Exactly on the 16th of January 2024, almost a year ago, there was a massive blast at Adeyi Avenue Old Bodija in Ibadan where explosives stored at a private residence detonated and claimed some souls while dozens of other residents of the area were critically and alarmingly injured.
Besides that, several houses, which till this moment are still in the state of disrepair, collapsed from the impact of the blast. The tragic incident unfortunately threw the whole state into panic and rendered some residents homeless. It was really a day of misfortune and unhappiness in Oyo state. A day no one pray to witness anymore.
A day after the calamitous incident, Gov ‘Seyi Makinde made the first public announcement of what precisely triggered the explosion that shook almost the entire city. The governor mentioned that the eruption emanated through the storage of some dangerous devices by some illegal miners who resided in the neighborhood where the gruesome episode transpired.
Gov. Makinde’s affirmation naturally came as a shock to many for they wondered how illegal miners could manage to have a hide-out in the vicinity very close to the government house without the knowledge of the governor or any agency of the government. Many believed that if Gov. Makinde had earlier woken up to the responsibility – protection of lives and property of Oyo State residents – he swore to execute, the blast would have definitely been averted.
This columnist as well as millions of Oyo State residents condemned the fulmination and recommended that Gov Makinde put adequate security apparatus in place to enhance safety of people and their property with a view to guarding against such calamity in the future. We urged the governor to make sure that regular and close monitoring of unscrupulous elements in the state was given priority in his administration.
As expected Gov. Makinde apologized and promised that such incident would never rear its head in the state any longer for the blast at Bodija had woken the consciousness of his administration. He also promised to put more efforts in monitoring the activities of individuals and groups who could pose a danger to the state and the entire residents. Again Mr governor, through his Special Adviser on Security Matter, Fatai Owoseni, assured people that none of those whom through their negligence the unfortunate occurrence happened would go scot free. And that the culprits would unequivocally face the full wrath of the law.
Gov. Makinde’s promises, without an iota of doubt, were sweeter to the ears of the people for they were certain such catastrophe wouldn’t go without procecuting and bringing the perpetrators to book. Now the questions, did the promises the governor make fulfilled? How secure were Oyo State residents’ lives and property since the Bodija blast occured? Were there being close monitoring of individuals’ or groups’ activities in the state before the recent tragedy that took many lives? Was justice served in the case of Bodija explosion?
I’m very sure if the above promises by the governor were being fulfilled, the tragedy that recently befell the state would have been nipped in the bud. Close monitoring of activities in the state would have revealed to the appropriate authority the danger of allowing such huge crowd to assemble in a school premises without putting adequate security in place. The procecution and punishment of the carefree transgressors who were found guilty in the Bodija explosion would have served as a deterrent to anyone who thought he/she could organize a gathering of immense and immeasurable size without providing guaranteed healthcare.
Prior to the unfortunate incident at Islamic High School, Bashorun Ibadan -the incident that led to the loss of lives of about 35, most of whom were children, and rendered dozens incapacitated – several jingles and advertisements on a proposed carnival/funfair for children where goodies were expected to be gifted to about 5,000 children were being aired on radio for some days. In a state where things worked accordingly, a serious government would have put a stop to such event which was certain of having in attendance more than 10,000 attendees, children, their parents and gate crashers. A concerned government which truly had the love of people at heart would have realized that rowdiness was certain to surface and ensue in such event. So why did the state government allow the organizers of the funfair to go ahead with the aforesaid gathering in a school premises?
It’s always said that Oyo State nowadays has become a place where individuals and groups can organize carnival-like events without approvals from the government. And this prompts the query: did the organizers of the event inform the government about the proposed funfair? Who exactly authorized the use of a school compound for such gigantic turnout? After all the school premises where the incident happened was a government-owned school.
Of course this isn’t the time to apportion blames, however truth must be said to unravel the cause of the disaster so that justice can be appropriately served. A situation where the innocent are acquitted and the guilty are sanctioned should be everyone’s concern at the moment. Those who, out of their negligence, participated in the loss of the precious souls ought to be interrogated, procecuted and suitably punished in order to curtail such probable phenomenon in the future.
And to those who believe that until they display their act of philanthropy always in the open, people might not appreciate their premeditated kind-gesture. It’s better they heed this advice: “Never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” In other words, “Help others in a quiet and unobtrusive manner, without drawing attention to yourself.” Many even do not know that the charitable acts which are done in secret are more rewarding than those which are displayed openly.
Like I normally say, I do not see any good intention in inviting people to open places to collect palliatives (cash or delicacies). Those who do this allegedly do it to promote themselves, their businesses and their aspirations. They supposedly do it to boost their ego/self-esteem or for personal gains.
What is the essence of giving N5,000 to people who, before the stipend was collected, would have to look for transport fares before getting to the venue? There are places where the downtrodden reside and assemble, why didn’t those self-acclaimed philanthropists go to those places to distribute the palliatives instead of inviting people to a specific place to trample one another to death?
This is another wake up call to Gov. Makinde to, as from this moment, take the security of people seriously for the state cannot afford to continue losing precious souls to this kind of avoidable incident. If any lesson had been learnt from the Bodija blast, I believe the recent stampede at Bashorun wouldn’t have occured. Now the final question, has any lesson again been learnt from this tragedy?
Ademola ‘Babalow’ Babalola
babalolaademola39@gmail.com
