The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Distraction

  • Dangers of distraction in driving

    The increasing rate of road accidents resulting from distraction is becoming more worrisome in Nigeria thereby calling for more intensive driver education and traffic law enforcement to prevent further loss of lives on Nigeria roads.

    Distraction is any act that takes a driver’s or rider’s attention away from the path of travel for more than one or two seconds depending on the condition of the road, traffic and speed.

    The agents or causes of distraction include the following:

    • The use of mobile phone:- Receiving phone calls, making phone calls, reading text messages, sending text messages, searching for phone numbers, reading or sending social media messages while driving constitutes distraction whether you are using a hands-free device or not.

    These acts have become too common now, calling for strict and unbiased enforcement of the relevant traffic regulations by officers of the Federal Road Safety Commission and the State Government/FCT Traffic Management Agencies nationwide.

    • Reading:-Reading of newspaper, street map, navigator or book whether the traffic is heavy or light, amounts to distraction.
    • Searching:– Searching for house address, vehicles or other facilities while driving is another form of dangerous distraction.
    • Toddling with musical gadgets:– Changing CDs, Radio stations adjusting mp3 music channels and allied activities constitute distraction.
    • Gazing:- Some drivers are fond of looking at the opposite sex and road side events forgetting the complex nature of driving.
    • In-car discussion, argument or quarelling:- Some drivers are sometimes distracted into engaging in hot arguments or quarrel with passengers or bystanders. This also reduces the level of concentration on driving.
    • Children and pets:- Keeping children and pets in the vehicle without anyone to put them in check could cause a dangerous distraction.
    • Uncleanliness:- Not keeping the interior of the car clean could attract cockroaches, ants and other insects which could cause distractions while driving.

    The results of distraction include:

    • Inadequate attention on the path of travel.
    • Inadequate and delayed information gathering, visual and hazard perception.

     

     

    1. Unsafe reaction to emergencies.
    2. Lane indiscipline.
    3. Erratic interpretation of information and wrong judgment.
    4. Improperly coordinated driving and braking.
    5. Prone to driving errors and crashes.

    Consequent upon the dangers of every form of distraction, I use this medium to appeal to all categories of Drivers and vehicle Owners to avoid all acts of distraction to save their lives and the lives of other road users.

     

     

  • Grave distraction

    Grave distraction

    At a most crucial juncture, critical segments of the Nigerian elite lapse into grave — if not fatal — distraction.  They may yet live to rue a lost opportunity.

    More and more, embattled President Muhammadu Buhari looks like Eman, that tragic hero of Wole Soyinka’s play, The Strong Breed.

    Eman gave his all, to an unconscionable, insensitive, soulless and unappreciative community, just as his grander and more famous parallel, the Christ Jesus, died, so the rest of humanity — at least according to Christian tenets — might live.

    The more the president pines, the more he is scorned, if not by the quiet majority, then by a noise-some, virulent ensemble; most garrulous among whom are unfazed past wreckers, locating their own redemption in Buhari’s destruction. Yet, Buhari is nary the enemy.

    But this din is the exact opposite of the Jesus-Eman paradigm: the rest must perish for them, these noxious few, to live and thrive!

    As if bewitched, critical stakeholders of the Nigerian realm have joined this self-destruct crusade.

    In booming business are ethnic entrepreneurs, with their impassioned Fulani roasting; tribal pigeon-holing and ethnic scapegoating, their golden but empty panacea to rural banditry (read “Fulani herdsmen”), with its wanton waste of life.

    Churches live in scandalous denial of the tough economic rebuilding, play politics of the belly with their congregants’ plight and worship on the altar of cheap populism.

    Yet, that denial negates their core doctrine: purgatory before salvation — that tough path to spiritual renewal.  If you don’t purge yourself of old vices, how do you appreciate the new grace?

    A section of the media, smug, severe, all-wise and all-knowing, point fingers, lecture and hector: a very few from the position of condescending knowledge; a good many from self-yoked but badly disguised bigotry; and many, many more, just echoing the din, like some Roman plebs baying for blood, but never bothering to ask why!

