Earlier today, I was in traffic at Apapa and the bus I was on was right beside an articulated truck carrying a container. First thing that came to my mind was the tragedy that occurred just last week when a container fell of Ojuelegba bridge onto a buss carrying passengers and a private car, killing at least three people. Of course, I was scared because, on examining the container, I realized the container wasn't secured to the truck in any way, the patch of road was pretty bad - which meant the container kept bouncing around on the truck. I recalled walking past Ojuelegba the following day and seeing the crushed bus, moved to the sidewalk with people walking past it like human beings weren't killed in it the previous day and I wondered at how quickly we had moved on from it like nothing had happened, no lessons learnt. And just then, a friend on a WhatsApp group sent messages of how she just witnessed an inferno on Otedola bridge and sent pictures.


 
Now, I don't want to go into what must have caused this - it could be a variety of factors. I also don't want to go into how we Nigerians don't seem to have any regard for basic safety procedures because that's a topic for another day. What I do want to comment on is how we'll all move on from this and forget about it in a week without learning any lessons, how our government would not enforce any safety regulations to ensure that events like these do not re-occur.

The fact is that, sure, some disasters are inevitable. However, a lot of the disasters that happen in Nigeria are very avoidable. It's a shame though that they occur and because our governments do nothing to prevent a re-occurrence, they happen again. It's very unlikely that the Jos killings would be the last of what we'll see on such things. We have no assurance that the container that fell off Ojuelegba bridge would be the last. And I cannot say with any certainty that we won't see something of the nature of the Otedola bridge incident in the future.

Here's the thing - I like the fact that Governor Ambode has taken the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) seriously - it's great - but it's a reactive measure in the grand scheme of things. The best way to manage a disaster is to prevent it from happening in the first instance. There needs to be greater will channeled towards ensuring that basic safety rules are adhered to by all citizens. I'm not referring just to Lagos state here; this is for every village, local government, state and the entire country. We cannot keep taking silly risks with people's lives like this and doing nothing to ensure that lives are not lost needlessly. If the Nigerian government is lax about dealing with safety and security, then it is time to hold our governments responsible for their failure to enforce rules because let's not think there are no rules are laws to prevent some of these occurrences. It's just government being unwilling to enforce them because clearly, our government officials are not being affected by these disasters. We, the people, are the ones dying everyday in avoidable tragedies. We, the people, need to start holding our governments responsible for their failures. I will still address our laxity when it comes to safety but right now, those at the top need to know that this cannot continue. If we shrug and say, "na God dey save person" and then do nothing, then it's only a matter of time before our social media feeds are flooded with pictures of another disaster.

Only a matter of time.


https://wakaboutchronicles./2018/06/28/otedola-bridge-tanker-explosion-another-disaster-to-be-swept-under-the-carpet/

I'm in tears RIP to d dead