At the beginning of the month of
April 2013, the life of a young man, father of five children was abruptly
terminated. Electrocuted by the fallen electric wire, in the course of PHCN
officials purportedly effecting repairs. Rather than rush the youngman to the
hospital, report had it, that they took to their heels.
In
other part of the world, this would have led to pandemonium and total disorder.
PHCN office and officials would have tasted the wrath of the people. Business
and social activities would have been grounded. More lives would have been
wasted. Hoodlums would have taken control of the unpleasant situation to loot
and steal. Thank God, for the presence of Agbor divisional Police officer, who
ordered and effected the arrest of some of the PHCN officials. The law seem to
have taken its course. Then PHCN struck the second time. This time, they
engineered total blackout for two weeks in Ika land. The temerity that informed
it’s supposedly punitive and reprisal acts against the people of Ikaland cannot
be fathomed or comprehended. Can the blackout be attributed to another human
error. Is PHCN, not a co-operate entity? Could the arrest of one or two staff
stop the establishment from functioning? The first time it struck, through its
omission or commission, a life was lost. If it was accidental as largely
alleged, was their deliberate act of taking to their heels accidental? The
saving grace of the PHCN official is that the people believes in the rule of
law rather than jungle justice. Did the PHCN officials think of the effects of
their wickedness on the people? Did they think of the financial frustrations
and loses incurred by businessman and women whose businesses depended solely on
electricity? Did they think about the sick in the hospital and at home who
needed the comfort of light and fan, who must have suffered serious discomfort
and died as a result? Did they think about the surgical operations that must
have been postponed and death resulted. The most painful of all these is that
at the end or beginning of every months, PHCN staff are seen distributing bills
and disconnecting the purportedly defaulting customers for electricity not
supplied. In the area of disconnection the PHCN officials are overtly
overzealous. In giving electricity, the purpose of its establishment, it is
found wanting. The people are being subjected to paying for services not
rendered. If this isn’t ‘419’, then, what is it? Are there no people
languishing in Nigerian prisons or police cells for similar offense? Why is the
PHCN case different?
In
Boji-Boji Owa and Orogodo metropolis, most of the electric poles are slanting
and threatening to fall. In Alisemie and Oza-Nogogo and other surrounding
suburbs in Ika nation, most of the electric poles are on the ground. Can the
PHCN claim ignorance of these developments? Or do they want the communities to
be electrocuted before doing what they ought to do? Or are they resorting to
tasking the people, by asking each house of the affected area to contribute
money to effect repairs as they always do? If it is so, pray, what happened to
the statutory allocations for such repairs and maintenance is that such
allocations take long in coming because of administrative bureaucracy
associated with government establishments. When the allocations arrive after
the people have been compelled to contribute, do the people get back their
money?
It
is the responsibility of the law to protect the rights and redress the injustice done to a people. The law
instructs as to how an erring person or a cooperate entity should be punished.
But the law is dormant and need to be reviewed. It needs be told, and
thereafter, acts. It has ears. When it does act, justice is done, bruised
feelings are healed. As a result, peace is restored and progress enhanced. But
the big question is who will voice the pains of a people that have been
acclimatized to darkness and the woes associated with it.
Dualization
of the major roads has been a dream longed for, a nightmare for many business
men and woman along Old Lagos/Asaba Road. Where stores and buildings are not
demolished, big gullies are created. How do customers cross these gullies to
make purchases? It is difficult to imagine the consequences of a continuous
torrential rainfall for days on the topography of the effected areas, with
gullies created by an UNENDING DUALIZATION. There is no effective construction
that do not allow demolition. It is aimed at uplifting and enhancing life and
living and not the herald destruction of life and source of livelihood.
Palliative measures would have been taken to ameliorate the lot of the
businessmen and women, whose business premises have been adversely affected by
the construction. The owner of Mobil filing station along Lagos/Asaba Road, has
been put out of business since the inception of the dualization. The
construction company lack “human face.” The government, whose existence and
establishment is based on our sovereignty do not seem to care. Could the
seeming indifference of the government to the prolonged pains of the people be
attributed to its ignorance of the situation? Is it that the people have not
talked long enough or they have not voiced their pains or that they have by
nature resigned to fate or too docile to voice their frustration? If that be
the case, where are our self-acclaimed and self trumpeted political leaders?
