If Israel continues the ongoing attrition war against Hamas, Gaza may in future, become a byword or synonym for hell on earth. Smarting from the atrocious massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians, on October 7, by Hamas, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led right-wing government has sworn to exterminate Hamas, and they are raining hell on northern Gaza, the stronghold of Hamas. Snubbing all entreaties to stop the collective punishment of all Gazans, for the terrorist acts of Hamas, the calamity befalling northern Gaza is akin to stories about the Hades.
In Nigeria, the Benin bypass has become a byword for hell on the road. Originally built by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo to ease pressure on the inner roads of Benin, and aid those travelling to the southeast and parts of south-south, middle belt and northeast; the bypass has turned from a succour to a nightmare. Travellers now spend more than 12 hours on a stretch of road that shouldn’t last more than 30 minutes. When it opened, it offered a pleasurable smooth ride, away from the hustle and bustle associated with the inner Benin roads.
Soon, a park for trailers and articulated trucks developed along the axis, and before one could say jack, the congestion became a hindrance against the free flow of traffic. As if on cue, the road-work began to give way to the manoeuvrings of trailers and trucks, and aided by erosion, gullies and craters became a permanent feature of the road. Without any maintenance, the road degenerated to a form of purgatory for motorists, as they spent hours long enough to reach their destination, along that bypass.
Travelling the route last week, this writer witnessed the road as a living hell for motorists, necessitating the Gaza imagery. A fellow, who left Lagos on Wednesday morning to attend a burial in Anambra on Thursday, arrived his destination around 3pm on the burial date. He spent over 32 hours, for a journey that should take about eight hours, running at the average of one-hundred kilometres per-hour, with stoppages on the road. Of course, he arrived after the burial, looking dishevelled like an escapee from the war-torn Gaza.
After narrating his ordeal, this writer felt the urgent need to alert the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) that the bypass if not immediately repaired, could become a burial ground for Nigerians, during the imminent Christmas period. For, if travellers could spend a day on that 30-minutes stretch, at this period of the year, it is better imagined how many days it would take to drive through the road during the high season of Christmas.
Luckily, the minister for works, Engr. Dave Umahi, has shown himself knowledgeable in road works. He must therefore draw the attention of Mr. President to the calamity that has befallen that road, and the Armageddon that would befall users when Christmas arrives in about one month’s time. In his travels by road to assess federal highways, one wonders whether the minister has visited the Benin bypass?
If he has not, he should make haste to visit, and make greater haste to secure the attention of the National Assembly to approve the necessary funds for immediate repairs. This writer believes that members of the red and green chambers would be interested, especially those of them from the southeast, parts of south-south, middle belt and northeast that pass through that road. While definitely all the honourable and distinguished members would fly over the bad roads, their new SUVs, acquired at a whopping cost of N160 million per one, would ply the roads to their constituencies during the Christmas break.
Unless of course, to aid the effective discharge of their legislative responsibilities, the leadership of the National Assembly would sequestrate the Nigerian Air Force Hercules C130 aircraft to airlift each and every one of the luxurious SUVs, to the nearest airport to each of the legislators, to avoid any gap in the exercise of oversight functions during the Christmas season. Worse case, if the lower ranking legislators lack the capacity to commandeer the use of the C130, the principal officers may add that to the perks of office.
But considering the potential costs for lifting all the vehicles to the national exchequer, and even the possibility of losing vital days of legislative duties, not to talk about damages to the new vehicles should they ply the damaged road, this writer urges members of the National Assembly to show interest in the urgent repairs of the Benin bypass. By so doing, they may gain remedial good-wishes from their disconsolate constituents, who feel disparaged that they spent N57.6 billion to acquire luxury vehicles when most Nigerians are finding it difficult to eat one meal a day.
If the legislators doubt the veracity of the claims about the roads, the honourable representatives and distinguished senators in whose constituencies the Nigerian Gaza, sorry, Benin bypass passed, should visit their constituencies to verify the claims. Alternatively, in exercise of oversight functions, the committees of both houses on works, and the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), should visit the bypass for on-the-spot assessment. If all that is too difficult to arrange from Abuja, the director in-charge of that federal highway should assess and report his findings to the minister of works.
Tragically, while the rest of the world seems to lack the will-power to stop the carnage going on in Gaza, the Nigerian government has the capacity to end the hell on the Benin bypass. But why can’t the international community muster the resources to defeat Hamas, whose terrorist stunts caused the present crisis, and bring those responsible for the massacre in Israel to account, and thereby eliminate the reason for turning northern Gaza to hell on earth? Why can’t the international community find a lasting solution to threats to the existence of Israel and also ameliorate the miserable life that Palestinian live in the Gaza strip and West Bank?
With the current war in Gaza, the two-state solution that has been bandied as the answer to the perpetual war between Israel and her neighbours, is pushed farther from reality than it has ever been. While Israel lays claim to Jerusalem as their eternal capital, the Palestinians who occupied the land for centuries after Israel was chased away into exile many centuries ago, are determined to have a share of Jerusalem, as their own capital. Unfortunately, this bloodied tango has become a means of livelihood for Hamas terror activists, and the survival gambit for some doddering Arab regimes.
Clearly, a divided world is unable to guarantee security for Israel, and freedom for Palestinians. While this column wishes the Abrahamic cousins peace on earth, it urges an end to the hell along the Benin bypass.
