As the usual outrage that often trails tragedy in Nigeria quietly subsides following the widely reported Ibadan tragedy of Wednesday, 18th December 2024, normalcy, particularly in the heart of Ibadan and on the boiling and burning street of social media has returned with victims counting their loses while government swiftly investigates the breakneck incident.
Apart from Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat, the broadcaster at the heart of the chaos whose hospital theatrics got many tongues wagging, seven others, including Prophetess Naomi Silekunola, the ex-wife of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi are in police custody answering questions related to the fatal stampede that resulted in 35 deaths.
While both the federal and state governments have promised swift action into the catastrophe, a walk into the past of similar disaster-class incidents revealed a depressingly dark tale: Nigerian government is notorious for its inability to successfully prosecute many high profile cases, leading to breach of trust between the leaders and the led. More on this subsequently. By implication, it means only a handful of citizens trust the government and its institutions to unearth the truth of the matter that led to the deadly stampede and also allow culprits to face the full extent of the law. In other words, only a fraction of Nigerians believe the government has the character, courage, and capacity to pursue the case to the logical and satisfactory end without compromising the process.
Think of the 2014 immigration recruitment exercise (where 6.5 million people applied for 4000 jobs!) that took more than 28 job seekers. Neither Abba Moro, then interior minister nor David Parradang, then Comptroller-General of Immigration had their appointments terminated on account of their negligence. Reason: Abba Moro, now a Senator was a close ally of David Mark, then powerful and influential President of the Senate. Additionally, failure of the government to scapegoat the Synagogue Church of All Nations’ building collapse that resulted in the death of 115 worshippers, plus Rahman Adedoyin much publicized murder allegation that involved Matthew Adegoke, and the Osborne Tower building collapse in Lagos that killed at least 42 people underscore this dangerous trajectory.
Perhaps, the list of high-profile cases that involved big people languishing in various courts for years have only emboldened others to follow similar ruinous path, act with impunity and flagrantly disregard the rule of law. In effect, cases that ought to address the big man syndrome and the rots in the nation’s criminal justice system have been swept under the rug of compromise and conspiracy.
For all the outrage and the outcry, the Ibadan tragedy, still fresh in people’s minds, may equally be heading towards similar perdition. On one side of the spectrum is the broadcaster and the acclaimed human right fighter, Oriyomi Hamzat whose radio station helped publicized the irresistible and hypnotic message around the funfair. My choice of those two words, irresistible and hypnotic, are quite deliberate.
Unless you are refined and quite contented, it will be pretty difficult not to be swayed and hypnotized by the industrial scale publicity stunt the likes of Oriyomi Hamzat deploy to promote their shows, or philanthropic gestures. Ask his listeners. So, if you ask most of the attendees, they will tell you the content of his promotional jingles leave them restless and to mildly put it, reckless. Or how do you explain a couple who take all their children to the program because they want to win lands, scholarships and other goodies that have become heartbreakingly unaffordable for millions of Nigerians.
“I never had the intention of going to the funfair”, Laide, a female survivor recounted her ordeal to the Punch Newspaper “but my neighbors persuaded me to go with them. They said Oriyomi Hamzat had rolled out jingles promising many enticing gifts for children ranging from scholarships, parcels of lands, houses and several others”. Narrating, she added “the crowd was made up of people from Ile-Ife, Osogbo, Ogbomoso and Lagos”. Bloggers who lumped the tragedy to hunger only played smart-Alec.
Acutely aware that in a world of click-baits, sensationalism sells like pure water, judo-flipping emotion while raising tension. The program, in other words, was more than sharing N5k food package to the people. It was, according to that survivor and countless others, an opportunity to become a land owner in a country where buying land has become a luxury, the exclusive rights of the wealthy and the affluent in the society. In a way, it’s absurdly inaccurate to erroneously conclude that the more than ten thousand people who stormed the venue of the program from different parts of the southwest were poverty-stricken people who barely survive. For one, the steep decline in the standard of living may be one reason but cannot be used as the only reason for the massive and mammoth turnout of the people to the event. In saner claims, incidents like this will have heads rolling and full-scale investigations that will uncover any ineptitude or incompetence in the hands of organizers would be in full swing.
While developed countries aren’t essentially immune from disasters and tragedies, far from it, it is that when unfortunate incident happens, like it does everywhere, all hands are expected to be on deck while those in authority investigate swiftly, ensuring justice is served without fear or favor. For instance, precautionary measures will equally be crafted to minimize and forestall future occurrences. The opposite is the Nigeria’s reality. Without mincing words, nothing reflects the stark anyhowness of Nigerian big men than this massive slaughtering of the people on the altar of philanthropy and generosity. Speaking of philanthropy, isn’t it time for wealthy Nigerians to devise innovative and effective approaches to helping the vulnerable members of society?
Any gesture that strips people of their dignity and robs them of their safety is a defeated effort. The Ibadan tragedy captures these twin dilemmas and contradictions vividly. We need not get to this dangerous breaking point to know that impoverished people will do anything to survive in a country that has stifled them. Yes, the massive turnout of people across different towns and villages to the Islamic High School, Bashorun reflects the teeth-gritting economic reality our people contend with. And regardless of the bareface lies and propaganda out there, the truth of the reality will always eclipse the falsehood of those in government. Now the question is: will those unfortunate stampeded children ever get justice? And what role will the popular freedom fighter and human rights activist, Oriyomi Hamzat played? As Nelson Mandela once enthused “A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.”
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting the Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @Upliftnuggets on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com, and 09065176850.