    Among the commentariat, an anarchist’s manifesto would appear writ large!

    Why, even the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) appears deaf, dumb and blind to its historic mission.

    In what seems a grim revision of the resurrection order, its in-house Judases, sold to the inevitable triumph of evil over good, crow on the ascendancy; while its salvation crew, that bodes well for the country, are quiet, subdued and brow-beaten.

    Yet, this country may well sink, if the current salvage mission fails.

    The former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Those suffer a power plague.   Should PDP have a sole survivor, (s)he would holler: “power! power!! power!!! till (s)he gives up the ghost. On power for power’s sake, the PDP is well and truly lost!

    In this confusion of loud nothingness, even an arid youth-old age dichotomy rages.  With no penetrating insight, talk less of solution, banal scapegoating and maligning of old age rule the roost.

    Enter some mythical “youth”, serving selves as some future deus-ex-machina, to magically resolve all issues. Crass opportunism never wears a more comical garb!

    But it so happens: Kogi’s Yahaya Bello, 43, is Nigeria’s youngest governor today.  Oyo’s Isiaka Ajimobi, at 67, is one of the oldest.  Yet, post the performance bond of each and see how distracting — if not totally irrelevant — is the age dichotomy!

    With about everyone mushy with sweet emotions, it’s no wonder everyone appears glued to symptoms.  So, the root cause(s) luxuriate without check, mutating in different crises, leading to yet more growls.  Such a vicious cycle!

    Yet, what to do is break that cycle by tasking the government on solutions.  But lo!  The media  is fixated with ethnic slurs and conspiracy theories.  So, the most vital issues receive the least attention.

    But with penetrative thinking, the narrative could change from eternal laments, with self-induced Armageddon looming nearer and nearer; to clinical thinking, which could be a glorious game-changer, like the Red Sea, parting before the rod of Moses.

    High crimes, as herdsmen killings and other violent crimes, rural and urban, are a function of mass poverty; itself, a function of thinning-out opportunities.

    Rampant sleaze is the central trigger of all these malaise.  Ethnic baiting and roasting are its notorious handmaiden, and most horrendous symptom; for the most explosive economic ruptures often manifest in ethnic tensions, where the enemy is the “other people”.

    Yet, the Buhari Presidency’s focus, since its coming, is clearly this twin-strategy: growing the real economy, to broaden economic opportunities and tackle mass poverty; and plugging the routine plunder of the public till, with its war against corruption: to free public money for public investments, economic and social.

    Both fronts have made fair progress, even with their own fair share of glitches.

    Agriculture, which posted 25 per cent of GDP in 2017, helped to power the economy back, from the recession of 2016, to a growth of 1.4 per cent, given figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).  With slow but steady growth in industry (3.92 per cent in 2017) and services (0.10 per cent in 2017) and increased earnings from crude, the economy appears heading north.

    But there are glitches too.  The service sector posted 53 per cent of GDP in 2017, but it  only grew by 0.10 per cent.  This accounts for the still general sluggishness of the economy and the hunger and pains in the land.

    Besides, the increased crude earnings are neutralized by the continuing importation of refined products.  Though this is a key policy journey to nowhere from the ancien regime, full benefits from that sector are impossible without 100 per cent local refining.

    Yet, with expected better infrastructure, in roads and rail, the Federal Government is projecting a 3.5 per cent growth in 2018, compared to World Bank’s 2.5 per cent.  That means, worst case scenario, taking the World Bank estimates, the economy would grow by a further 1.1 per cent; possibly 2.1, if you take the government’s projections.

    No great leap, to be sure.  But given the near total wreck of 2015, and with far less cash at hand, it’s no little achievement.

    Besides, this is real sector growth, driven by people’s sweat; not the account-tinkering ploy of the Obasanjo-Jonathan era.  Little wonder, Nigeria is projected to become self-sufficient in rice and tubers this year.

    Parallel to developments in the real economy, the lustration of governance is on; exposing the jumbo sleaze of the Jonathan era. Yet to the nay assembly, with their media amplifiers, this lustration is nothing but an illustration of the polity’s impotence against corruption.  A nay anthem never sounded so silly!

