The Nation Newspaper

Tag: tragedy

  • Tragedy in the Sahara and Mediterranean

    Countless Nigerians are dying almost daily in the Sahara Desert beyond Nigeria’s northern borders and in the Mediterranean Sea north of the desert. These are part of the large numbers of Nigerians who, in total desperation, are attempting these days to flee to Europe from the hopelessness of Nigeria. Many are those who have become tired of standing on line fruitlessly and endlessly for visas at foreign visa offices, or those who are downright unable to put together even the little money needed for application for any visas, or those who hear of some other persons who have made it to Europe through this enormously dangerous route and who believe that they too will be lucky, or those who are influenced by equally desperate and ignorant friends to jump at what they believe to be a viable option but is essentially a jump into the hands of death.

    The news of this disaster that is consuming countless citizens of our country never fails to come these days. Stories of groups of Nigerians and other Africans getting stranded in some small oases in the desert are common. So are stories of groups perishing on the desert sand, or in poor, out-of-the-way and isolated oasis. Quite commonly, guides who contract to take groups across the desert are not as informed about the desert conditions as they claim to be; and, in such cases, the groups are simply defrauded of the money they collect among them to pay the guides. It is not uncommon for parents at home in Nigeria to suddenly receive telephone calls from unknown persons from some strange place in the desert, with demands for more money for their son or daughter who is said to need more money to get on further beyond a point in the desert.

    Some months ago, members of a family in my large extended family suddenly called me in the night to tell me, in great agony, that their daughter was in the Sahara Desert somewhere, and that they had not known until a telephone call from the desert that she had left Lagos where she had been living. It was a sad and scary development. Through a long chain of connections, we managed to contact the office of a Nigerian agency that was handling such matters. By and by, we learnt of a Nigerian woman who is located in the said agency abroad, and who has been doing very excellent work in finding and extricating some of the Nigerians who get themselves enmeshed in this terrible, and potentially deadly, mess.

    But only a very few ever get so lucky as to be successfully traced, retrieved, and sent back home to Nigeria. As for the rest, a few do make it to Europe – there to find themselves in a life with countless, and mostly harrowing, possibilities; many never make it to Europe, but perish in the desert or in the sea.

    A few days ago, the Nigerian media reported on the same day two stories in this tragedy. One story was about some 140 Nigerians who were rescued in the deserts of Libya and brought back home to Nigeria. These 140 are part of the minority who, from time to time, get lucky. The other story on the same day was about 26 young Nigerian women whose dead bodies were delivered to Italian authorities by a boat that had crossed the Mediterranean Sea from the North African coast.

    The instances are not infrequent of large numbers of people dying on boats that do make it across the Mediterranean Sea. In such cases, no information is usually available about the circumstances leading to the mass deaths. There is no information available about the mass deaths of the 26 Nigerian women of a few days ago.

    Much larger numbers of people are known to be dying by drowning in the Mediterranean. The causes of the drowning are fairly easy to tell. The boats that carry the desperate immigrants across the sea are smugglers’ boats. Most of these boats are poor in condition, and also poor in the quality of their crews.  And, for the voyage across the sea, they are almost always grossly overloaded – because very many immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and even parts of the Middle East are desperate and rushing to reach Europe, while the smugglers are eager to collect as much in fares as possible. The boats therefore often run into trouble, or sometimes even break up or capsize, on the high sea, resulting in the drowning of many people.

    There have been reports of smugglers packing people in the holds meant for cargo, holds where no humans are supposed to be carried. And there have been reports of people suffocating and dying in such holds. Could it be that this is what happened to the 26 Nigerian women whose dead bodies arrived in Italy a few days ago on a Spanish war boat? Were the officials of the war boat engaging in some share of the human smuggling business, or had they merely offered the good service of collecting dead and living immigrants from distressed boats on the high sea and bringing them to the nearest port in Italy?

    It was reported that the boat brought the dead bodies of the Nigerian women in its refrigerated holds, and that there were as many as 375 smuggled immigrants abroad the boat. Italian officials are reported to have promised a thorough investigation of this horrid story, and there have been indications of suspicion that the women might have been sexually abused and then killed on the voyage across the Mediterranean Sea. However, as has commonly happened in the past, the world is likely to hear no more about this whole incident.

    The Nigerian media reported this past Tuesday that the federal government intends to evolve policy to curb illegal migration of Nigerians to other countries. Naturally, every patriotic Nigerian would welcome even this bare intention, in the hope that some welcome direction will soon emerge in this situation. The development involving continual deaths of large numbers of Nigerians in the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea has long deserved the most serious attention of our federal government. It dehumanizes countless Nigerians on a regular basis, and it casts deep aspersions on our country’s image – and even on our country’s presumption of itself as a viable country in the word.

    So, we look eagerly to see our federal government’s policy. We Nigerians must all hope that it will not take the form that our federal government’s policies have tended to take in recent years in response to serious social situations – the direction of resorting to authoritarianism, of calling out the military, and of supporting all these with grand statements of threats, of drawing red lines in the sand – and of ludicrously claiming that change had been thus achieved.

    No. Such directions will not work. What we have here is a very serious socio-economic and ethical malaise, with very deep roots not only in the poverty that our rulers have foisted upon us as a country, but also in the pattern of relationships that predominates over our country. The tap root of it is the poverty – deep and hopeless poverty. But the general atmosphere of mutual hostility and hatred among Nigerian peoples is a major strand of the roots. Large numbers of our youths cannot see how they belong in this country. Many psychologically regret being born in Nigeria, and are prepared to take even the most manifestly dangerous steps to get out. Many of these young people do hear the stories of the frequent death and ruin on the Saharan and Mediterranean path out of Nigeria, but that does not deter them from trying that route. A wise country would not threaten such people or set up measures for constraining or coercing them. Fundamental changes are needed to convince these people that their country and the rulers of their country love all its citizens and all its peoples, that the topmost government of their country is not there by conquest but by love, that such love holds out some hope of general change and improvement, and that, even though the poverty is yielding only slowly, Nigeria is nevertheless a home and a heritage worthy to hold on to. For Nigeria to have any chance of making it in the world, this kind of new direction must plainly begin to evolve.

  • Avoidable tragedy

    •Tragedies on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway highlight an urgent national problem

    Another avoidable tragedy raised questions about the state of inter-state roads as well as the state of mind of passenger-bus drivers on such roads. A report painted a picture of a September 14 crash: “Thirty-one people were confirmed dead while seven others were seriously injured when two 18-passenger buses loaded with passengers collided with another vehicle on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday night. The crash occurred close to a construction site around Elebolo area in Oluyole, Ibadan.”

    How it happened showed impatience and over-speeding, two dangerous things drivers are encouraged to avoid. The situation was compounded by darkness. According to the report, “The Oyo State Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Cyril Mathew, said the accident occurred at about 8.30pm and blamed it on over-speeding. He said the two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions, adding that the driver of the Ibadan-bound bus had increased speed in an attempt to overtake an articulated vehicle, but he lost control of the bus before ramming into a bus, which was on its way to Lagos.” Mathew was quoted as saying 20 men and 10 women died in the crash.

