VALUE OF A NIGERIANS LIFE

The Nigerians life is overly undervalued… roads are built without accommodating pedestrians, vehicles not road worthy are the most functional for commercialization, electricity cables are seen as skipping ropes on main roads after the rain, fake drugs are distributed with total abandon in kiosks with chemist signposts, carbon monoxide perfumes the atmosphere we inhale from, quality education is a privilege for a certain class, security is defined as protection for the wealthy. The insecurity generated by recklessness and violence in Nigeria is a very serious problem in which the observance and enjoyment of human rights are at stake.

Dana Air have already suffered at the hands of all too predictable air disasters while the fleets of other Nigerian air transports are also lamentable. It is common knowledge that DANA
may be forced to cede operations as it no longer commands a fleet fit for flying (or a crew for that matter) Our national carrier itself is flirting with extinction, so the standards of the smaller domestic airlines can hardly be expected to be any better. Are our aviation standards so poor that anything with wings and an engine attached to it is cleared for flying? It isn’t just the lives lost in this horrific accident, but the life of every single passenger that flies on these ‘flying coffins’ is put at risk, by these airlines. Disregard for human life and its sanctity at the expense of profit, which is the disgusting truth. This isn’t just an issue plaguing our aviation industry, but a cursory glance at other industries will reveal the same immoral pattern. This is not good business sense; this makes you an accessory to murder.

Where are our courts and our politicians? Are they going to introduce and enforce legislation that will confine avoidable tragedies like these to history books? If there is to be another aviation tragedy, its reason should not be negligence. As for the social media that is highlighting this event, shame on you. Facebook status reports with emotionally charged pictures and carefully crafted updates inducing narratives should be grounds for termination of user rights. The plight of those suffering should not be used as a battleground for ratings. No longer should social media be allowed to invade private spaces, especially of those mourning the loss of loved ones. Rather than focusing on the actual news, the actual problems and the actual solutions, the media is keen to prove which one of them is the least tactful. Since the nation follows the media’s lead, it should hold itself responsible for the behaviour and tastes of the masses. This event is sombre, shocking and painful enough as it is. Please let the feelings sink in purely, these are real lives, real people, not the script of a film. Conspiracy theorists may say what they will about foreign channels, but at least they have the dignity not to exploit moments like these.

We only deserve to shed the tears we must shed for the victims once we have done something about this. We are a nation of armchair intellectuals suffering from attention deficit disorder. They say ‘don’t fix it if it isn’t broken’; well it is broken. When we show that we respect the sanctity of our own people’s lives, only then can we expect foreign powers to do the same. Our empathy for the victims and their loved ones is trumped by our apathy that allows such tragedies to happen in the first place.

Finally, I dare say that the leadership is RECKLESS. A person is “reckless” or acts “recklessly” when he willfully disregards the safety of persons or property. It is more than a lack of reasonable care which may cause unintentional injury. Recklessness is conduct which is consciously done with willful disregard of the consequences. For recklessness to exist, the act must be highly dangerous. In addition, the danger must be so obvious that the actor knows or should reasonably forsee that harm will more likely than not result from the act. Though recklessness is willful, it is not intentional in the sense that harm is intended to result.To do the right thing in the Nigeria requires only the will to defend the worth of human beings wherever they are threatened. There is nothing to prevent us from assuming leadership. Nothing, except ourselves. Individuals can make a difference. And that can happen far in advance of a war or a genocide. We start by simply saying something when we see people mistreated, and by speaking for the voiceless.

The public dialogue about bullying fully applies here. War criminals are not created overnight. When people tolerate the entitlement that leads to increasingly greater acts of abuse, humanity spins its wheels. This may seem harsh, but it is the truth; we are all culpable in what is brazen murder. We are the ones that are allowing these airlines to operate within our borders; we are the ones that are tolerating unethical business practices that all too frequently imply cost cutting at the expense of the public at large.