    Yes, the regime has its own numbing scandals, not at all attune to a regime with zero tolerance for corruption.  Yet, only a skewed mindset would trumpet the latest Transparency International (TI) verdict on Nigeria as “evidence” that corruption is “rising”.

    That is nothing but sorry self-immolation.

    But then, it fits into that irrational frame, so common these days, of pillorying those working hard to salvage the sorry situation, while serenading the wreckers that dug the pit.

  • ‘Tenure controversy mere distraction’

    Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Nsima Ekere has described the controversy on the alleged tenure extension of the commission’s board as a mere distraction.

    Ekere, who spoke while inspecting the N24.5 billion Ogbia-Nembe road, and other feeder roads in Bayelsa State, appealed to those fuelling the crisis to allow the board discharge its mandate of developing the region.

    He said the board would not play politics with the region’s development, and called on politicians interested in the leadership of the NDDC to sheathe their swords and wait for their time.

    His words: “We should concentrate and allow the present board of the NDDC to deliver on its mandate. We don’t need the kind of distractions we are getting now. NDDC needs stability in its management to do all these projects.

    “The stability is needed for the commission and the region so we can concentrate and deliver. I appeal to politicians to please allow the board and management of NDDC work, and when the time for politics comes, as I always say, we shall play the politics.

    “I am very pleased and satisfied with the quality of work done by the contractor. It is noteworthy that this world class performance was achieved despite the very difficult terrain of the Niger Delta.

    “The region has a very challenging terrain and that is why projects cost more here than in other places. To get this project to this level, the contractor had to remove unsuitable materials for as deep as 25 metres in some portions. The project has also seen the use of vertical drains to take away ground water to allow the road to stabilise.”

    “This is an example for other oil companies operating in the Niger Delta. Shell has shown that in addition to its statutory obligation of contributing to the funding of the NDDC, it is also necessary to work with the commission on specific impactful projects.”

  • Distraction and driving

    Distraction means the ‘drawing away of the mind or the drawing away of a person’s focus from the main task to other people, places or things.

    Driving, as I used to enumerate in my teachings, is a complex task which involves the simultaneous use of several organs of the body (eyes, nose, ears, brain, hands and legs) in a continuously changing environment to gather and interpret information for appropriate decision making so as to ensure effective and safe vehicle control.

    Taking a deep look at the definition of driving as spelt out above, it is therefore implied that distraction is a terrible enemy of safe driving which every driver and rider must take every necessary step to avoid no matter the pressure or temptation.

    In this article, I will briefly remind vehicle owners, employers of drivers and riders and most importantly, the drivers and riders themselves (everyone who sits behind the wheel) of the dangers of distraction while driving (or riding).

    While driving (or riding), the eyes of the drivers must be devoted to scanning the road and the road environment (front, back, right and left) to get the big picture and also pay attention to details, gather information about potential threats so as to be able to take appropriate actions to avoid accidents.

    The ears must be at alert to gather information about sounds inside or around the vehicle. The nose must also be at work to gather information about the odour of burning cables, fuel leakages, dry water radiators and other information.

    In the same vein, the brain must be ready at every point in time to interpret every information gathered by the eyes, ears and nose and transit them into action for the hands and legs to readily take to avert disasters on the road.

    Therefore, anything or any activity which interferes with the alertness or readiness of the eyes, ears, nose, brain, hands and legs to be alert and function appropriately either in information gathering, interpretation or action constitutes a distraction.

    Such distractions include the following:

    • Turning the eyes away from the path of travel to look at a person or things for more than one or two seconds.
    • Operating a satellite navigator or reading direction map while driving.
    • Making or receiving phone calls while driving (including hand free).
    • Reading or sending text messages while driving.
    • Chatting on the phone while driving.
    • Caressing an opposite sex with one hand while driving.
    • Adjusting radio stations, CDs or DVDs while driving.
    • Watching videos or films or the dashboard screen while driving.
    • Looking at children or pet on the back seat of the vehicle while driving.
    • Gazing at the face of the passenger (s) you are discussing with in the vehicle while driving.
    • Quarrelling or arguing with Passengers in the vehicle.
    • Fixing earphone into the ears while driving is distracting the ears from hearing what they need to hear to ensure the right information are gathered.
    • Putting one leg on the seat, dashboard or elsewhere instead of the floor in case of automatic transmission cars.