    Thankfully, there were survivors, and one of them reportedly corroborated the observation of the FRSC boss: “Busari Owolabi said the driver of the vehicle he was travelling in had been cautioned several times by passengers against over-speeding before the accident occurred.”

    Additionally, the report said: “One of the FRSC officials at the scene of the accident noted that the accident could have been caused by the drivers’ use of alcohol. He said that both of them reeked of alcohol during the rescue operation.”

    Obviously, over-speeding and alcohol consumption are human factors that are controllable, which makes the role of the drivers involved condemnable. There is no excuse for such dangerous and potentially destructive behaviour behind the wheel. When such accidents happen as a result of such causes, the problem can be attributed to a failure of common sense. It is important to emphasise that the regular public enlightenment campaigns that discourage over-speeding and alcohol consumption for road safety reasons need to be treated seriously and absorbed by drivers.

    It has been observed that the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway poses the greatest challenge to road marshals in terms of traffic control, accident prevention and response to crashes. The road is notorious for its high traffic volume and fatal crashes, but this should not be accepted as unchangeable. The relevant authorities should pay attention to the condition of the road and ensure that it is properly maintained and managed.

    It is noteworthy that, following the introduction of the speed limiter, the FRSC, in February, said enforcement had brought about a noticeable decrease in crash rates on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The FRSC had given motorists, particularly commercial vehicles and fleet operators, up to February 1 to comply. Its Sagamu unit commander, Mallam Mohammed Abdullahi, had said:  ”It is a well known fact that the human factor in relation to speeding, accounted for 50 per cent of road crashes in the country. Crashes involving commercial vehicles and trucks had always been prevalent but now we are seeing a decline as motorists begin to comply on the speed limiter policy.”

    He added: “It is advisable that everyone obtains the speed limit devices. It is just an attempt to take away the human control of speed and transfer to the machine. With the speed limiter, you will not be able to exceed the approved calibrated speed cap of a 100km/h, placing a stone on the pedal would make no difference. For now, the enforcement is only on the commercial vehicles and that’s simply because commercial vehicles have capacity to carry more passengers than the private ones.”

    The current state of enforcement is unclear, considering the latest tragedy on the expressway. Reducing crashes and fatalities on the road is an objective that must be achieved.

     

  • Tragedy of Nigerian poor’s herd mentality

    What President Muhammadu Buhari was persistently ridiculed and condemned as a failure even before his second year in office, was a direct consequence of his inability to uphold the corrupt but highly lucrative systemic bazaar of the past. Although Buhari’s leadership suffers the affliction of crooked men and women, his glamourised aversion to corruption and his ongoing anti-corruption campaign, resonates dangerously to the country’s crooked divide. Too many men and women accustomed to pocketing and spending money that they didn’t earn are suddenly aghast and petrified by their inability to conduct ‘business as usual.’

    That former President Goodluck Jonathan took God for a fool also attests to the plague and degenerate sway of money. Jonathan, in abject desperation for acceptance and goodwill of Nigerian masses, travelled from the presidential villa in Aso Rock, Abuja, to stage a dramatic communion with God, on his knees, before Enoch Adeboye, a respected cleric.

    Cut to another hodgepodge of the ex-president on his knees, before Ayo Oritsejafor and other self-appointed “men of God” in faraway Jerusalem, Israel. Jonathan in flagrant disregard of religious tenets advising that man’s communion with his Creator should be personal and unpretentious, deserted his abode in Abuja to embark on a spiritual jamboree of his self-styled ‘humility’ and communion with God across the country and overseas.

    Predictably, psychologically and materially-impoverished loyalists cum the ex-president’s media aides argued that he simply loved to ‘lead by example’ thus politicizing his “humility” and “love of God” to the fascination and appreciation of all. It is however, unclear by what standards they will prove that heartfelt prayers muttered by the former president on his knees, in the corners of his room, would have been less significant than his theatrical communion with God.

    Were these spiritual shows emblematic of Jonathan’s unpretentious love of God or were they symptomatic of a desperate wish to perpetuate him in power for the attendant fiscal and material perks? Cut to Stella Oduah, aviation minister’s N255 million bullet-proof automobile scandal Sambo Dasuki’s $2.1 billion arms purchase scam and Abdulrasheed Maina, former pension boss’ N21 billion pension fund racket to mention a few, and you have an interesting picture of the Nigerian ruling class’ inexorable lust for money and other material things.

    There is the oft-repeated logic and inclination to blame this persistent malaise on capitalism; however, attractive as such sophistry may resound, the impulse for acquisition, pursuit of gain and money in fact, has nothing to do with capitalism – it is merely a symptom, like perverse capitalism, of the society’s steady descent the slope of the decadent and grotesque.

    Max Weber, the late German economist and social historian would say it has been common to all sorts and conditions of men at all times and in all cultures of the earth but I would say that the Nigerian malaise is brought about by the absence of an enduring moral code.

    This deficit manifests in deficiencies of personal and societal ethics – the consequence of which is the preponderance and regeneration of eejits, tyrants, greedy-guts, fraudsters, narcissists, murderers and bloodhounds of all kinds and of all nature, across the country’s landscape.

    The trials of Nigerians’ moral degeneration as exemplified by the citizenry’s inordinate lust for money, the country’s recurrent tragedies and propensity to self-destruct, reveals an overarching tendency to savour short-term greed and relief over long-term prosperity. Despite a protracted and tumultuous history of impoverishment and bad leadership, Nigerians continue to look for quick fix solutions thus mortgaging the country’s present and future for short-term benefits.

    Through decades of moral perversions and self-inflicted disasters, Nigerians continue to bemoan their tragic fate. While many argue that the country ruins because the youth are too weak and too selfish to spill as much blood as is required to rid the nation of every human and institutional affliction, many more contend that the country’s woes will disappear immediately poverty is eradicated by the ruling class.

    Today, the fear of poverty as the irrepressible lust for money, drive too many to commit gross acts of dishonesty and irresponsibility. Personal greed is pervasive and poverty is endemic. It represents the triumphal punch delivered by the proverbial system against the country’s poor, hopeless masses. Nigeria suffers the consequence of the supremacy of money. Money elevates and ennobles the possessor of it; whatever the nature and import of the rich’s membership of society, as long as he has money to flaunt and throw around, nobody cares what value he adds to and denies society.

    Thus the pardon and acquittal of several corrupt politicians and deposed bank chiefs; even after insurmountable evidences were marshaled against them by prosecution, they got off too easily with court sentences that were tantamount to a pat on the back.

    The poor, on the other hand, epitomise more of what is wrong and contemptible with the society. They represent that segment of the society that is easily swayed, viciously condemned and trodden by the power of money.

