or re-painting or even change of chaircover can remove them.


Radioactive agents are highly carcinogenic. Radiation forms cancerous cells and makes them grow aggressively. Other side effects of radiation include infertility, birth defects and irreversible DNA alterations that exposes future generations to yet-to-be ascertained risks.

Although a little belated, the Nigerian government should immediately release a public statement on the stand of the government towards used Japanese cars, or else the health of Nigerian citizens and residents would no longer be assured. It is suggested that Nigerian government should, as a matter of urgency, join its Kenyan and Tanzanian counterparts in placing a temporary ban on importation of used cars from Japan, until it has acquired equipments to test cars for radiation at the various ports of entry.

http://saharareporters.com/column/nigerians-risk-japanese-radioactive-cars-market-chika-ezeanya

@OP This is the kind of issue we as a people should be concerned about. Can we all take this issue to the steps of ASOROCK?!

This is actually a very good topic and one that I haven't pondered on previously.

Although the heading has not been confirmed. THE MODERATOR can help us with a front page listing. It is not only cars Laptops, refrigerators and even foodstuffs. I find hard to believe that the port authority do not have any testers for such.

they won't do anything about it!! We don pass stage of importing cars oooo.... We suppose dey make our own by now!!

Nigeria is a dumping ground and If you think our govt would waste time and get into action as regards this piece of information rethink again

LOL. Before nko? The dumping ground of the world. And guess who the garbage carriers are? Your standard m0r0nic "importer" who go scouring world-wide for any product with a cheap price-tag. Some of the "products" are even scrap so they get them for free.

It will be a very huge shame to our government if they have not implemented any plausable action if countries like Tanzania are working this hard for the safety of it's citizen

@OP

Thanks for this.

I bliv dis is a serious issue of grave concern...did i just say "grave"? Rightly so because nuk radiation is just dat -- deadly.

i can u bet u dat de government is doin something about it.de minister for health is sitting in his dinning table sipping a bucket of ............. Nd readin wat am sayin

Must we as a country occuply the last seat in everything? Why can't our govt see beyond their noses? The depend on us the masses for everything,from giving them security informations thereby putting our lives at risk (boko haram) to bearing the harsh economic brunts for their finacial misappropriations (subsidies), and now these.May God deliver his children.

Good observation by the author.

A geiger muller counter comes to mind when detecting nuclear radiation. Portable and all...

Lest you'll be waiting for the obligatory government committee to look into and procure radiation detectors whilst hundreds come in everyday.

BlackBaron: Good observation by the author.

A geiger muller counter comes to mind when detecting nuclear radiation. Portable and all...

Who made you a 'Baron', mate? Delusions of grandeur!

bittyend:

Who made you a 'Baron', mate? Delusions of grandeur!

Smh

Who let you out of your cage.

This certainly cause for serious concern, judging by how porous and vulnerable our ports are.
Its definitely easy to conclude that majority of these toxic equipment have found their way into the country.
*thinking* Could this be the reason for d sudden rise of Cancer cases in the country?

These are the kind of issues our governments should be concerned about. I wouldn't be surprised if such vehicles are already in the country and unsuspecting buyers of these products are riding in them putting their immediate families and the general public at a huge risk.

Meanwhile, it must be a compulsory requirement to have radiation scanning devices at all ports of entry into the country and must be part of the daily standard checking procedure.

This is serious.

This headline looks misleading. The Fukushima incident happened in March 2011, which is about 17months ago. Radiation is carried on dust particles, The air itself isn't radioactive but small dust particles are; washing off the dust from any surface that has been exposed decontaminates radiation. We have had two raining seasons since then, So even if these cars haven’t been washed, rain must have washed off the radioactive dust (if any). I think any concerns would have been the few months after this incident, not more than a year later.

sahara reporters are always against dis bbullshit country called Nigeria, a place where all evil things happen, we citizens are no longer safe, governmental problems are @ its peak, the retarde.d called Janatan is as clueless as a goat, the senatars and legislooters are as fo.olish as lunatics, the set of i.diots called ministeers dont even know how to handle their various portfolios, they have all made us to live like rats who can be eliminated anytime, worst of it all, our media houses are as disorganized like aso rock.

Mtcheew!!!

Adrenaline: Guess our minister of health is dozing

Nah, I think the word "chilling" is best. Afterall, the government is always on top of Everything.

trix!:
This headline looks misleading. The Fukushima incident happened in March 2011, which is about 17months ago. Radiation is carried on dust particles, The air itself isn't radioactive but small dust particles are; washing off the dust from any surface that has been exposed decontaminates radiation. We have had two raining seasons since then, So even if these cars haven’t been washed, rain must have washed off the radioactive dust (if any). I think any concerns would have been the few months after this incident, not more than a year later.

Thank you for dozing of the tension.smh

This issue calls for serious concern. Nigeria has been known as a dumping ground from time immemorial. I pray they do something quickly to contain it.

I have ASNT level 2 on radiation safety and environmental research fellow @ ictp italy! And to my best of understanding, the effect
of the radiation at this point in time won't be so active as to affect human life. The incident happened 2011 with level of atmospheric air that blows everyday n rain! Am quiet sure the strength of the radiation must av reduce to the level of sever risk.the fact is nothing is at risk at this time for the imported cars.

Radiation altering our DNA. What could be better than that.

LOL