OPINION: Stampedes Of Poverty, Palliatives And Deaths

By Junaid Shamsideen Kolapo

The former wife of Ooni of Ife, Naomi Shikenuola and Oriyomi Hamzat, an Ibadan, Oyo state-based radio entrepreneur including the principal of the Islamic High School, Orita Bashorun Ibadan-where many children were stampeded to death last week- are currently cooling of in police custody, after the party organized, apparently to put a smile on the faces of indigent children led to a tragedy, where over 35 children reportedly lost their lives.

72 hours after,  there was a re-occurrence of the sad incident in Okija, Anambra State in which 22 people were confirmed dead while  an event organized at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church by a philanthropist, Ernest Obiejesi in Maitama, Abuja, the federal capital territory, FCT, according to the police has left  over 10 persons dead in its wake. .

Meanwhile, the Nexus in the three unfortunate incidents is that they were organized by charity organizations to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians who are facing hardship, as a result of several reasons ranging from government harsh economic policies, alleged corruption and greed of the political class, failing societal norms, and inconducive environment for business to thrive.

The harsh economic reality has pushed many into serious poverty,  resulting in over reliance on palliatives and freebies from some well meaning Nigerians, as the desperate search for survival persists among the citizens.

Reacting to the ugly incident, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who’s currently in Lagos to mark the Christmas holiday has canceled all his social events for the yuletide, to honour the victims of the incidents, while Vice President Kassim Shetima said the country is in mourning mood.

The federal government has also frozen all public palliatives distribution events, for now, to avert further crisis.

What’s however surprising to Nigerians, is the sanctimonious manner in which Police seemed to be handling the three incidents. For instance, less than 24 hours after the Ibadan incident, there was a presidential directive for full investigations to be conducted, which prompted the Inspector General of Police,  IGP to take over the  case. But 72 hours after the Anambra and Abuja incidents, the same energy has been lacking on the part of the authorities.

The question is whether the organizers of the Abuja and Anambra events are immune to arrest, so much so that no report of their arrest by the police. May be the lives of the victims in Anambra and Abuja are not as important as those whose lives were claimed during the Ibadan incident. There are other posers begging for answers, including why the organisers were allowed to hold such events without adequate crowd-control measures.

Amidst all the controversies sorrunding the stampedes,  there is an urgent need to stop encouraging the devilish manipulation of the masses in the guise of palliative distribution by the well-to-do in the society.  The masses should also deal with greed and covetousness because the two vices do not conform to the norms of our African traditional society.

Apa lara igunpa ni yekan, atelewo eni kitan ni je (Arm is the relative, shoulder is the sibling and ones palm do not disappoint), according to a Yoruba adage promoting dignity of labour as a better means for survival instead of resorting to begging which is now the new normal in our society.

We should go back to the good old days when the ethos of nobility is non-negotiable, rather than surrendering to the  wrong culture of begging.

Many able-body Nigerians have traded hard work and industry for laziness thereby inflicting poverty on themselves and their families, sending the ethos of work-before-you-eat into the trash bin of history. Have we also forgotten the scriptural admonition that any man who does not work, must not eat, or the mantra of no-food for lazy man?

If our wicked leaders have failed us must we fail ourselves? Is it not about time that we take our destinies in our own hands by saying no to those who whimsically enslave us,  using bread and butter palliatives which barely last for a day.

For instance, why is it that the only barometer with which we measure a lawmaker’s performance is the number of bags of rice and Garri he can distribute to his constituents, and not the quality of bills and motion -capable of changing our country-  he sponsors in the hallowed chamber?

Why is it that freebies, as low as recharge cards and a loaf of bread are now being used by radio and television presenters to attract listeners to their programmes, rather than meaningful and life-changing contents as it used to be in the past? Why is it that a simple measure of rice, beans and garri is what manipulative politicians now use to deceive us to surrender our mandate to them, instead of the contents and the quality of their manifestos?

As the saying goes, no one is capable of giving you an inferiority complex without your consent. We made ourselves readily available for their deceit and manipulation because we have completely lost our rights, while greed and covetousness now drive us like a pilot.

We made them believe that our survival rests on their deceitful and manipulative magnanimity, rather than hard work and enterprise. That’s why they have the effrontery to throw at us egg shells after devouring the omelette.

They have converted our collective patrimony to their inheritance,  only to send ordinary rice and Garri as dividends of democracy to us, knowing that we will still stampede ourselves to death to have a share of the crumbs.

Junaid, a social critic writes in from Ibadan