Sitting here in limbo

The nation is still in Thanksgiving mood-recognizing this as the time for thanking God for really big mercies and for the change only He, who is able to force His Will, could have brought about. For this battered nation change will only be worthwhile if it is presaged by a return to the rule of […]

The nation is still in Thanksgiving mood-recognizing this as the time for thanking God for really big mercies and for the change only He, who is able to force His Will, could have brought about. For this battered nation change will only be worthwhile if it is presaged by a return to the rule of law in all we do, a sincere, permanent change of attitude in our conduct-official, social, professional, and an expected rendezvous with good governance at the end of it all.
 Whatever its contents, the change that should come and be welcome is one that is comprehensive, encompassing both big things and the small things in life, with people’s welfare squarely at its centre. But while we await the momentous changes being planned to achieve all this, we must not forget the small, apparently unimportant everyday things that matter to the people and are the direct result of leadership insensitivity and incompetence. One of the most irritating of these is the misuse of siren by the emergency services, but, more especially, by the train of His Excellency.
 It is a common enough sight on highways; and, for some in urban areas a frequent enough occurrence on city streets-that long, speedy, serpentine convoy of sometimes up to 20 or more Jeeps with outriders, armed escorts with flailing whips, ambulances and all, going at top speed to the full blare of siren-the wail, the yelp and the air horn-and wildly flashing blue and red lights. It can really look and sound and get ever so frightening that you can be forgiven if you imagine that the end is really nigh. But, no, the world is not coming to an end: it is His Excellency passing like the shooting star that he is. And give way, ye little Lilliputians, and woe betide any geezer who cannot quickly get out of the way.
 They create confusion and various kinds of mayhem on the road. Clearly, for instance, a traffic jam is not the result of natural causes: it is caused by a number of factors each of which is the result of corruption. It can be caused by any of these: some people drive unserviceable vehicles that are not roadworthy, which consequently breakdown; others over speed and get involved in fatal accidents-and both of these create obstacles all along the way; yet others create an artificial fuel scarcity in this oil producing nation and the queues begin to form; some erect illegal, money-extorting checkpoints on highways and city streets creating gridlocks; others cut corners trying to beat the traffic rules and the corners cut back; still others, in total disregard for the safety, comfort and the emergency in which other road users are, drive at officially-sanctioned but nevertheless illegal break-neck speeds, and engage in in death-defying manoeuvres with lights flashing and siren blaring, meandering left, right or even off the road, expecting everybody to stop for them right inside the mess that their incompetence has created.
 A traffic jam that chokes and obstructs safe and efficient movement of vehicles and people is most often caused by failure of the authorities to provide adequate and good road space, in part because there are more cars than there is sufficient road space in urban areas to hold them; or they may be caused by the failure or refusal to take into account, plan and provide for and effectively manage city intersection geometry; or by the failure to enforce the highway code, arrest, try and punish traffic offenders; or by the other obstacles created by a lack of sound construction site management, accidents, broken-down vehicles or other uncleared obstruction in the path of traffic flow. But in the end, it is the same thing that causes it in every case. In other words, corruption is the sole reason why there is traffic jam in this country: the gridlock is a result of the greed lock clamped over this nation.
 And siren is the corruption of the mind-of the leader. This ostentatious, illegal and discriminate misuse of the siren by all manner of leadership in this society is a sign of megalomania, symptomatic of the uncreative bigmanism of the typical African tin god that finds its confirmation and validation only in the suffering of its own people, especially when this comes as a result of the stately display of its own power.
 But ground for bigness and success in governance which are the issues that should concern His Excellency don’t lie in the decibels of blaring sirens; they lie in the decimals of glaring indices of economic performance-what has happened to inflation under His Excellency’s watch, what is happening to unemployment right now, what is happening to primary and secondary school education and whatever happened to the debt that was incurred? And what is happening to crime as we speak? The blare of a siren even at its fullest blast will do nothing to improve any of the above situations.
 And it really amounts to a double jeopardy, which doubly punishes the people. They have to suffer the inconvenience of a traffic jam and they are forced to watch as others, in a transparent failure of leadership by example, violate the traffic code as they themselves sit motionless in the gridlock. In the end, it must be clear to everyone that breaking the law doesn’t require any special expertise; all it needs is a criminal and rotten mind. And there is nothing spectacular or anything in the sense of accomplishment in driving at reckless speed-all it needs is pressure on the throttle; and any fool with toes can apply that. Thus, all it takes to do what the typical ‘His Excellency’ revels in is the possession of a toe and a rotten mind, which it is just so sad.
 The idea behind the use of a siren is to be able to get help to the point where it is urgently needed-fire engines thundering to reach site of the inferno, police car chases or on their way to crime scenes, paramedics to the scene of accidents or other emergencies; or, in Nigeria’s peculiar case, to get His Excellency to the place he wants to go. The reality is that in Nigeria siren has been overused by the wrong persons; it disturbs our peace; it has caused accidents and deaths and it has probably not really saved anyone.
 At any event, authorised use of siren for emergency situations entitle the user to exceed the speed limit when this becomes absolutely necessary, and ignore the red lights of the traffic when this is safe to do; but this power may be invoked only when a  patient’s or victim’s welfare is at stake or under imminent threat. And even then it must be exercised with due regard and full consideration for other road users. Just because a driver on emergency has immunity doesn’t mean other road users know this, or will pay attention to that fact or can give way to oncoming traffic in time.
 In cases of accidents, nothing should relieve the driver of an ambulance, a fire engine, a police car or a governor’s vehicle of responsibility to drive with due regard for other road users; and nothing should excuse him of the consequences of his recklessness. And, somehow, in the circumstance, the law should find a way of apportioning some measure of vicarious culpability to His Excellency for encouraging reckless driving and for abetting reckless endangerment.
 Our leaders have become laughing stock to an amused world, pretending bigness even as they shield themselves from the consequences of their self-created mess, as they go about dispersing a traffic jam, protected as they are by security personnel who appear unwilling, unable to learn civility-and are in all likelihood untrainable. Their conduct may be mildly tolerable under a military regime but siren for clearing traffic for leaders-from the president to the head of any parastatal that chooses to buy and install the siren-must remain unacceptable under a democratic dispensation.
 In future all emergency drivers should be adequately trained, properly supervised and closely regulated. It is the prayer of everyone that the incoming government will outlaw the use of siren by all non-emergency drivers and limit His Excellency to the use of siren for state occasions as it was in the past. The siren is not to frighten or scatter other road users or to demonstrate the bigness of His Excellency; it is to warn and get them and all non-emergency traffic out of the way without getting anyone hurt. And certainly, no one-except perhaps visiting foreign state dignitaries-should have the use of siren to clear traffic for them.
 It may be Day of Thanksgiving today, but if the insensitivity, lawlessness and taking people for granted inherent in siren misuse continue, tomorrow may turn out to be the Day of Stoning; because, ultimately, people will respond to this permanent dare, and pick up the un-thrown gauntlet-and react violently, right there on the streets. Sitting here in limbo; waiting for the tide to roll.

 (Editor’s note: this article was first published on April 17, 2015.)