POWER INTOXICATION ON OUR ROADS
I recall with nostalgia my experience several years ago when I came very close to touching a presidential limousine belonging to an American President. That was in nineteen seventy eight. As an indigent student fending for myself to complete my doctorate studies, to support my family and sometimes, to send a little thing back home for the worst hit relations.
For several years, I had engaged in taxi-driving business. This particular job gave me the most ample opportunity to effectively participate in my school assignments. Sometimes, depending on some factors, I would drive at night; morning or afternoon.
On one of the days that I was doing morning hours to terminate at 4p.m., when I was to resume class. On this particular occasion, I have parked at North Park Shopping Centre waiting for some passengers. Not quite few minutes I got a passenger, quite an average old woman. As I was about to pull into the highway known as North Central Expressway or better still known as Highway 75, a long well built solid limousine zoomed passed on the express way followed by two cardilack cars. My woman passenger drew my attention to the limousine telling me that it was the President of the United States. Inside the Limousine was a very huge and tall man sitting straight in the middle of the vehicle with the driver. Before I could capture the true picture of the man, the presidential limousine had zoomed away.
In fact, when I learnt that the person who had just passed was the President of the United States, I was lost in utter amazement and astonishment. There was no siren, no long line of escorts with exposed guns, the road was free and no other road users were blocked or chased away from the expressway to make way for the President’s limousine.
I have narrated the above piece to demonstrate the type of civility which exists on the American roads and in fact in most of the European countries where the law is no respecter of the high and the low. It is a place where the right of every citizen is equal, balanced and protected; where every citizen has the right of way and the right of the air space.
Contrary to this is the almost insanity and madness which some drivers particularly those attached to the Presidential guard to Governors and attached to highly placed Nigerians who have been elected or appointed for the good governance of the people.
Today on our roads, particularly highways, entourage of the President, Governors, Senators and other top government officials move on the road or
in the streets without the slightest recourse to the traffic regulations. Security personnel attached to these officials behave as if they have nine lives in themselves. Once on the move with their principals, they expect every motorists or defenseless motor-cyclists or even pedestrians leave the road for them even if it means into the gutters or even hurting themselves in the process to escape to safety.
Some Security Officers on open Van use cane or horsewhips to flog helpless other road users. Most of the time, as most of them scrambles for safety. In the process, they fall into gutters or fall on rough edge of the road, thereby sustaining series of injuries.
Motorists appear to suffer the worst because as the siren moving ahead of the entourage including the dispatch riders, motorists struggle to pack at safety spots to ensure that their vehicles do not crash or hit preventable objects or human beings. Indeed, as these top government officials, they move as if their lives are in their hands. They hardly caution their drivers, dispatch riders and other pilot vehicles to, “take life je je.” It is nothing but an exhibition of uncontrollable power intoxication on our roads nation-wide.
Today in many States across the nation, reports abound of tragic accidents brought about by the recklessness of drivers of public office holders, particularly State Governors. Reports of such fatal accidents continue to flood our newspapers and radio air waves. Yet, nothing seems to be done about these ugly and preventable scenarios.
Often, top officials themselves seem to aid and abate this recklessness. Painfully enough, not quite long ago, there was the reported incident involving the lmo State Governor, His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha’s motorcade and that of Chief Mrs. Christy Anyanwu, distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The incident occupied several front pages of the Nigerian Press for nearly a week and more.
Although each side tried to justify or to blame the other side for the incident, the Painful aspect of the saga was that
it should not have happened in the first instance. And in fact many reasonable members of the public without partisan bias were of the opinion that the Governor of Imo State should not have been impeded in his movement. But they equally were emphatic that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria equally deserves respect and appropriate recognition of her personality and office. Of course who was right or who was wrong was absolutely too irrelevant because every Nigerian is entitled to the use of the road but must respect public office holders who are expected to even protect common road users even if such an official is on a very urgent mission.
Without blaming either side, it is very necessary to observe that those with open mind were persuaded to believe both public officials should not have gotten into such a mess particularly after the Governor’s officials had recognized that the other person was a Senator, whom, many believed identified and introduce herself, particularly after reading the Senator’s account of the incident.
Unfortunately, the two officials belong to one political party which was by circumstances of election imperatives and fallouts. However, their party, APGA, did not handle the matter with expected maturity because the party’s taking side on the side of the Governor was to say the least very puerile. How could a parent take a side when his two children are having a misunderstanding?
The most fortunate aspect of the saga was that neither the Governor nor the Senator nor even their staff did not get anything to be worried but in another case, the nation may not be as lucky because such intoxicated and over zealous gun carrying security operatives may turn to be funny.
It has become part of our traffic culture that blaring of sirens is fashionable by both those who are authorized by the law to use sirens and those not authorized. Even those who are authorized to use sirens tend even to abuse it. Sometimes
wives of public office holders blast sirens while entering the market or even going to a village meeting or Church service. Today, many people mount sirens on their vehicles, official or not, blaring such sirens indiscriminately often causing public nuisance to the people.
It is not an over-exaggeration that today almost every b anybody who can afford to mount siren on his vehicle is doing so, with no exception. President, Vice president, Governors, Deputy Governor, Distinguished Senators, Principal officers of the National Assembly, Speakers of State Houses, Principal Officers of State House of Assembly, Chief Judge of the Federation, Justices of Supreme and Appeal Courts. The list is not yet complete. It includes, Service Chiefs Comptrollers of Customs, Immigration. Prisons even some junior officers in these establishments use sirens. Soon, Vice Chancellors of Universities, Professors, Deans and Dons of Universities, Provosts, Rectors, Student Union Leaders including Principals of course , Trade Union leaders will soon join. And in spite of several warnings by the police, the practice has remained unabated. Because, simply put, we are virtually a lawless society. And nobody can question this assertion.
It is by and large our well known attitude of not respecting the law that our country in spite of concerted efforts has remained largely disorganized with indiscipline pervading every section of the society.
Of course, no society can progress like this. Something must be done about it.
