Nigeria’s susceptibility to tragedy is evident from one season to another. The tragic manifestations vary, but in terms of lived experiences, those induced by human contrivances occur more regularly than the category rooted in nature. Quite surprisingly, there’s neither regional peculiarity nor ethnic colouration of these tragedies, which defy the differences inherent in the country’s socio-cultural and political history. Some unknown forces are apparently at work, ensuring an even spread without putting a section at the margins of these occasional occurrences.
Just as the broad majority of the impoverished citizenry were pondering over their unending fate in a perennially challenged economy, unseen tragedies struck at three locations. Seized by hunger, those victims had embarked on a scramble for palliative items such as rice, canned tomatoes and sachets of salt but never made it back home. At the count of those body bags and some improvised coffins, over 60 hapless Nigerians had joined their forebears in an untimely reunion.
As humans, we are all fated to mortality, but no one would wish even his bitterest enemy such a horrible mode of passage. We all pray to die when we are fully greyed and in circumstances that dignify our humanity as exemplars of God’s creation. For the category of victims, they died in vain; theirs was a painful, regrettable, and avoidable death spawned by desperate quests for foodstuffs and paltry cash gifts that would not have profoundly addressed their existential challenges and the perennial material wants.
Days after, heated arguments emerged over the poor organisation by the philanthropic bodies that culminated in the stampedes and deaths at those locations. That’s an issue, no doubt, but the nature as well as impact of the tragedy goes beyond that. The organisers in question had held such charitable ceremonies in previous years; as such, blaming them for the circumstances that spawned the recent tragedy is not totally acceptable to some extent.
Before calling for the heads of these private organisations, we need to interrogate the import of their annual philanthropic cause. The mission represents the best of intentions given their volitional routine of giving a helping hand to our poor compatriots in this momentous season. That a joyous occasion eventually turned into death harvests was entirely not their own making. Putting the blame at their doorposts would justify the folly of a mother-hen that chides the ground after exposing her chicks to a predator such as a hawk or the like.
From the accounts of eye witnesses so far, two factors contributed to the tragic events. Firstly, the crowd that thronged the venues was overwhelming due to the poverty most Nigerians are mired in. Secondly, the Nigerian factor which came into play reflected the predilection of our people to cash in on every opportunity, unconcerned about their safety or comfort. The craving for “awufu” by the poor is common knowledge.
It’s impossible for the organisers not to have had an estimated number of beneficiaries prior to the events. But, in some instances, the turnout of persons quadrupled the initial number of beneficiaries expected at the venues. A particular account of the tragic venue at Ibadan stated that instead of 2000 attendants, there were over 6000 children, with one-tenth of that number thrown over the fence onto the party ground because the gate was securely locked as early as 5am. The question that arises at this point: What would make a right-thinking parent or guardian act in such an irresponsible manner?
The triple tragic situations merely convey the grinding poverty which had not only robbed Nigerians of comfort but also cast a larger number of indigent category in the mould of dignified economic refugees in their own country. Their seeming refugee status emanates from the increasing hardship which continues to reduce the financial standing of average citizens while those who managed to get by before now have become pitifully vulnerable. Some persons may see this as an extreme description, but it reflects the reality of the issues we are contending with.
The tragedies are the fallout of deep systemic issues facing the country and its people. A neglectful disregard of promoting the well-being of the citizenry as sanctioned by the Directive Principle of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. Agreed that the present issues are cumulative outcomes of serial poor leaderships, but the unremarkable Tinubu era had aggravated our pitiable situation.
Government at all levels should think of ways of making life much more liveable for our countrymen and women. The Federal Government should factor in the yearnings and aspirations of the masses as it initiates and implements economic policies to bolster the country’s fortune. It’s important for Nigeria to show that the lives of the citizens matter at all times. Devising measures such as subsidizing essential foodstuff during Yuletide and strengthening security measures at palliative- sharing venues would help stave off premature deaths of our fellow citizens.
*Tony Eke writes from Asaba, Delta State capital.