    The power of money is indeed frightening and overwhelming. Like Okwudiba Nnoli notes, it uplifts and crushes, enhances and debases, exhilarates and disenchants, dignifies and dehumanizes, enlightens and blinds, unites and divides. Under the influence of money, humaneness and the quest for the collective good are ferociously smothered by disruptive and selfish considerations. Materialism is fostered and greed is ennobled in the mad dash for money. Consequently, justice, freedom, equality, dignity and other human rights, are sacrificed.

    More worrisome is the reality of the poor in Nigeria being unquestioningly docile to the power of money. This impoverished lot is hardly impressed by humaneness and promising leadership. To them, these are manifestations of weakness. Their loyalty and sympathies are reserved for tyrants that treat them like dogs on a leash. It is to these latter that they exhibit the greatest obsequiousness and erect the greatest statues.

    While it is true that the poor would often trample maniacally on the despot, who by a poetic twist of fate – be it by class politics or masses revolt – gets stripped of his power and authority, they do so because having lost his strength, the despot becomes relegated to an ignoble spot among the weak and repressed, who are to be loathed and not feared.

    This is emblematic of Gustave Le Bon’s philosophy of ‘The Crowd,’ which was valued not only by Pareto, Freud, Mussolini, and de Gaulle, but even by Horkheimer and Adorno. Le Bon contends that the type of  “hero dear to crowds will always have the semblance of a Caesar. His insignia attracts them, his authority overawes them, and his sword instills them with fear…Should the strength of an authority be intermittent, the crowd, always obedient to its extreme sentiments, passes alternately from anarchy to servitude, and from servitude to anarchy.”

    Democratic ideas are therefore in profound disagreement with the psychology and experience of the Nigerian poor. It is unsurprising then, that materially and mentally impoverished folk would distrust democracy and its promise of collective good, to covet and pursue the vain and ephemeral perks of socio-political harlotry.

  • Aba waits after floods

    Aba waits after floods

    Over one month after Aba, Abia State’s city of commerce and industry, was submerged, residents hope their pleas will be answered. SUNNY NWANKWO reports

    The downpour on July 23 was devastating. Two children were said to be swept off. Homes were wrecked, and many residents forced outdoors. Aba, Abia State’s commercial capital, had a sudden tragedy in hand. Those affected, mostly in Aba North and South local government areas, appealed for help, wherever they could get it, from the local government to Abuja, the nation’s capital. Six weeks after, some residents wondered if no one heard their pleas. Nothing of substance was forthcoming from any of the tiers of government.

    Some of the distraught residents took to abandoned petrol stations for refuge not minding the danger of being exposed to dangerous animals that may be occupying the makeshift shelter before their arrival.

    The lawmaker representing Aba North and South Federal constituency, Hon. Ossy Prestige  visited them alongside the head of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Owerri Operations Office, Hon. Ugo Evans. Prestige was moved to tears seeing the damage and horrible conditions under which dislodged families lived after the floods.

    Aba’s flood problems are multiple. There is a federal road project under the supervision of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) that could drain off Aba floodwaters to the Aba River. But the concern is that for years the project has not made any appreciable progress. That is why the residents often resort to self-help to prevent their houses from being submerged after several failed attempts to attract the attention of government to their plight.

    They dread the rainy season during which they go through much stress finding a way to their homes and then out again every day to look for daily bread.

    The Nation gathered that a trip to Ihieorji to Umunkama down to Ukwa which usually took a stop now takes up to three or four stops depending on where you are going. A trip to Umunkama which once cost between N30 and N50 now costs as much as N100 and even N200.

    A resident described their ordeal as hell on earth, adding that this year’s rain took them by surprise.

    A resident of Amucha, Mrs. Uchechukwu Nnadiugwu said, “To be frank, what we usually see here during rain is unbelievable. We are happy to see you guys here today. During rainy season, we hardly see food to eat because of several expenses we are expecting to make on flood disaster. We just pray God gives you people the strength to help us out totally from this predicament. On Sunday we didn’t go to church because we were using pumping machines to take water off our buildings. Seeing Prestige Ossy here, I’m so happy.”

    Another respondent, Ikechukwu Onyiba corroborated Mrs. Nnadiugwu, adding, “Almost all our tenants here have been driven away by the downpour. It got to a point where we had to use refuse to build local fence and today, the rain has totally destroyed the local fence and destroyed our homes and every property we had in our houses.

    “The reason why we are still here is because here is my hometown. I’m from here and have no place to run to. Our house here occupied over 15 plots of land, but as I speak to you now, there’s not a single tenant there. The flood comes from Ibadan Street, Ohanku and some other areas to us here to cause damage.

    “As I speak to you, two children died and their bodies were discovered the next day. Their mother carried their things to somewhere, but before she could return, the flood carried her two children. Where we are standing now used to be a house over 30 years ago, but flood has destroyed everything here.”

    In an interview with newsmen, Ugo Evans of NEMA said, “From what I’ve seen, it’s obvious that this area is a flood-prone area. And from what I also heard, it has been like this for the past 8-10 years. Many administrations have come and gone with zero remedy and no help is being given to residents of this area. What I’m seeing and hearing here is unbelievable.

    “According to what we’ve seen here today, it’s obvious that bad road networks and lack of drainage and plane area for flood control are the main problems. We shall come in and give them some relief materials to enable them replace their lost properties with the aid of state emergency management to sensitise people in this area on how to leave here. As soon as possible, this will be done. We are here as a fact-finding team, so when we are doing our recommendations, we’ll include medical aid because the possibility of an outbreak of disease abounds.”

    Also speaking, Prestige said, “My impression still remains the same. Federal Government needs to order its agencies to come to the rescue of Aba people. In my motion, I expressly said that Aba has been submerged by flood and that the flood menace in Aba need the urgent intervention of the federal government right now. Having come here with some officers of NEMA, I’m sure that the report they will give back to their office wouldn’t be different from what I’ve said in my motion.

    “Federal government as a matter of urgency should come to the rescue of Aba people because half of Aba is now almost having an IDP camp. I’m sure you saw some people sleeping in filling stations. Their bedroom and parlours are now in the filling stations.

    “NEMA has done so much in the Northeast, providing them with food items, houses and so on. Aba is also in need of such help because my people are suffering too. There is a serious problem in Aba. As I heard from one of the landlords saying that if not for the fact that he’s from there, that he would have run away because all his tenants have all moved away. People now sleep in churches and public places. This is exactly what is obtainable in the Northeast.

    “I know that in the last three months, over 13 billion naira has been spent in providing facilities and some of these relief materials in the Northeast. Even if it’s half or one quarter of what’s spent in the Northeast to Aba, I’m sure it will go a long way in making Aba people know that they are a part of this country.

    “It will not stop here. It will continue till NEMA does something. I assure Aba that they will be remembered. Let me inform us that prior to now I’ve written to the ecological office in the SG office about Aba.

