It is pitiable how our dear nation has been turned into a theatre of tragedies. It is more worrisome that the people whose statutory duties include the aversion of tragedies have become the harbingers of calamities and death. The rate at which the convoys of  public office holders and other such “powerful” men get involved in road accidents, in recent times, has become a cause of worry. Innocent lives have been lost while other road users have been endangered by the recklessness of many of our governors.  It is very unfortunate that one of the finest and very courageous university teachers in Nigeria, Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former president of the Academic Staff Union of  Universities, would be killed in a road crash involving the convoy of the Governor of Kogi State, Capt. Idris Wada (retd). It is of great concern that in less than a year, this is the second time Wada’s convoy would be involved in ghastly crashes. In December 2012, while he was lucky to escape the crash along the Lokoja – Ajaokuta road with a fracture, his Aide-de-Camp, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, was not. He died on the spot.

It is not as if accidents do not happen in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, Nigeria is ranked 191 out of 192 countries in the world with unsafe roads with 162 deaths per 100,000 from road traffic accidents. According to the World Health Organisation estimates, over 1.3 million people are killed annually in road accidents while over 50 million people sustain different degrees of injuries from such crashes. After malaria, road accident is the number two killer in Nigeria. The vexatious issue on the killing of Iyayi by Wada’s convoy is the grotesque display of might by motorcades of top government officials that claim scores of lives. It portrays the officials as totally lacking in proper sense of discipline required of responsive leaders.

 A recent research indicates that accidents involving convoys of public office holders and other VIPs had claimed over 26 lives in the past three years. The auto crashes, which occurred in different parts of the country, also maimed and injured many and destroyed property and vehicles. Convoy drivers drive recklessly at neck-breaking speed without caution or, perhaps, with encouragement from their principals. This culture is a direct legacy of the oppressive long spell military regime that terrorised Nigerians for over two decades. The use of convoys by the political elite, particularly government officials, is not new in Nigeria though it became rampant during the military era. However, it has grown out of proportion under the present democratic dispensation.

This is despite the fact that the categories of people authorised to use siren include the President, Vice-President, Senate President, Speakers, their deputies, state governors, service chiefs, the Inspector-General of Police, General Officers Commanding, Deputy Inspectors-General of Police, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, as well as Commissioners of Police. And because this flagrant abuse has continued unchallenged, others like First Ladies, traditional rulers, clergies, chief executives of corporate bodies and even rich private individuals are now toeing this line of ignoble act.

It is rather sad that the political elite in Nigeria have imbibed this oppressive tendency that does not have any regard for the citizenry. Our leaders seem not to be aware of the enormity of the poverty and pains that the common man passes through on a daily basis. What about the level of poverty, the high level of unemployment among the youths and the endemic insecurity in the land?  As far as some of our leaders are concerned, Nigerians can die like fowls! This is why many of our roads have been left in deplorable conditions. Their siren must be deafening to announce their arrival at parties!

It is laughable that the only way some of our leaders could show that they have “arrived” is to intimidate fellow citizens, ironically those who voted them into power, with the ridiculous blare of siren. How else would you differentiate the common man from the “big man” and this is the reason they would buy just two cars for almost halve a billion naira in a country where just  N10,000 could restore the hope of many? That is the reason many of them arrogantly loot the public treasury to continue to intimidate and oppress the citizenry. They are completely detached from the people they govern, the same people they are to be role models to. This is not right.

It has now become imperative for the political class and public office holders to begin to have a change of attitude. They must realise that the office they hold is in trust for the people they govern. The only way the public office holders will not incur the wrath of the people is only if they begin to have deep respect for the people. They must lead by example. Other public office holders can emulate the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who has shunned the use of siren and will never display bragging right of way with other road users. Despite being the governor of the state, he endures with other motorists in cases of traffic gridlocks. This is leadership by example. The reality is that the stature of the governor has not in any way diminished despite his indisposition to the use of siren. If anything, this singular attitude has earned him the respect of the people.

All levels of government must embark on the training and re-training of all convoy drivers on the act of safe and defensive driving. The request by the Federal Road Safety Corps to be part of governors’ convoys, spurned in the past, and should now be reconsidered, to pave the way for the corps marshals to check the excesses of the drivers. The protocol officers attached to the governor must also be up and doing. Public officials’ itineraries should be better arranged so that that there will be no need for speeding to beat time between functions.

On a final note, the killing of Iyayi is one avoidable death too many. The attendant road crashes occasioned by reckless driving and the fallout-deaths, injuries and destruction to properties (vehicles, goods etc) have, no doubt, come with enormous economic cost. In its most recent report, the FRSC disclosed that Nigeria lost three per cent of her GDP, which translates to 17 per cent of current national reserves, through road traffic crashes in 2009. The income loss from 2009 and road traffic crashes in Nigeria was more than GDP of over 20 individual African countries. No nation that is desirous of economic development and growth will handle with levity a situation where its vibrant work force and other citizens are wantonly wasted through otherwise avoidable occurrences.

-Punch