Can’t they see the plight of the people?
Can’t they feel the pains of the people they have cowed into
followership? Don’t they know that “action and reaction are equal and opposite”
that when they make effective representation to the government, that government
not being dead will equally make a positive response.
Our
Central Hospital is not under construction but it is in a sorry state. At
night, if there is no PHCN light, there is no electricity, government has
provided generator for the hospital. If it is, why is there no electricity.
There should be electricity in the hospital at ALL TIMES. If not, there’s an
error, masterminded by man. Government should be told. Should nurses and
non-medical staff of Central Hospital undergo periodic courses on mannerism and
decorum, as to how to relate properly with patients, but at what cost. The
conducts of most of our nurses is very unprofessional. They are unfriendly and
uncaring and very impatient with patients. Are the medical doctors saints on
earth? Some are good and are like godsent. Most are not good. They are not on
seat when they should be neither do they remain on seat till official closing
time. Besides, most use the Hospital as a platform for advertisement for
patients to their private medical hospitals. They seem to be in competition
among themselves to attract patients. All these unpleasant happenings are daily
reoccurring with uncommon boldness. A visit to the hospital is an experience.
We are all aware of these development. If we are not directly involved, our
relations, friends and acquaintance have had one unpleasant experience or the
other. Is it that we, the patients or patients relatives or friends are wrong
and they the nurses and doctors are right? Time will always tell.
The
technical college that ought to have been turning out the needed technical
manpower is in a terrible state of decay. There’s nothing technical about the
college any more. Most of the buildings don’t have roof, the ones with roofs
don’t have windows or doors. Most of the equipment are either rusty or have
gone totally bad and many others have gone with the winds. There is no fence,
and the hostels are dilapidated. The landmass of the school has been turned
into farm land. The population of the teachers seem to be more than that of the
students. Yet, it is a school in the land of the living.
College
of Education, Agbor, is the pride of every living Ika man. It is one of the
most beautiful structurally designed Colleges of Education in Nigeria. That is
where it seems to end. “Handouts” and poorly written textbooks are forced upon
students. There are stories of victimization and intimidation of students.
There are also reports of “blocking of courses. These nefarious activities are
carried out with impunity. What these lectures don’t know is that the “walls
have ears” and that at appropriate time, aggrieved students could be encouraged
to SING.
There
are also some unpleasant stories of some NCE students who were granted admission two weeks to the first semester
exams. Why? And that students were charged extra money for late payment and
that the extra amount is paid into a special account. Why? And that the newly
employed teaching staff collect their employment letters from an office other
than the office of the registrar. Why? And that some forms of gratifications
are demanded before some statutory functions are performed. Why?
Can
this be possible in an institution headed by a supposedly bible believing and a
bible carrying no-nonsense Christian? Is it that he is too trusting to take
cognizance of the negative undercurrent in the institution? Or has his
celebrated simplicity been taken for a ride. A lot has happened. A lot is
happening that leaves sour taste in the month. Or should these anomalies
continue unabated?
Agbor kingdom is a typical case study
of uncompleted projects. It is a land where contractors collect jobs, get
mobilized, do hazardous jobs and abandon it half way. No question is asked.
People are not mobilized to act in defense of their fatherland that has been
defecated upon.
Permit
this writer to take you to unpleasant trip of jobs abandoned
(1) Dr Whyte Street tarring,
terminating at Imudia junction
(2) Odozi Street terminating at
Osuhon
(3) Better half of Osuhon left
untarred
Other
abandoned projects include the following;
?
Alisimie-Oza-Nogogo
?
Ihogbe-Idumu
? Hostel
complex of school of Nursing
?
Landscaping of school of Nursing
? Board
road Alihami
?
Abavo-Ekuku-Agbor road
?
Emefile Street-DLA
? Upper
Odozi
? Skill
Acquisition centre
? Sports
complex of College of Education, Agbor.
? The
Dredging of Orogodo River
These
uncompleted projects are in the land of the living, comprising of men
and women of timber and caliber, of
the educated and exposed individuals and of vibrant and energetic youths. It
beats every imaginable imaginations that contractors can flagrantly contraven
every contract rules in the face of a sophisticated people.
There
are times when docility is a virtue some other times a vice. But in the face of
continuous provocations with colouration of temerity, then, docility becomes an
impendent to personal and cooperate progress and development.
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