BEATIFICATION OF INDISCIPLINE

BY EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO

Reading through the intellectually rich prose “The Importance of Civility” by the Journalist, Essayist and a renowned post-Doctoral Fellow at the prestigious Oxford University in the United Kingdom, Ike Okonta, in his This Day [of Nigeria] Column of Sunday August 10th 2008 page 99, I decided to borrow inspiration from the work of the equally famous Journalist and Art Critic Jahman Anikulapo titled “BEATIFICATION OF THE AREA FADA” as cited by Ike Okonta where he [Jahman Anikulapo] posed the all important question of: “what does it mean to live as an artist in a country still locked in the struggle for the creation of self identity?” Just like the Academic and Journalist Ike Okonta, this columnist believes that the question raised by Jahman Anikulapo goes to the core and heart of the Nigerian situation and existential quagmire. As I sat down to put pen to paper, my memory went back to a beautiful book “CLIMATE OF CORRUPTION” I read while at the Teachers College Kafanchan, Kaduna State, where Jahman Anikulapo did his National Youth Service Scheme year where he taught some of my contemporaries in Arts subject. This beautifully and well crafted book by Festus Iyayi, the then radical University Teacher and Unionist, dwelt extensively on the regime of corruption that has now enveloped our national life. Who says that Writers are not prophets?

Why do I want to dwell on the very strategic topic of Indiscipline? It is simply because the disposition and behaviors displayed both in public and private activities by most people in Nigeria manifests some tendencies of a population under some kind of spell of indiscipline or a population attacked by the ghost of indiscipline. Pardon my choice of words. Though really there is no need to apologize for using this strong language to describe the general and collective breakdown of discipline and the rule of law and order in Nigeria

 
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To be convinced of what I am writing about, just drive around any typical Nigerian Road at every time of the day or night and take a cursory observation of the driving pattern and styles of all class of Road users. I can bet you that if you have traveled or lived [resided] once in any other more civilized and developed society, then the behaviors and gross indiscipline characterized by total disregard for the safety and interest of all other road users displayed by most drivers on the Nigerian roads, are strong enough to offend the sensibilities of all decent people. In Abuja, within the last two weeks, over two dozen people have perished in avoidable road mishaps. From the year 1999 till now, the worst offenders on the roads are the drivers of the construction firm JULIUS BERGER and I can regrettably report that the numerous accidents created and caused by these useless and careless Julius Berger Drivers on Abuja Roads alone, are unprecedented to put it mildly. Funny enough, within the same period under review, not more than seven drivers have been convicted in the courts of law for dangerous driving and manslaughter. The judicial wheel of justice is crumbling and the so-called law enforcement agents are heavily compromised. Does it mean then, that the Traffic controlling departments of the Nigerian Police or even the Federal Road Safety Corps charged with the statutory duty to enforce Roads safety measures on our Highways are weak and dysfunctional? Does it mean that the Vehicle Inspectorate Division of the Abuja Federal Capital Authority and other ministries of works in the other thirty six states charged with the onerous duty of ensuring that the vehicles plying our nation’s capital and other roads are in good shape, are weak or have they gone on break? The Julius Berger Drivers have surely beatified indiscipline and because there is a general climate of indiscipline in Nigeria, it seems as if not too many people have given serious thoughts to the need to declare a state of emergency in the area of DISCIPLINE so as to forcefully inculcate the virtues of discipline among Nigerians and other citizens of the world resident in Nigeria, though with human rights compliant measures. This columnist is using this medium to advise the Federal Government to introduce without any waste of time, a national programme to re-orientate the entire Nigerian populace to embrace the virtues of discipline and respect for the sacredness of life especially while driving on the Nigerian roads which in any case have assumed the status of Death traps following the dilapidated state of roads infrastructure in Nigeria especially in the SOUTH EAST REGION. This columnist hereby proposes to the Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s Federal Administration to immediately carry out effective and efficient surgical operation and overhaul of the near moribund National Orientation Agency [NOA] because the current Leadership of that body has failed abysmally to re-orientate Nigerians on the urgent demand and need to embrace the CLIMATE OF DISCIPLINE and respect for the Rule of law and to defeat the extant regime of national indiscipline and total breakdown of order in all spheres of our national life and especially on our Highways.
 

Come to think of it! Why is it that the drivers of police bullion vans and drivers on the convoys of the different Government officials have constituted themselves into ROADS TERRORISTS and have continuously inflicted bodily harms on innocent passers by and other road users? Take a drive around the busy Constitution Road or Bill Clinton Way in Abuja, what you will notice is the rampaging invasion of the entire space by these dare devil Security and Government convoys blaring sirens at the highest levels and chasing away all other lesser mortals who are equally making use of these roads constructed with tax payers’ funds. Why has the Inspector General of police Mike Okiro, the numerous service chiefs in the Nigerian Armed Forces and even the President and Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces Umaru Musa Yar’adua not found it necessary to convoke series of meaningful, result oriented and constructive meetings and training workshops to sensitize these Government Drivers and especially those that go with Governors’ convoys, to desist from driving menacingly on the Nigerian roads and to respect the Human Rights of all other road users and even passers by? Why has the increasingly quiet Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babagana Kingibe who incidentally is the man in charge of the unit in the presidency that oversees the issues of the Nigerian Roads safety Commission, not thought it wise to supervise the Road safety officials to properly educate Nigerian Roads users on the increasing need to respect the Human Rights of other Roads users? How many Drivers’ license holders in Nigeria actually pass the tests expected to be conducted by the Vehicle Inspectorate officials and the Roads safety commission officials in Nigeria? I met a lady who brandished a brand new Drivers’ license but without the requisite knowledge of driving. When I sought to know why she has the authentic drivers’ license without having the working knowledge of Driving, she told me that she uses it only for bank transactions because she has since left school and yet to secure any meaningful employment and therefore needs the Drivers’ license to access her bank account in the event that one or any of her numerous benefactors sends her money through her onshore account. The other day a teenager rammed through my car and caused serious damages on my back lights and when I made enquiries he confirmed to me that he has a valid driver’s license obtained for him by his father. This is simply the beatification of indiscipline. Ausbeth Ajagu, a good and tested management trainer had in his book BUILDING A VIRILE NATION, attributed indiscipline and corruption to the present state of infrastructural decay that Nigeria suffers from. This is true. According to Ajagu, due to lack of transparency and accountability in Governance over the years, the over $300 Billion United States Dollars realized from the sale of crude oil has not been put to proper use especially in the provision of infrastructure. This columnist couldn’t agree more. The recent decision by the current federal administration to abdicate her function of providing good and functional roads infrastructure in Nigeria and to create a Concession Commission charged with the duties of granting concessions to private investors to build, operate and transfer major roads in Nigeria is the greatest manifestation of the BEATIFICATION OF INDISCIPLINE by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, because these private sector investors are simply AREA FADAS who would build roads and charge the long suffering Nigerians huge fees for plying on these roads and the cost of living will multiply because commercial motor operators who make use of these roads will transfer the burden of paying for using the roads to ordinary Nigerians who will in turn hike the prices of commodities and the end users will be at the receiving end of the activities of these shylock Private Roads operators. Please President Umaru Musa Yar’adua stop BEATIFYING INDISCIPLINE.

+EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND JOURNALIST IN ABUJA

   
 
 
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