Ilorin stampede: Avoidable, unacceptable deaths

the culmi-nation of the Hajj (or pilg-rimage to the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia), and the historic sacrifice that God (Allah) commanded to Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) of his beloved son, Ismail. The great lesson of the Eid was the Mercy of Allah on Ibrahim by replacing his son Ismail at the moment of sacrifice […]

the culmi-nation of the Hajj (or pilg-rimage to the holy city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia), and the historic sacrifice that God (Allah) commanded to Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh) of his beloved son, Ismail.
The great lesson of the Eid was the Mercy of Allah on Ibrahim by replacing his son Ismail at the moment of sacrifice with a lamb. God’s mercy was for Ibrahim’s selfless act of obedience. More than ever before, Nigerians of all persuasions must seek the mercy of God. More so elected and appointed leaders who in spite of mercy of Allah to them are increasingly merciless to their people as they look the other way, betray minimum emotions, while their people suffer avoidable deaths.  Like Prophet Ibrahim, we must strive to pass the test of obedience to God. Nigerian leaders should through good governance stop the daily sacrifices of their people either on the roads, in the air (given the recent serial air mishaps) or now in their homes ostensibly while giving them the Sallah gifts.
It is sad that while Almighty Allah showered His generous mercy on human kind by replacing human lives with domestic animals such as a lamb, sheep, cow, or goat, some so-called Nigerian leaders “sacrifice” their fellow followers in the name of giving charity at Sallah. When “accidents” become addictive as they are in Ilorin, they become rituals and incidents that must be condemned, investigated and stopped once and for all.
The reported deaths of as many as 20 poor and the aged, mostly women in another stampede at a Sallah rally at the house of Senator  Bukola Saraki of Kwara State in Ilorin on Wednesday were massacres getting too addictive, inhuman and unacceptable. This latest tragedy and human wastages should not be swept under the official carpet of the ruling party in the state.  On the contrary the Organizers of these periodic murders in the name of charity must be identified and prosecuted for negligence and murder by Kwara state government falling which the private citizens reserve the right to private prosecution.
It would be recalled that similar mass deaths occurred in 2010 and 2011 at the Mandate office of the PDP in Ilorin under the pretext of an alleged stampede while people were ostensibly collecting gifts at Sallah.
The latest report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations disclosed that a total of 842 million people in 2011–13, (one in eight people in the world!) were estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger, regularly not getting enough food to conduct an active life. This means that deprivations are global after all. Truly we are all leaving in an unjust world; very few die of obesity because of too much to eat while many die because of starvation because they have nothing to eat. However even at that, there is no known place where the poor, the hungry are annually assembled to die like rams and goats on account of their deprivations for “gifts” during Sallah.
I feel more saddened because, having being at home  in Ilorin for Sallah, I bear witness that such a succesful Sallah celebration needed not be marred with avoidable tragedy a day after. The Emir of Ilorin, HRH Alhaji Dr Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, CFR, who is also the Chairman of Kwara State Council of Traditional Rulers led thousands of faithful at the Ilorin township prayer ground to mark the peaceful Sallah celebration.  The Chief Imam of Ilorin, Bashir Mohammed, OON, led by the prayer with a sermon that underscored the transience nature of life and power. In his speech, the Emir commended  the people of Ilorin and the state in general for being  peace loving in a wider environment of conflicts and chaos. It is therefore an embarrassment that a day after, deaths were being reported in an atmosphere of generalised festivity.
It is bad news enough that the state government governs over so many poor in the state without visible road map out of poverty to prosperity either through industrialization and public works that can create decent mass jobs and incomes for the poor. The poor do not need “charity” and “gifts” paid with public funds. What the people need is work and income generating employment initiated by governments at all levels. The Federal government and many state governments appreciate as much. If Kwara State government has however elected to transform its citizens into destitute hunting and gathering for a Senator’s gifts of clothes and handouts, at Sallah, it is still clearly unacceptable, uncharitable and criminal that “charity” bazaar ends in periodic emergency graves and mass burials in Ilorin. Who assembled who to where without regard to safety? Whose money and materials were being shared? How many have died since 2010? What is the gender composition of the dead? Genuine politicians, community and religious leaders must rise to demand for accountability from those who claim to lead us but organise periodic chaos that lead to mass deaths as we witnessed last Wednesday in Ilorin. The Nigeria Human Rights Commission must investigate the Ilorin serial mass murders.  
Many Nigerians undoub-tedly share the sadness of Ilorin deaths. However this singular tragedy cannot be treated as business as usual of lip service empathy.  The statement of Senator Bukola Saraki according to which the latest victims are “party faithful” rationalises another tragedy. These victims are not just party faithful but mothers, fathers, workers and citizens like us all who should be adding value to national development and not murdered at a stampede.
All Nigerians must be concer-ned about avoidable death of one Nigerian. Deaths of scores of Nigerians must even be more worrisome; a violence to as many as 20 in the name of charity is violence to us all.