A nation where business unusual is usual business (II)

The damage done to people and iconic places in Naija by fire has never been quantified on any scale. Our history is replete with iconic places burning. We had Cocoa House, the pride of western Naija going up in flames. In the past five years, fire has gutted institutions such as the Central Bank of […]

The damage done to people and iconic places in Naija by fire has never been quantified on any scale. Our history is replete with iconic places burning. We had Cocoa House, the pride of western Naija going up in flames. In the past five years, fire has gutted institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria and INEC office to among many public buildings. The Wizard of Ota and Ebora of Owu has been a victim of fire at his Abeokuta home. In the past, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe lost a wife and son to a domestic fire incident.
Last year alone, there were more than three fire incidents in the commercial city of Kano alone. This year, there was one at the Rimi Market and at the Sabon Gari Market. If you ask any trader in these markets what they have done differently, they are bound to tell you that they have prayed more, because asara ikon Allah ne, Allah might be punishing them for their sins.
There are no fire-fighting or evacuation policy or drill in any government building or institution. It is not the Kanawa alone that have suffered from ‘mysterious fires’. Abuja’s Kurudu suffered strange fire in August. February 2015, a man lost five kids to fire in Kakuri, Kaduna State. Apparently, he was a chuwa-chuwa or black market fuel operator and kept petrol in his house. I am sure he was never charged for murder or manslaughter because usually when such things happen; they are ikon Allah or God’s will.
Three months ago, a fire gutted the University of Lagos Lodge, killing Abbah Kyari, and the former Borno State Auditor-General. It was the second fire after a fire at Madam Tinubu hall in October 2014. I bet my writing allowance that neither Unilag nor other public institutions have evacuation plans in place. No student who went though any tertiary institution in the past 20 years knows what a fire drill is. Matriculating students spend days queuing in front of absent lecturer’s offices, waiting for the teachers to sign papers that could be done online. This right of passage or displaying wares in the open market as randy lecturers size them up for abuse. Public buildings that have fire extinguishers have not had them serviced as prescribed by law. I bet there is always budgetary allocation for these things.
October last year, the famous Onitsha Electronics Market was burnt down, two years after the Ose Okwuodu Foodstuff Market suffered the same fate. In January, a month when everyone tries to maximize gains or save money, the Yola South Main Market in Adamawa state was engulfed in flames.
Human life is not important to most of us. If I lie, please Google how the Road Safety transport the dead and the wounded to the morgue or hospital. You will never see Canadian cows being transported like that to the slaughter slab. When an angry man beat his dog and dropped it off to die here, he was fished out and jailed. Well, compare that with the mad women who daily lacerate the skins of their teenage house help for stealing a morsel of meat.
In most parts of the world, when you buy a home, you must buy a homeowner’s fire protection and insurance plan. No financial institution would finance a mortgage without these.
Hailers would quickly argue that a raging fire has been ravaging Fort McMurray in my neck of the woods. They are right. Bush fires are culture here, most of them natural – that is, ignited by lightening. Canada has the Office of the Fire Marshal and Disaster Management, OFMEM. Fire offices here are one of the most funded. Information about fires and evacuation plans are as natural as the fires themselves. I must note that South African fire fighters are in Fort McMurray, helping with this year’s wildfire. A Naija firefighter would be like fish doped out of water if he finds himself here. That’s not because he is intellectually incapacitated, but technically so. It is an open secret that when it comes to sectorial neglect Naija fire fighters and fire stations suffer a worse fate than other public sector agencies.
In Canada, fire incidences have been on the decline as the population grows – the result of prioritization, sectorial allocation and monitoring as well as crisis control and management. One thing Sai Baba could do for our country is bring back functionality. Let there be a general review of policies where they exist, make it work. He has travelled so much in his first year that when his earache heals, he should do the same internally and give us a review of what he intends to do differently by this time next year. First, there should be compulsory fire drills in Aso Rock, then all government offices. Then it should trickle down to schools, mosques, churches, public and private buildings. Set a four-year plan for all public buildings to have effective and working fire systems and equip fire stations. Make drills a part of life, and then train and license civil lifesavers.
We would take on road safety at a later time.
…concluded.