    The above mentioned are some of the actions that constitute distraction and must be avoided to ensure alertness in hazard perception, interpretation of information for effective and safe vehicle control. The traffic law enforcement agencies need to be more proactive in arresting and prosecuting the violators of the laws on distraction and other traffic offences. This will go a long way in enhancing the safety- consciousness of drivers for safe driving.

  • Of outlawry and distraction

    The news, of some minsters smuggling files for presidential decisions abroad, should shock and awe.

    Shock, because their appears some systemic outlawry in the system — or how else would anyone even conceive such conduct, when the law has installed an acting president, in lieu of the president, on medical leave abroad?

    And awe, because despite this ministerial rascality, the two involved highest officials of the Nigerian state, according to the news, have stuck to the same page of presidential grace.

    While President Muhammadu Buhari shunned those ministerial outlaws — and rightly so — Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, took them in his strides, letting the cold majesty of the law, roar for his high office!

    A tiger, in Soyinka-speak, does not proclaim its tigeritude, does it?

    But it could easily have gone awry!  Just imagine the president being more mischievous and narcissistic?  Or the acting president, much more excitable and paranoid, yakking over powers the law has granted and no man, under our law, can take away?

    It would have been another impassioned debacle in the media: in the best of times, brash and sensational; in the worst, just unthinking, arrayed along ethnic, regional or even religious lines; and in-between, an irredeemable lover of sensations, that though push copy sales, retard society!

    Nigerians will yet come to appreciate the calm duo in the presidential chamber, in perhaps this most reckless era of Nigerian politics and politicking, with incendiary outbursts, that could well last a lifetime.

    But can same be said for the media?  Hardball, regretfully, cannot wager.

    Remember the so-called “coordinator” debate, fluffy, sweet but sterile?

    The president had written a letter to parliament on his medical leave abroad.  After quoting the relevant section of the 1999 Constitution that supports that action, the letter ended with the acting president “coordinating” the affairs of government.

    Even the Saraki-led Senate shot down a sterile debate, pointing to the relevant clause to dispose of the matter, and moved on to more important things.

    Not the media!  Lack of focus-meet-sterile controversy, with flaming headlines and conspiracy-powered interviews to boot, it went on a bling of hysteria: whereas Osinbajo did a full take-over during Buhari’s first medical leave, he was condemned to being a mere “coordinator” of governmental affairs, this time round!

    But pray, what does the president himself do?  Isn’t it his job to give policy direction and then sit back to coordinate his ministers, since they are his task people in government ministries?

    At the height of the wild excitement, some even swore that the so-called “cabal” had finally pocketed the president against a Vice President he had praised to high heavens, for his cooperation, integrity and loyalty!

    Now, if the Buhari shunning of those rogue ministers is true, what is proof to back such conspiracy theories, of a cabal arm-twisting the president to undermine his own prized deputy?

    Hardball thinks the Nigerian media, as currently constituted, have a lot to learn from the equanimity of Buhari and Osinbajo.  As everyone appears to lose their heads, they have kept theirs.  Buhari is naturally taciturn.  Osinbajo is master of saying what he absolutely needs to say, and not a breath more!  And both are not driven by inanities.

    The Nigerian press has a lot to learn in this direction, instead of jumping on the ethnic, regional or even religious bandwagon, just because they enjoy the monopoly of being heard — and, as the Glo radio data advert says, just “because they can”!

  • Ambode’s Lagos: Beyond cynicism and distraction

    In-spite of explicable concerns over traffic gridlock as well as pockets of traffic robbery incidents across the State, it vital to affirm that the Akinwunmi Ambode Administration in Lagos State has commendably discharged its responsibilities within such a short time in office. Of late, the much talked about traffic gridlock in the metropolis is steadily giving way. With the reformation of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, LASTMA, Lagos residents have begun to notice remarkable improvement in traffic situation in the State. Same goes for security situation as occurrence of traffic and armed robbery operations have drastically dwindled across the State.