    “I’m sure that apart from NEMA, FG through ecological office in SFG office will do something. The ministry of works and housing has sent their staff to measure the remaining part of the road with a view to continue after the rains. And the roads under construction must be done with the knowledge that here is flood prone area.

    “When dry season sets in, I’m sure the construction will continue. Raising alarm about flood disaster is not the issue. The execution part of the alarm is what matters.”

  • Uyo tragedy on my mind

    Uyo tragedy on my mind

    Ex-presidential spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati woke me up from slumber a few days back with his column on churches in Akwa Ibom. In the well-put together piece, Abati said churches in the state were becoming more or less government parastatals.

    There is something the piece did to me for reasons I am yet to figure out. It reminded me of last December’s tragedy at the Reigners Bible Church, Uyo.

    The piece raised a poser in my mind: Will we ever see the White Paper based on the report of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry received on July 7 by Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel?

    Justice Umoekoyo Essang, who chaired the panel, presented the report to the governor at the Executive Council Chamber, Government House Uyo. After receiving the report, Emmanuel said: “I want to thank you for this great job that you have done and to assure you once again that the recommendations of this report would be taken seriously. We would do everything to implement and prevent future occurrence of this tragedy. May this affliction never occur the second time”.

    Emmanuel used the occasion to commiserate with families of those who lost their loved ones in the tragedy.

    He said: “Things of this nature should go beyond politics. When the incidence occurred it did not select members of a political party, it did not only affect a particular denomination, race or colour. It was a tragedy that affected all. It’s unfortunate that people decided to politicise a tragedy of this nature. Such people do not deserve to express opinion in the public.”

    The report was submitted a little over six months after the  Uyo tragedy. One of those it took away was Josephine Effiom.

    Emmanuel survived by the grace of God. Effiom, who was a polytechnic student, a friend said, “was one of the first three brilliant chaps in my class”. Her seat at the polytechnic lecture theatre is now occupied by another, a sad reminder to her course mates that a brilliant soul had been wasted.

    Effiom was the face of a tragedy in a house of God, where fear should have been the last thing on anyone’s mind. The founder of the church was to have his ordination as a bishop. He is not a small fry. So, the church was jam-packed. Emmanuel came with some of his commissioners and aides. Some of the commissioners were new in the State Executive Council at the time having been sworn-in December 1, last year.

    Thirty minutes into the governor’s arrival hell literally came down. No thanks to human error, the church’s iron pillars gave way and the blue roofs came thumping down. Of course on people! And Effiom died. And many others too. An account even said someone was cut into two by the iron pillars. A policeman who reportedly saved the governor is now six feet below. And some others broke their necks, their limbs and their back. The founder of the church, Pastor Akan Weeks, had his leg broken.

    As typical of our nation, no one appears sure of how many people died. The day after, we saw figures as high as 160 in the media. It was attributed to the Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, who later denied it. Police gave the figure as 29.

    Commissioner for Health Dominic Ukpong said 26 people died in the unfortunate incident. His words: “Death toll now 26. Patients in the hospitals are 168. Total out patients are 50. Total deaths 26. Nine hospitals have the following patients. UUTH, 28 patients; Ibom Specialist Hospital Uyo, 70 patients; Sifon Clinic, 9 patients; Lifecare Clinic, 24 patients; Premiers Clinic, 9 patients; St Lukes Hospital, 22 patients; Gateway Medical Centre, 2 patients; Uwah Mfon Clinic, 1 patient. First Line Clinic, 1 patient. Alma Clinic and Surgery, 2 patients.”

    And no one is willing to give the names of the dead. Thanks to Effiom’s classmates who revealed her identity, she would have died anonymously!

    This tragedy turned the University of Uyo Teaching hospital (UUTH), Anua General Hospital, Life Care Hospital and the Ibom Specialist Hospital into Mecca of some sort. In these hospitals, those who defeated death received treatment to heal their broken necks, arms, back and heads. Tears from families of those recuperating now rented the air in these hospitals for weeks. The story at the mortuary sections of these hospitals was grimmer.

    For students of the University of Uyo and the Uyo City Polytechnic, which are believed to have been worst hit by the disaster, reality looked like dream.

    Emmanuel’s men who crawled out of death’s hole had interesting testimonies to share. His Chief Press Secretary Ekerette Udoh said an iron rod nearly cut his neck, but eventually hit him on the back. The cap of his left knee was broken and pains travelled all over his body.

    The Commissioner for Information, Charles Udoh who joined the State Executive Council only some one week earlier, thought he was watching a movie when the pillars started coming down. He was on his way out of the church to catch a flight when tragedy struck. He would have been out but protocol demanded that he told the governor before vanishing from the church hall. It was this protocol-induced task he was accomplishing when death almost took him away like Effiom and the others whose true figures and names we may never know. He had to run here and there to prevent the iron pillars from turning him to a candidate for the mortuary.

    Nollywood actor Ekere Nkanga, who had acted almost all roles imaginable and was some sort of bad man in Emem Isong’s ‘Weekend Getaway’, was humbled when he had to wade through bodies to safety.

    “Shortly after the governor and his entourage and the bishops took their seats, the next thing I heard was the bang from the falling iron. By the time the iron came down, I noticed that people from the safe areas were  running to the centre, where I was sitting,” he said, adding:  “I hid under some people. A few seconds later, as I was trying to get up, the body of a man cut into two and fell on me. There were other corpses on me. I looked out for my brother but I couldn’t find him. Later, I found my phone. I called the Chairman, Uyo Local Government Area, to mobilise rescue officials to the venue.”

    He managed not to have a direct impact with falling rods, but he later discovered his neck was broken.

    “The impact of diving must have been responsible for my broken neck,” he said.

    He wore a neck collar and was under observation in the hospital for some time. Effiom and others would have gladly given testimonies if Nkanga’s fate had befallen them.

    Pastor Weeks argued it was the devil fighting back and he urged Christians to unite and not see it as his battle alone. The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) said the tragedy was caused by shoddiness.

    My final take: Those who overtly or covertly contributed to the tragedy must be punished. The Reigners Bible Church Int’l Inc tragedy must not happen again. One way to do this is to implement the recommendations of the Justice Essang panel. Anything short of this will be a disservice to the memories of the dead.

     

    Adieu, the Precious one who called me Master

    The late Dikewoha

    The last time he sent me a story was August 28. His mail came in 2.23pm. In the afternoon of September 4, Shola O’Neil, the big man who oversees this newspaper’s operations in the Southsouth, called me. He had a bad news: Precious Dikewoha, whose story on a group faulting the Federal Government’s figure of expenditure on projects, was in coma. I was shocked. He gave me a few details and I was hoping Precious, who loved to call me ‘Master’ or ‘Oga’, would pull through.

    But Precious left that night. I cannot remember if I ever met this remarkable soul from Ubima, Rivers State during one of those trainings correspondents like him came for at our corporate headquarters where I operate from, but we connected on phone regularly. He was a jolly good fellow. He never shied away from doing his assignments and he was down-to-heart.

