Opinion: A man died today

by Olatunji A. Aworetan

death-verses

And as the truck tried to manoeuvre its way pass the flooded bomb craters on the road, it wobbled and cringed and fell on a car. It fell on that poor man’s car. That’s how he died.

A man died today.
He wasn’t sick. He wasn’t old. He wasn’t shot by armed robbers or eaten by wild animals. He didn’t die by poisoning or any diabolical means. It wasn’t even suicide.

Some people said it was the will of God. Others said it was his time. They blamed witches and home trouble. They said he didn’t pray. He was unlucky. Considering the way he died, it angered me that no one could point the finger and blame the culprit.

The man had been in the Lagos traffic for over three hours for what was probably a 20 minute trip. He was exhausted. His reflexes were waning. He was wondering why he had to suffer this much every day. It wasn’t his fault that reconstruction of the Badagry Express way was halfway done and then abandoned. Nor was it his fault that petrol trucks had lined up for kilometres from Apapa to Mile 2. Even the floods caused by heavy rains and non-existent drainages, was not his fault. So why did he have to suffer?

With these thoughts in his head he approached Mile 2. He could see the bridge up ahead. He could see that 500 meters ahead the road was free. From the way the vehicles far ahead of him were tilted, he could see that there were potholes the size of bomb craters ahead of him. And to worsen it, the potholes were covered by water.

With these thoughts on his mind, he did not take cognisance of the container laden truck ahead. It was a dilapidated flatbed carrying a 40 feet container. By the looks, the truck should have been de-commissioned 20 years ago. But off course it passed the MOT tests of the VIO’s. The container lying on it was in no way fastened to the truck. But off course the Ports Authority waved it by.

And as the truck tried to manoeuvre its way pass the flooded bomb craters on the road, it wobbled and cringed and fell on a car. It fell on that poor man’s car. That’s how he died.

And who do we hold responsible for his death? The VIO’s that harass brand new cars everyday but wave by smoking trucks with no brakes? The Ports Authority that allow obviously unsafe vehicles to operate within their jurisdiction? Do we blame the potholes that exist permanently on our major roads despite budgetary allocations to FERMA for road maintenance? Or construction companies that demarcate roads without taking the flow of traffic into consideration? Residents that block drainages with refuse making the roads to flood? Inefficient refuse collectors that force people to drop refuse inside the drains? Do we blame the elements for raining in June? Or maybe we should blame the poor man for being a Nigerian.

A man died today.

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 Latunji A. Aworetan tweets from @lafile

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

 

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