    The current improved traffic and security condition in the State is the outcome of months of painstaking planning by the State government and relevant stakeholders. Governance is not as simplistic and straightforward as some people would want to think. Lots of methodical and strategic thinking go into formulation and execution of government policies and programmes. From the outset, the vision of the Ambode administration is to transform Lagos into a 24/7 economy. To achieve this goal, the security component has always been accorded a top priority. Therefore, one of the earliest tasks of Governor Ambode was to meet with key stakeholders in the State to advance security course.  On the occasion, over One Billion Naira was realised as cash donations from various corporate organisations and individuals while others made commitments to provide other vital technical support.

    Consequently, the Ambode administration has made concerted efforts to fortify the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), in partnership with the State Police Command, to further enhance its operational capability. This is reflected in the handing over of 2 surveillance helicopters, 10 armoured tanks, 10 brand new Hilux vehicles and115 new power bikes, to the State Police Command and RRS respectively. This is in addition to the purchase of 100 new squad cars for a new initiative tagged Special Operation Service (SOS), which will harmonize community policing in partnership with the Rapid Response Squad (RRS). Likewise, an integrated security and emergency control platform that interface with all security networks in the State has been set up. The outcome of all this investment in security is the relative calm and peace being experienced in the State.

    The improved traffic situation in the State is equally a product of multifaceted strategies being deployed by the State government. One of such is the restructuring of LASTMA. Another is road-repair. For the Ambode administration, which actually came on board in the thick of the rainy season, road rehabilitation is a necessity. In Lagos, the rainy season often has serious implications for human and vehicular movement.  Since significant portions of the roads have been largely damaged by the rains, the Ambode administration came up with “Operation fix all potholes”, which is geared towards ridding all roads of potholes to enhance a hitch free vehicular movement. By defying the prolonged rainy season in its road rehabilitation’s quest, the administration has disregarded a universally held belief that road maintenance work is seldom done during the rains.

    Through this process, over 230 roads have been improved across the State. These include Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Mongoro-Cement-Dopemu under bridge axis, Epe-Ijebu -Ode road, Odumola-Poka/College road junction axis, Ado road, Ajah, Obalende bridge descent inward NIPOST,  Lekki-Epe expressway, Elemoro-Abijo axis,   Billings way, Oregun,  Ashabi Cole street, Alausa, Abdul Ouadri Adebiyi street, Magodo Ph II among others. This is aside major rehabilitation works being done on the Ejigbo-Ikotun road, Moshalasi-Ayobo road, ACME road among others. Meanwhile, it is imperative to emphasize that the exercise covers and favours every Division, Senatorial district as well as Local Government Council Area in the State.

    It is, however, important to stress that the palliative works being carried out on some strategic roads across the state are not meant to provide permanent solution but temporary relief for Lagos residents pending the setting in of dry season, when real asphalt works will be applied to the depressed surface. Considering the level of work done so far on the roads, in addition to several on-going commitments such as the newly commissioned Mile 12-Ikorodu BRT lane and busses, it is expected that significant improvement will soon begin to take place in road transportation across the state.

    In the health sector, the administration is equally making appreciable progress as the governor recently commissioned 20 Mobile Intensive Care Unit (MICU) Ambulances and 26 Transport Ambulances. The aim is to bring quality healthcare service closer to the people, particularly during emergency situations. It is also aimed at widening the coverage of emergency services beyond the metropolis to the hinterland. The ambulances, which are to be deployed free of charge for Lagosians, are part of Ambode’s promise to run an all inclusive government.

    Similarly, more paramedic staff and special medical coordinators have been employed to ensure 24 hours service to the citizens. There are also plans to equip all General Hospitals in the state with new mobile X-Ray machines to reduce the cost of patients doing X-Ray outside the hospitals.  In same vein, funds have been approved for homegrown cochlear implant surgery, under a special programme dedicated to restoring the hearing ability of those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Cochlear implantation is a hearing device implanted into a deaf patient’s ear through surgery, thus helping to convert sounds into impulses which enable the patient to hear. A 64 year old man has already undergone the surgery successfully.

