Sigh. We are not even a full month into the new year and already, a huge devastating disaster has struck in Nigeria and largely due to human error/carelessness and surely anyhowness. There were reports of a massive explosion in Ibadan last night and the first visuals from houses a distance from the actual scene showed a preview of how damaging the actual site would have been.
It took over an hour before sketches of rumors started trickling out as to the cause of the blast. While some said it was a gas plant explosion, others said it was bombs that went off. Of course, it took several hours before official rescue and aid could come to the scenes of the blast. The Governor swung into action and asked that free medicals and accommodations be provided for the affected people. It was still a hot mess as people appeared confused and in the dark as to what had actually happened to bring such destruction to the city of Ibadan.
As of this morning, there have been more somewhat accurate reports of the cause of the blast stemming from a stash of dynamites stored inside a house in a residential area!!! You would think and wonder how on earth this is possible with the level of health and safety surrounding owning, storing and using dynamites in civilized countries right but this is Nigeria, a country with no functional system nor adequate repercussions for perpetrators. Anything goes here and it breaks my heart every single time the innocent ones have to pay for this. I saw some really horrific images of dead and dying people caught up in the blast and I really do not have the right words to express how I feel about this avoidable incidence.
I really do not know whose blood must be spilled before we act right and put appropriate measures in place in this country. We have learnt to be mentally immune to these abnormalities around us and we mask our pains with comedy, food and music, a fickle coping mechanism that only lets the issues fester and rot.
My condolences and prayers goes out to the victims and families of those affected by this explosion.
Ok to call you an Angel? Once again you have hit the nail on the head. Its the anyhow-ness. Everything goes in Nigeria. The cruise flag is flying so high. We laugh and seemingly forget our sorrow while the submarine of incompetence, insurgency, lies, death, corruption and destruction sweeps people off their feet.
ReplyDeleteIt is so deeply etched in the people that I really do not know how long it would take for minds to be reset to normalcy. Thank you. :(
DeleteThe level of anyhowness has reached its peak in Nigeria, even though I suspect things could get worse. Our VP and Ministers are in Europe right now laughing and dancing "Buga". We had a solution of choosing the right leader to fix the system, but the system is so corrupt that it won't even allow us make that choice.
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