    At a time like this, all I have to say is that we are all passengers in this bus called life. We will all disembark at some point. Precious has gotten to his bus stop and has alighted. It is a pity a man who lost his parent when he was 14 has left his daughter when she is just two. Only God can help his wife see through this baby who gave him so much joy while the journey lasted.

    I lack the right words to say to his wife Nkechiyere with whom he had to wait five years after their marriage to have their daughter. No one but God can console her and his family and I pray they are comforted by Him.

    Sleep well Precious; your passing is a reminder to those of us still in the bus that we will sure alight at our own time whether we like it or not.

  • Calabar tank farm fire: Positive side of tragedy

    Tragedy, like war is what nobody prays for. Discussing or mere talking about it is even tough for some as they feel awful or scared at the mention of it. However, the two are realities of life. They happen whether one likes it or not.  Life, itself is even described as a war. It is a thing we live with, day in day out.

    Human beings encounter tragedies or wars in different ways. For some, it is nagging domestic issues while in extreme cases, humans are faced with loss of precious ones and invaluable materials. Nobody prepares for it and none could predict its consequences. No matter how careful, one’s level of safety and security consciousness notwithstanding, they just happen, leaving behind tales of woes, sadness and catastrophes.

    For LINC Tank Farm Limited, Calabar, it was a tragedy too many on July 16, when its farm went up in flames as a result of an oil spillage. The inferno which occurred at about 3.40am claimed lives including those of a key worker of the farm, two in the opposite company, DOZZY Oil and Gas Tank Farm and some security personnel. The neighbouring community also shared from the tragedy as the inferno which erupted while people were scooping petrol (PMS) killed a number of the villagers. In addition, properties worth millions of Naira were also destroyed in LINC, DOZZY and other adjacent organizations. The environment was not spared too, as it suffered debilitating damages; the flora and fauna seriously hit.

    Three weeks after this sad incident, the whole of  Calabar Free Trade Zone is still in gloom as noticed when the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (downstream) paid an on the spot assessment to the farms last Thursday. From the entrance of the CFTZ to the LINC Farm, the adverse effects of the disaster were still palpable.

    Right inside the farm, one can only pity and empathize with the organization, as its Chief Executive Officer, Chief Patrick Ifeanyi Oramah conducted the team round the erstwhile functional and robust depot now characterized with charred structures, burnt facilities and dim looking workers. It was a pitiable sight that left most of the legislators feeling very concerned.

    Chief Oramah explained to the lawmakers that he was traveling out of the country when he got the most destabilizing call in his life that an oil spillage in their tank farm ignited and resulted in loss of lives.

    “The tragedy” Chief Oramah said “ensued as consequence of spillage of petroleum (PMS) into the drains while it was being pumped from Dozzy Jetty, through pumps run via our farm, to Dozzy Depot, another tank farm located opposite us. The spilled petroleum later got ignited while people were scooping it outside our premises”.  He told the lawmakers that his company did not have any product in any of its tanks as at the time of the incident as the tanks had remained empty since January, the last time they sold petroleum products at the depot.

    Oramah however became emotional as he revealed to the legislators that his company was expecting delivery of products to the tank farm the week the unfortunate incident occurred declaring that the incident was a terrible calamity for them and that they were deeply saddened.

    “LINC Nigeria Limited is terribly saddened over this disaster, particularly, the loss of human lives. We intensely commiserate with the families of the bereaved and the entire Esuk Utan Community. Our heartfelt sympathies go to DOZZY Tank Farm Limited and all our neighbours over these monumental losses” Chief Oramah said in an emotion laden voice.

    He however disclosed to the visiting legislators that the management of Calabar Export Free Zone handled the tragedy with deft and utmost sense of responsibility as he also praised the Fire Service, Nigeria Police and other security and safety agencies for their promptness and diligence in combating the fire.

    The instantaneous display of concern and conscientiousness by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and its regulatory agency, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to the disaster was also commended before the legislators. Oramah explained that that LINC has always been in total compliance with safety and security measures in and around its premises and in all its operations. He however added that Investigations were on- going and that his company was cooperating fully with the various agencies.

    Done with the briefings, the chairman of the committee on Petroleum (downstream), Honourable Joseph Akinlaja Iranola condoled the management of LINC, DOZZY, and the entire community over the unfortunate incident.

    Akinlaja said the committee was impressed with the effective management of the disaster by the Export Free Zone, the security and safety agencies of Cross River State and the federal government. He said with such exhibition of effectiveness in combating this tragedy, Nigeria was genuinely making progress in disaster management.

    The chairman assured that the National Assembly would continue to see to the protection and safety of lives and property of citizens in its legislative functions.

    As tragic as the incident was, it however provided some positives as narrated by the Chief Executive Officer of LINC, Chief Patrick Ifeanyi Oramah: the display of capacity, competence and care by all the concerned authorities and agencies of government, that our institutions are truly living up to their responsibilities in the spirit of change. This comes with the hope that the consequences of this ugly incident would not matter to LINC, all the organizations and individuals affected in no time.

     

    • Olaosebikan writes through midascommunications@gmail.com
  • Tragedy of third tier of government

    Tragedy of third tier of government

    Local governments are created to facilitate development at the grassroots. In spite of constitutional reforms that have enhanced their status and capacity, they have failed to impact positively on the people. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the problems confronting the ‘third tier’ of government.

     

    To many Nigerians, the National Assembly’s decision to grant autonomy to local governments would enable the third tier of government to perform its statutory duties. According to them,  local governments have not fared well because they are dependent on state governments.

    Analysts have attributed the poor performance to many factors. The enormous power the governors wield on council chairmen; the governors decide who become chairmen and councillors. Also, the state electoral commission allegedly manipulates poll results in favour of the ruling party because they are appointed by governors.

    Local government allocations from the Federation Account are paid into the Joint State and Local Government Account over which the governors have full control. The state governments delay payment to the local governments and on many occasions, do not remit the full share. The local governments cannot initiate projects outside those approved by the state government. These encumbrances make local government ineffective.

    A political scientist, Dr Abdullahi Aminu, described local government as a political structure under the state authority, established for the sole intent of decentralising political power and delegation of authority. He said the main objective is to make appropriate services and development activities responsive to local wishes by delegating them to local representatives.

    Aminu frowned at the practice whereby local governments with democratically elected executives are answerable to the state government. He said: “Once they are accountable to the state governors, they can’t perform their functions; local governments should be accountable to the people just as the state and federal governments are.”

    Aminu said if the constitutional amendment proposed by the National Assembly sails through, and all constitutional provisions that tied the local government to the state government are removed, the third tier will perform. His words: “Remove all these elements that hinder local government from operating as a tier of government. The joint account should be abrogated and they should be allowed to conduct their own election independently. It is necessary to have a full blown local government with full blown autonomy.”