    The education sector is also receiving commensurate attention from the state government. In a bid to improve primary education in the state, 1300 teachers have been recruited into all public primary schools across the State. Being the foundation of education at all levels, the Ambode administration is poised to strengthen the quality of the Universal Basic Education Programme in Lagos State to give pupils a solid and sound academic background. The exercise is equally expected to achieve a balanced workforce of teachers in public primary schools in the State.

    In order to reduce the economic and emotional burdens of State pensioners, the sum of N11bn has been released to pay off pension liabilities owed the mainstream retirees and the retirees in Local Government Areas since 2010. The development is part of efforts to find a holistic solution to the issue of payment of pension entitlements to retirees under the pay-as-you-go pension scheme which was discontinued in April 2007, as well as outstanding accrued pension rights due to retirees under the contributory pension scheme.  This intervention will go a long way in ameliorating the sufferings of retirees in the state.

    Also, the civil service, which oils the machinery of government, has been restructured for tactical re-positioning. Some MDAs have been re-aligned while new ones have been created to align with the vision of the administration. Similarly, government agencies with rented office accommodation are back in the secretariat. The goal is to cut the cost of governance as almost three billion naira is currently being saved monthly through this initiative.

    The past five months, no doubt, represent a significant milestone in the life of the Ambode administration. It is the foundational period when solid socio-political and economic frameworks have been put in place. Now that preparatory job is done with, Lagosians are reassured of a better and brighter future.

    • Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
  • ‘Wike’s probe of Amaechi, a distraction’

    ‘Wike’s probe of Amaechi, a distraction’

    Former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s Media Office, in this piece, argues that Governor Nyesom Wike is chasing shadow by probing his predecessor.

    Again, our attention has been drawn to comments by the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, where he attempts to justify his fraudulent, sham probe of the immediate past governor of Rivers State Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and distort our statement on the amount of money Amaechi left in the State treasury.

    No matter how hard Wike tries, the public can clearly see through his fraudulent deception and the sham he calls Commission of Inquiry to probe Amaechi. That panel was set up to indict Amaechi of corruption. Everything about the probe commission is at variance with the ethics and laws of a fair, just and unbiased probe commission.

    Indeed, the hack panel has not disappointed its paymaster since it started its shambolic public hearings. As we earlier warned, it is a comedy to grab media headlines with bogus, phantom and fabricated claims of corrupt practices against former governor Amaechi. The public hearings have become a comedy of errors for the media. We maintain that Wike’s probe commission shall not achieve anything beyond political excitements, entertainment and theatrics.

    However, what the public may not know is that Wike’s deceptive probe of Amaechi is a distraction to entertain and keep the public focus on his circus show, while he siphons and salt away billions of naira from the State treasury. From the moment he stepped into Government House, Port Harcourt, Wike has run a government of lies, deception and fraud.

    He first made a show and gave a performance of his false accusations that Amaechi stripped the Governor’s Lodge bare, saying that the former governor stole spoons, plates, knives, cups, mattresses, forks and even curtains from the Governor’s Lodge! However, in the images Wike showed to back his lies, the curtains in the lodge were clearly there, seen and intact.

    Wike then claimed he met a completely empty treasury. That again is another big lie and grand deception to steal state funds. We have said that former governor Amaechi left billions of naira and we even went ahead to mention the banks and give the names of the accounts the money were, as at May 29, 2015.

    We repeat that N7.5billion cash were left behind as balances in the State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) account with Skye Bank, FAAC account with Zenith Bank, balances with Access Bank and funds in the State reserve fund account in First Bank. This is besides other balances in the state Government House account with Zenith Bank and other government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) accounts, like the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP). Amaechi left N939 million naira in the Commercial Agric Credit Scheme Account in Zenith Bank. By the time you pull all these balances together, we are looking at readily available cash in the region of eight to ten billion naira left for the Wike administration. We have mentioned banks, account names and funds left in the accounts. These are facts that cannot be distorted by Wike.

