A number of factors have been attributed to the unfortunate incidents across the country last week. Lots of lives were avoidably lost to the cold hand of death. Loss of lives is very common in Nigeria and most of the time, nobody is held responsible or accountable. Several people trooped out for Christmas package in Ibadan, Abuja and Okija in Anambra State.
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, women were seen throwing their children over the fence to the venue of the event organised by Naomi Silekunola, an ex wife of Ooni of Ile-Ife Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi. The entrance to the venue (a public school) had been bombarded and the people really wanted their children to be among the beneficiaries. A woman confessed that she threw her child who hit the head with a stone. The child wa among the deceased.
Corpses, notably women, were strewn in a compound in Okija, Anambra State. The victims of the stampede in which 22 people died were middle-age women. It will take courage to even watch the video, which has now gone viral on the internet.
At Holy Trinity Church, Maitama Abuja, children were among the victims of the stampede. The church organised an event to assist the less privileged members of the church and the community. It’s unfortunate and disheartening that they met their untimely death while looking for their daily meals.
There is no other explanation to be given other than poverty, hardship and hopelessness. The people are wallowing in abject poverty, they are struggling to make ends meet, to survive rather than live. They have lost hope of a better life. Little wonder they trooped out for paltry N5,000 (around $3). How much does a life worth in Nigeria? One should ask.
Online Parrot News will not in any way blame the organisers of the events. They actually had a mind to give out and put smiles on several people’s faces. But the fact that remains is the people are suffering. If not for poverty and hardship, what could have made an individual go to the venue as early as 5am for just N5,000?
Poverty has made them desperate. But for desperation, how would they be able to feed themselves and the children? Throwing one’s child over the fence for let’s say $3 is a symbol of hopelessness. They have no hope though the current administration promised to renew their hope.
How many measures of rice, beans, gaari, groundnut oil would be given to them? Could they sustain them for a week? Every day counts for the poor people, but for poverty, nobody would risk their lives for peanuts.
Some commentators have attributed greed and lack of organisation as basic factors for the stampedes. They seem to have forgotten that greed is one key characteristic of human beings. Both the rich and the poor are characteristically greedy. What more could one say?
When last did the members of the upper class be victims of stampedes? There wouldn’t be any reason for them to be. The members of the lower class, the impoverished people are always the victims.
Follow us on social media