    According to him, putting local councils in the pocket of state governments do not attract competent and qualified people to serve as chairmen or councillors. “The chairmen and councillors are errand boys of the state governors. They dare not challenge the authority of the state governors otherwise they would be removed unceremoniously. How many chairmen have ever complained publicly that they were being short changed by the state governments in disbursing their share of federal allocation?

    “The governors remove chairmen and councillors at will, either because they don’t belong to the ruling party in the state or they are not willing to do the bidding of the state chief executives. The state governor intervenes in their activities. The state governments determine what to do with joint account; the funds on many occasions are diverted. This is not good for the country and our democracy.

    “I did a research on local government funding recently using some local governments in the country as samples. Our findings reveal that the federal allocations are paid into state governments’ accounts and remain there for weeks in order to generate interest. In sharing the allocation the state government would deduct certain amount from the local governments’ share as joint project fee. The unfortunate thing is that there are no visible projects being carried out within the local government area to justify the deduction. This is possible because the chairmen collude with the state governments to deny the people at the grass root of their rights. They are paid fat salaries and allowances to keep their mouth shut. It is unfortunate that is what is happening all over the country”.

    A former local government chairman, Ogbuefi Alloy Nwankwo, said the poor performance of local governments is rooted in inadequate revenue. He blamed it on the sharing formula for revenue allocation. He said 774 local governments are allotted 20.6 per cent; 36 state governments 26.7 per cent and Federal Government take the lion share of 52.6 per cent.

    The 774 local governments get the least from the Federation Account.

    Nwankwo said. “The third-tier of government is very close to the people. Local governments know the needs of the people better than state and federal governments that are far from them. That is why all roads that falls within the purview of local governments are in state of disrepair. They don’t have money to rehabilitate them, let alone constructing new ones; most of the primary health care centres are not functioning, many primary school buildings have collapsed because of lack of maintenance.”

    He explained that the local government chairmen are not lacking in ideas. He said: “They know what to do but when there is no money to execute the projects there is nothing they can do. After paying salaries of staff from the federal allocation, nothing is left. Where the federal allocation is not sufficient to pay workers’ salaries, the chairman had to take bank loan.

    “Financial autonomy for local government is not enough. The Federal Government should take another look at the revenue sharing formula. The local governments’ allocation should be increased to 35 per cent because they have a lot of functions to perform being the closest tier of government to the people.”

    Nwankwo also said the abysmal performance of local governments has to do with lack of financial autonomy, corruption and undue interference in local government affairs particularly with regards to joint state-local government account which gives the state government undue benefit over local government. He said the state governments have undermined the financial viability of local government by encroaching on their revenue yielding functions like markets, motor parks, tenement rates and liquor licensing. He described the hijacking of local government services by state governments as a grave concern, and especially of those elements of service delivery that can deliver an income.

    A lawyer, Cecilia Ogezi, agreed with Nwakwo’s submission. She identified the challenges at the local government to include lack of autonomy, inadequate finances, weak inter-governmental relations and corruption.  These, according to her, must be adequately tackled for local government to make positive impact in the localities.

    Ogezi noted that the disempowerment of the local government, lack of stability and autonomy did not provide for empowerment of the civil society or contribute to the overall development goal set in the Nigerian Constitution.

    According to her, “granting full autonomy to the grassroots will ensure the participation of the less privileged people in the planning, execution and monitoring of social and economic development of their localities.

     

    Is LG a tier of government?

    Some Nigerians are not excited by the Senate’s proposal to grant financial autonomy to local government. They described the move as contradictory to the principle of true federalism. Professor Ayo Olukotun of the Department of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, said though the 1999 Constitution recognises local government as third tier of government, the Supreme Court ruling has put them under state governments.

    The university don said the lacuna created by the constitution has been solved by the apex court; local governments are not federating units; they are subordinate to the state government. The Supreme Court ruled that the state governments have the powers to determine the number of local governments required in a state, create new local governments or reduce them.

    Ogezi said: “Local governments are not sovereign, and unlike states, they are subordinate governments, which derive their existence and power from law enacted by a superior government. Those who opposed to local government autonomy have good reasons. They argued that local government is not technically a third-tier of government. It is merely a politico-administrative province of the state governments. It is the responsibility of each state government. Ideally, a state government should decide the form and the system of local government best suited to its political and administrative needs.

    She blamed the military for creating a constitutional problem since 1979 when it decided to define states by the composition of their local government areas. This, she said, had been used to argue, incorrectly, that states are not empowered by the constitution to create local government because doing so would require a constitutional amendment. They argued that a newly created local government area is perfected only when the schedule is amended and it is listed therein among the local governments in the state that created it.

    “It was under General Ibrahim Babangida reforms that local government became a third tier of government. It received its statutory share from the federation account directly from source, not through the state governments. The reforms abolished the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs or more correctly, it downgraded it to a division in the military governor’s office.

    “The Ibrahim Mantu committee on local government reform set up by the Olusegun Obasanjo, proposed a constitutional amendment on the local government system. It wanted local governments to receive their fund directly from the office of the accountant-general of the federation and the auditor-general of the federation to audit the accounts of the local governments.

    “The various reforms have muddled the concept of the local government. Although we do not seem to be entirely persuaded that the local government should be the third tier of government, its current structure makes it a de facto third tier of government. Federal and state structures are duplicated at the local government level: an executive arm headed by an executive local government chairman and unicameral legislature headed by the Speaker. Only one thing is missing: the judiciary as the third arm of local government. The local government stands on two legs instead of three”.

    The Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has insisted that local councils are integral part of state governments. It premised its argument on the fact that in all known federation in the world, the federating units are usually the states and the centre. It stated that in a true federalism, the issue relating to the creation, delineation and funding of local authorities is within the constitutional purview of states, which have political and judicial status that the local government do not have. The states are federating units while local government are administrative units.

    The Forum agreed that local governments have politico-legal existence in so far as the constitution recognised them and even listed their names. “These local governments so named are the beneficiaries of federal allocation, just like the states and the federal governments. It is this existing arrangement that has made some to erroneously assume and even argue that the local governments are on the same level of autonomy as states and federal governments.”

    It described the present arrangement as a disruptive and abominable legacy of military rule. It was the practice of the military to create local governments and even states. Since the military went on a frenzy of proliferation of local governments, it took on itself the burden of its funding just as it was funding the states from the Federation Account.

    “The military passed on this legacy at its disengagement in 1999. Nevertheless, the issue of local government autonomy should only come into play within the context of their relationship with their states,” the NGF added.

     

  • Tragedy of for-profit shepherding

    Tragedy of for-profit shepherding

    The other day Opalaba called to check on his “true friend”. Whenever he starts a conversation with a flattering gesture such as “my own true friend”, I know he’s up to something sinister. As the elders know so well, you don’t have a tree in your backyard without the ability to predict the fruit it will produce.