    If Wike says he’s not lying that he met an empty treasury, we challenge him to publish the statements of these government accounts that we have mentioned and other Rivers State government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) accounts as at May 29; to prove his claim and show the public that Amaechi left an empty treasury for him. But, we dare say, he will not because he runs a government of lies, deception and fraud, always wanting to hoodwink the public as he siphons billions of naira of State funds.

    Rather than this comedic, puerile and silly distraction he calls probe commission, Wike should explain to Rivers people what happened to the funds Amaechi left, the N30 billion naira loans he took under 30 days and other funds that has accrued to Rivers State since he became governor. Amaechi left a legacy of accountability; Rivers people expect nothing less from Wike.

  • Distraction, we need action now, please!

    Distraction, we need action now, please!

    Monday morning, 14th of April, 2014, another tragedy.  The bomb blast in Nyanya on the eastern outskirts was heard throughout Abuja. Casualty figures are high; the horror prompts exclamations that invoke the pains of childbirth.  Lives cut short, make nonsense of birth.  Just imagine the waste of lives and property.  Nigeria deserves better, for all its resources and the investment in securing its existence over the years.  This is no longer a regional issue, it concerns us all, and we should not be looking away.

    The proximity to the seat of power made this security breach rather stark.  The President, accompanied by the Senate president were quick to visit the scene, offering words of comfort. World leaders also condemned the attack. According to the spokesperson for the US State Department Jen Psaki, the Obama administration is outraged.  Press reports say the British Foreign Secretary William Hague is deeply saddened by these “senseless killings”. Like Ronald Noble, Interpol secretary general, many have promised to assist Nigeria tackle threats to its security. But why are such comforting words not reassuring?  Why is this not enough?

    This incident is the latest in a long string of atrocities committed by the group and clearly not the last.  You do not need me to remind you of the atrocious acts attributed to Boko Haram. It is more than a religious incursion, nor must it be viewed as a regional or political problem.  Too many innocent lives have been lost, the carnage is fresh in our minds.  We can speak of civilians caught in crossfire, those executed for facilitating law enforcement, there are the servicemen lost in their attempt to restore order, and we must account for lives lost amongst these bands of men who seek to place the nation under siege. All human life is sacred after all. Were it not so absurd, one may imagine that these campaigns by Boko Haram are an indirect population control measure. But no, these are lashes on our national psyche.  No one knows who is next and the problem is more than the loss of lives.

    We are yet to know the full cost of these traumas. Horrific news reports are merely snapshots, albeit graphic evidence of the crippling costs of such wanton destruction.  Consider the burnt out vehicles and motor parks, torched homes and shops, the wares in these and in markets razed to the ground.  Even the seemingly inconsequential tray is evidence of someone’s livelihood, no matter how measly it may appear.  These are hints of the severe disruptions to life and development; roads blown up, telecommunication masts set ablaze, commercial activities paralysed, religious premises made insecure.  Rebuilding these comes at a cost.  Some other project may have to be stalled if what was lost is to be replaced.  Now that is what makes these so senseless. These are disruptions that the nation can ill afford.

    There are no rules in these outrageous assaults; it seems anything goes.  The very latest report (Tuesday 15th April 2014) is of 200 school girls who have been abducted.  The dead are not the only victims.  Perhaps they are the lucky ones as, in death they are now beyond further terror.  Not so the living, those maimed physically and emotionally, those left to mourn the dead.  This but for the grace of God is a lifelong sentence.  Many cannot begin to fathom challenges that lie ahead of widows and widowers, orphans and relatives who have to pick up the pieces of lives broken in this carnage. And there is yet another dimension which concerns the general public. It is the spectacle of mangled body parts which seep through press reports and social media, evading broadcast codes that seek to regulate against such. Time will tell if there will be any comeuppance, for this. These are the unseen costs of wanton destruction of life.

