Nigerians are one of the most unique persons on the surface
of the earth. Haven been toughened by various unpleasant past and present events
that ordinarily would have put the unity of county in jeopardy, Nigerians have
proven to be resilient in all aspect of life
, such that it produces newer
adaptive and survival instincts over spontaneous vicissitudes, hence the suffering and smiling cliché really
fits.
However, a very annoying verity about Nigerians is the fact
that, we are perpetual law breakers and without remorse! Before you crucify me,
let me elucidate clearly, reasons for my assertion, but first I will try in the
most simplified comportment as much as possible, to let us understand what the
term law means. It is those Instructions that are meant to safe guard us,
morally and physically; prevent rancor and acrimony that rowdiness and
disorderliness may cause.
I have made up my mind not to be enticed by anger into
writing a very lengthy narrative, adhering strictly to making my points and
asking salient fundamental questions bothering within the ambit of the subject
matter, the extrapolation from the several responses would form the basis for a
wider and all encompassing discus. As funny as these scenarios I would be
mentioning would be, please do not laugh, na very serious matter them be.
Lokoja would be my case study on which I would build my
piece. However, these problems are prevalent in most urban centers around Nigeria .
For the love of God, why would a sane human being, who knows
there are no spare part stores for human parts, flagrantly disobey red traffic
light , with a cocky grin on his face, like a hunter whose trap just caught a
game after three month of game drought biko nor?
The red light simply means STOP but alas, Lokoja road users,
most especially the Okada riders and a handful of private car owners’ disregard
traffic light with reckless abandon, blow past other patiently waiting on the
zebra lines. While I am yet to see any being arrested and penalized as a
deterrent to others unscrupulous ones who has utter disregard for their lives
and that of others, this nauseating act if unchecked, while leave in it trails
tears and blood some time soon.
Well I am in the least surprised. Some of the riders are
locals from surrounding rural centers, Lokoja is the biggest metropolitan they may
have ever lived in and so may not know the import or meaning of the different lights.
Some may even think Christmas is well around the corner, hence the Government
has decided to decorate the streets with Christmas lights.
If 90% of these Okada riders are illiterates (a handful of them are graduates
anyway, what else would they have done when jobs are not available) what about
the government officials and most painful of all, security operatives? When
they get to the traffic lights, the siren on their vehicles wailings crescendo
increases wailing and wailing wow wow
wow wow wow, causing public nuisance and then eventually breaking the law,
maneuvering and meandering their ways out dangerously while almost knocking
down others . Ogini? Are they above the law? Who arrests the Okada man or car
owner who flaunts these signs, when our police, civil defense publicly
misbehaves?
In the United
States of America , you cannot flout traffic
rules and not get booked. You over speed or park your vehicle wrongly, you get
booked and a ticket issued, you know what that means. That brings to mind, the
manner of parking’s along major roads of Lokoja. There was a time the VIO’s
impound people’s cars. What has happened? They are no longer impounding such
crazy parking’s any more? Have they impounded the vehicle of a “touch not’? Why
did they stop? Their morale was very high and the exercise was very effective,
people no longer park their vehicles anyhow, but now the old demon has
resurfaced and the deliverance pastors and imam in person of the VIO officers
have all disappeared from the roads. WHY?
Let me revert back to flouting traffic rules in Lokoja, I
recommend that the state government collaborates with the civil Federal Road
Safety Corp, be positioned at every junction with traffic light to prosecute LIGHT/SIGN
VIOLATION which is a category 2 offence under the FRSC Offence and Penalty law with
a fine of 2,000, this will go a long way to prevent very serious accidents on
our roads and increase the sanity of the people.
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