    My friend announced to me that he finally made it to Sunday School on the last Sunday of April. I was shocked. The Opalaba I know never cared about Sunday School when we were growing up. Unlike my poor self, he grew up in a home with parents whose religiosity was on the moderate side. His father subscribed to Johnueli Owo’s popular aphorism: a kii se gbagbo da gbese (Christianity should not force one to indebtedness). Therefore, the old man usually ensured that he arrived in church after collections had been taken. He would tell everyone, “mo ba oore-ofe”(at least I was early enough for the benediction).”

    My father, on the other hand, was the extreme opposite. Provided he was well, my old man never missed any church programme on Sundays and weekdays. He was there for Sunday School, for Christian Training Union (CTU), the evening equivalent of Sunday School. He was at Monday morning and Wednesday evening prayer meetings. And if any child of his failed to make it to any of these programmes, the devil in them must be cast out with horse whip. I was subjected to that treatment once and it was unbearable.

    Therefore, the time that I lived in my father’s house, I forced myself to Sunday School. And the habit forcefully stuck with me even after I was on my own. I am therefore one confirmation of the truth of Solomon’s wisdom: Teach a child the path he will take and when he grows up, he will never depart from it. But Opalaba never had to endure Sunday School or even church attendance. The surprise declaration from him therefore also confirms the truth of the song writer’s words: God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. However, I wondered aloud whether, as shocking as his making it to Sunday School was, he had more to tell me.

    “Congratulations, my good friend”, I said. “I am pleasantly surprised. But what more should I know about your adventure?”

    “Sure, it was a pleasant experience”, he replied.

    Now, I had sometimes told Opalaba that, of all services, Sunday School and CTU are the most exciting because they are interactive. If you have a good teacher, he or she will engage the members in the lesson. Besides, these are the only programmes in which members can freely express themselves and ask probing questions. Part of his mission going to Sunday School this time was to confirm the veracity of my claim.

    As Opalaba spoke, I was almost sure what excited him about the Sunday School lesson of April 30. I was at Sunday School that day myself, only 3,000 miles away. The good thing is that we use the same resources provided by the Nigerian Baptist Convention for Sunday School classes.

    ‘The topic of the day was “God’s preserving love”, and it was the story of the good shepherd as told by John, the apostle’, Opalaba recalled. “The lesson addressed the fact that a good shepherd knows his sheep and cares for them. In turn, the sheep recognise the shepherd as their benefactor. Even when thieves steal the sheep from their pen, they are always struggling to be back with their good shepherd”.

    Then my friend quoted verbatim from the lesson a statement that I figured captured his imagination and which he was going to harass me with: “As a representative of the true Shepherd, every shepherd that has been called to lead God’s flock must speak the truth of God’s Word to the people and guide them in the path of righteousness. There are many strangers around who have not been called of God. They are only interested in their personal gains and have come to steal the sheep and exploit them.”

    I asked him what he thought about the quoted passage and what he took away from the lesson.

    “I should ask you, Mr. Know-All” was my friend’s provocative response. “You are the one that is always defending the indefensible, aren’t you?” he kept shouting to the phone. Of course, I was not perturbed. I knew he had something to say.

    “Calm down, Opalaba” I entreated him.

    Then I asked a different question: “How did the Sunday School lesson go?”

    “It went extremely well”, he responded.

    “Did you get a chance to contribute to the discussion”, I asked.

    “You bet I did”, he replied.

    “I trust my friend”, I intoned.

    “Tell me more”, I pleaded.

    “Well, it was a long story. The teacher did not like what I had to say.”

    “How come?” I asked.

    “I told the class that we should bring the lesson to the concrete reality of our time and place”, Opalaba explained. “The challenge about these issues is that our servants of God tend to present them in abstract terms. The parable of the good shepherd is apt. But who is the good shepherd now? In what context does the good shepherd demonstrate his or her essential attributes? These are the questions that must agitate our minds today. Thousands are dying of hunger even in our own country. Poverty is on the rise. Politicians have no clue. Men and women of God are not raising their voices on behalf of their sheep,” Opalaba observed.

    On my end, I nodded in agreement but, of course, Opalaba couldn’t see me. And true to type, he lashed out at me: “You are not listening to me, are you?”

    “I am all ears, my good friend”, I replied.

    “Don’t ‘good friend me!’ Just listen”, he bellowed.

    “I don’t see how the teacher can disagree with your contribution thus far”, I stated.

    “Well, I am not done yet”, he replied.

    Opalaba then asked if I recalled receiving a WhatsApp message sometime ago about higher institutions established by religious bodies in Nigeria. He was not the sender. He had also received the message from a common friend.

    “Yes, of course, I remember and I still have it on my phone”, I replied.

    My friend told me that he brought up that issue. To my question what the relevance of that issue was to the matter of the true shepherd, Opalaba blew so hot I felt the reverberation on my end of the phone.

    “How dare you ask that stupid question?” he shouted. “I knew all along that you are not to be trusted with good critical discourse. You have been indoctrinated not to question the so-called earthly shepherds who are only professionals….,” he continued until I threatened to hang up if he was not going to play the gentleman for once.

    “I asked a simple question. Can you please give me a simple answer as a gentleman?” I replied.

    “Do you remember the old missionaries that brought Christianity to our shores?” he asked.

    “Yes, of course.”

    “And you remember that the first educational institutions, including primary, secondary modern, teacher training colleges, and high schools, were established by them?”

    “Yes, indeed. You and I benefited from those institutions”, I replied.

    “And so did many of the modern representatives of the true Shepherd”, Opalaba added. “We were all beneficiaries of the large heart of the missionaries and their home churches who took seriously their calling as representatives of the true Shepherd. They tried to feed His sheep with knowledge.”

    “Now, what is our reality”, Opalaba reasoned. “We have higher institutions established by our local representatives of the true Shepherd and many of the sheep they are called upon to tend have no access to those institutions because they are too poor to afford the exorbitant fees. Yet the institutions were established with collections in various forms from these poor sheep. This is the unfortunate tragedy of for-profit shepherding”, my friend concluded.

    On my end, it was mum.

     

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  • Lest we forget Uyo tragedy

    Lest we forget Uyo tragedy

    For the sake of tomorrow, for the sake of the deceased and for the sake of posterity, the report of the enquiry into the Uyo tragedy must be made public. Those found guilty must be punished to serve as deterrent to others. If the report is swept under the carpet for whatever reason, ground is being prepared for another shoddy job capable of leading to another disaster.

    A radio station, Planet Radio, woke me up from slumber a few days ago. It donated N3.4 million to support 54 victims of the Reigners Bible Church building collapse in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital. The beneficiaries include: those mortally injured, those still receiving treatment, those who have been healed to some extent and relatives of the deceased.

    This news item reminded me that we seem to have moved on five months after the church came down and took Josephine Effiom and several others in the tragedy in which Governor Udom Emmanuel survived by the grace of God. The report of the enquiry into the tragedy remains hush-hush. Have Effiom and others gone in vain?

    Effiom, who was a polytechnic student, a friend said, “was one of the first three brilliant chaps in my class”. Her seat at the polytechnic lecture theatre is now occupied by another, a sad reminder to her course mates that a brilliant soul had been wasted.