    So far, there has been some reaction from government and other quarters, but these remain inadequate.  To be fair, military response has been intensified.  North-eastern Nigeria is still in a declared state of emergency.  Sections of civil society are at alert, with much uproar in the press and on social media, especially following the March 2014 attack on the Federal Government College in Yobe State.  Nigerian women in different parts of the world marched to protest the mindless killings. Prayers are being offered for divine intervention, but many more look on and the horrors have not ceased.  And life goes on! Many simply look away, perhaps to avoid being overwhelmed.  We just want to carry on as usual, perhaps to frustrate the terrorists; they should not see us cowering.  Perhaps that is what the President meant when he referred to this as a temporary setback, stating that we will get over it. But there was little comfort in that.  Rather, read against the backdrop of his other well publicised activities there is a sinister veneer to the declaration of the incident as an “unwanted distraction”. The question is distraction from what, the gruelling task of nation building or the many frivolities of office? Here is what we have seen; two examples of recent high profile events will suffice.

    The centenary celebrations, carried on in spite of cruel murder of hapless students of a Federal Government College is one.  Our leaders went off to lavish banquets whilst the nation mourned.  Awards were given to many, the same national heroes whom we had honoured in the past and a few miscreants whose wicked deeds we thought had been buried with them were.  Would it have mattered if that latest honour were not given, especially in light of the tragic situation? The second event should have been a private celebration, but Nigerians were called to witness a squandering of wealth.  No one can begrudge the president’s family for celebrating on a joyous occasion, but since it is not a state affair, the wedding of the adopted daughter should not have been transmitted live on the continent’s largest television network – possibly at no charge to the family. This media spectacle was ill timed, coinciding with more Boko Haram attacks.  That just goes to show, that this is not time for repose, Nigeria’s foes are still on the prowl. This problem requires more serious attention.

    It is irksome to hear Nigeria being described as a poor country by some government apologetic discussing the nation’s challenges in diffusing the threats to security on NTA International.  His point is that the military are ill equipped thus hampered in their efforts to tackle the terror of Boko Haram.  That is questionable. Yes, the borders are porous and long, the Sahel region is unstable, but Nigeria is not poor.  Only recently, it was reported as being the strongest economy in Africa.  Going by the well reported extravagant public spending, the opulence on display at public functions, including private parties of the elite, (the president is just one of them) Nigeria is not poor.  So there is no reason for the military to be ill equipped.  If guests at a state function (the 53rd independence anniversary celebrations) or those at the wedding of the president’s adopted daughter can receive gold plated iPhones as mementos, Nigerians should at least be guaranteed of security.  But the nation deserves even more.

    Nigerians deserve good governance, basic infrastructure, means of livelihood and effective policing.  There should be avenues for resolving conflicts before these escalate.  The cadre of the disgruntled who throw their lot in with rogue elements has to be offered meaningful alternatives, and this is not about merely offering bribes to community leaders. Development should be sustained and not merely reactions to aggression.  Progress in the economy should be reflected in the lives of the people not just in the books.  At the heart of our many policies and activities should be due regard for the dignity of life.  A root and branch change is needed but it won’t just happen, we have to work at it.  This calls for much more than mere political platitudes or empty promises.  Having fought to keep Nigeria one, the people of this land regardless of their origin or affiliation should be accorded respect.

    So far, the political elite have shown no concrete actions to stem this haemorrhage of lives. Rather politicians on unofficial campaign trails haul accusation and counter accusations which confirm that public funds are being siphoned with impunity.  Each party it seems, seeks to make the most mileage from this most unfortunate loss of lives.  No wonder Boko Haram is still on the prowl.  Alas, they keep picking on the same soft targets, the hapless victims betrayed by government, undermined by poor infrastructural services, pillaged by armed robbers, and bombed by Boko Haram.  In deed when elephants fight, the grass suffers. The governed in Nigeria are the grass, and the suffering so far has been unto death and there is no meaningful change in sight.  Alas! In the words of Fela Kuti, “Na double wahala for deadi body!” This is why there is no comfort in the promises.  We need meaningful action NOW, if you please.

    -Esan wrote in from School of Media and Film University of Winchester, UK.