    Effiom is the face of a tragedy in a house of God, where fear should have been the last thing on anyone’s mind. The founder of the church was to have his ordination as a bishop. He is not a small fry. So, the church was jam-packed. Emmanuel came with some of his commissioners and aides. Some of the commissioners were new in the State Executive Council at the time having been sworn-in December 1, last year.

    Thirty minutes into the governor’s arrival hell literally came down. No thanks to human error, the church’s iron pillars gave way and the blue roofs came thumping down. Of course on people! And Effiom died. And many others too. An account even said someone was cut into two by the iron pillars. A policeman who reportedly saved the governor is now six feet below. And some others broke their necks, their limbs and their back. The founder of the church, Pastor Akan Weeks, had his leg broken.

    As typical of our nation, no one appears sure of how many people died. The day after, we saw figures as high as 160 in the media. It was attributed to the Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, who later denied it. Police gave the figure as 29.

    Commissioner for Health Dr.  Dominic Ukpong said 26 people died in the unfortunate incident. His words: “Death toll now 26. Patients in the hospitals are 168. Total out patients are 50. Total deaths 26. Nine hospitals have the following patients. UUTH, 28 patients; Ibom Specialist Hospital Uyo, 70 patients; Sifon Clinic, 9 patients; Lifecare Clinic, 24 patients; Premiers Clinic, 9 patients; St Lukes Hospital, 22 patients; Gateway Medical Centre, 2 patients; Uwah Mfon Clinic, 1 patient. First Line Clinic, 1 patient. Alma Clinic and Surgery, 2 patients.”

    And no one is willing to give the names of the dead. Thanks to Effiom’s classmates who revealed her identity, she would have died anonymously! Now, she is the face of the Uyo tragedy that should not have been.

    This tragedy turned the University of Uyo Teaching hospital (UUTH), Anua General Hospital, Life Care Hospital and the Ibom Specialist Hospital into Mecca of some sort. In these hospitals, those who defeated death received treatment to heal their broken necks, arms, back and heads. Tears from families of those recuperating now rented the air in these hospitals for weeks. The story at the mortuary sections of these hospitals was grimmer.

    For students of the University of Uyo and the Uyo City Polytechnic, which are believed to have been worst hit by the disaster, reality looked like dream.

    Emmanuel’s men who crawled out of death’s hole had interesting testimonies to share. His Chief Press Secretary, Ekerette Udoh, said an iron rod nearly cut his neck, but eventually hit him on the back. The cap of his left knee was broken and pains travelled all over his body.

    The commissioner for Information, Charles Udoh who joined the State Executive Council only some one week earlier, thought he was watching a movie when the pillars started coming down. He was on his way out of the church to catch a flight when tragedy struck. He would have been out but protocol demanded that he told the governor before vanishing from the church hall. It was this protocol-induced task he was accomplishing when death almost took him away like Effiom and the others whose true figures and names we may never know. He had to run here and there to prevent the iron pillars from turning him to a candidate for the mortuary.

    Nollywood actor Ekere Nkanga, who had acted almost all roles imaginable and was some sort of bad man in Emem Isong’s Weekend Getaway, was humbled when he had to wade through bodies to safety.

    “Shortly after the governor and his entourage and the bishops took their seats, the next thing I heard was the bang from the falling iron. By the time the iron came down, I noticed that people from the safe areas were  running to the centre, where I was sitting,” he said, adding:  “I hid under some people. A few seconds later, as I was trying to get up, the body of a man cut into two and fell on me. There were other corpses on me. I looked out for my brother but I couldn’t find him. Later, I found my phone. I called the Chairman, Uyo Local Government Area, to mobilise rescue officials to the venue.”

    He managed not to have a direct impact with falling rods, but he later discovered his neck was broken.

    “The impact of diving must have been responsible for my broken neck,” he said.

    He had to wear a neck collar and was under observation in the hospital for some time. Effiom and others would have gladly given testimonies if Nkanga’s fate had befallen them.

    The governor immediately set up a panel to probe the disaster that could have claimed his life. Pastor Weeks argued it was the devil fighting back and he urged Christians to unite and not see it as his battle alone. My argument at the time was that we must give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and give unto God what is God’s. I also pleaded that the fleeing contractor must account for this tragedy, which the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) said was caused by shoddiness.

    Five months down the line, we are yet to get the report of the enquiry into the Reigners Bible Church Int’l Inc tragedy.

    My final take: For the sake of tomorrow, for the sake of the deceased and for the sake of posterity, the report of the enquiry into the Uyo tragedy must be made public. Those found guilty must be punished to serve as deterrent to others. If the report is swept under the carpet for whatever reason, ground is being prepared for another shoddy job capable of leading to another disaster. This certainly is not what we need in Akwa Ibom or anywhere in Nigeria.

     

    And Calabar’s tragedy

    of passion

    Football is a game of passion. Its fans are always passionate. There have been instances when fans stabbed each other or killed each other out of passion. It was passion that led Man United fans to a viewing centre under a high-tension wire in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, last Thursday. The wire gave way some minutes into the game and fell on the viewers. Initial reports said as much as thirty died while savouring their passion. It has since turned out that this figure is highly exaggerated. About ten are confirmed dead.

    Since the tragedy, there have been talks about banning viewing centres, but for the passion for the game, fans are ready to resist any move against communal viewing of the leather game. Talk about being passionate about one’s passion.

    May God grant the families of the deceased the fortitude to bear the losses, and may their passion for the game not die with their loved ones.

  • Obiano commiserates with Ayade, Cross River on tragedy

    Obiano commiserates with Ayade, Cross River on tragedy

    The Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, has sent a condolence message to the Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade and the good people of Cross River State over the tragic death of football fans who lost their lives at a soccer viewing centre.

    A high tension electric cable reportedly fell on the roof of the building housing the viewing centre in Calabar on Thursday night.

    Expressing a deep sense of sorrow, Governor Obiano, who spoke through James Eze, his Senior Special Assistant on Media, said the news of the tragedy came as a shock to him.

    “There are certain things that paralyse me with shock. The news of many young people dying at the same time always leaves me in shock. This is one incident that will fill us all with a deep sense of loss for a very long time,” Obiano said.

    Expressing his “deepest condolences” to Governor Ayade and all Cross Riverians, he said: “My thoughts and prayers are with you in this dark hour when everything seems to dissolve into strands of questions that have no easy answers.

    “Moments like this do not lend themselves to easy explanations, but they simply remind us of the ephemeral nature of life and the importance of living in peace and harmony with our neighbours and devoting more time to the service of God.”

    Governor Obiano therefore urged families that lost loved ones in the tragedy to keep looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of the faith of all believers, assuring them that grief may tarry for a night but joy comes in the morning.

    The causalities of the Calabar tragedy were reported to have lost their lives while enjoying a quarter-final UEFA Europa League match between Manchester United of England and Anderlecht FC of Belgium at a viewing centre.