The patient dog

I love dogs. In fact, I am crazy about dogs. This craze dates back to my days as a teenager. As I grew up, the craze doubled and tripled when I enlisted into the Federal Road Safety Commission. As an American would say, I went bananas, acquiring all sorts; rott, dover man, alsatian, German shepherd. […]

I love dogs. In fact, I am crazy about dogs. This craze dates back to my days as a teenager. As I grew up, the craze doubled and tripled when I enlisted into the Federal Road Safety Commission. As an American would say, I went bananas, acquiring all sorts; rott, dover man, alsatian, German shepherd. My only check was my take-home. At a point, I had six breeds, all bought with gbese – debt. I had become a regular dog lover, so much so that once I spot a lovely breed, I pick it for the asking from my favourite dog dealer in Abuja named Doggy. The costs for these dogs were hidden in so much secrecy especially from my late mother and my wife. Both women would have dragged me for spiritual cleansing. My wife would have been the worse. She hates dogs, but loves the puppies for the money they bring-very typical Delta-Ibo that she is. My boys however, are my pride-taking after me as they have caught the dog bug.

Today, I am excited over the economic meltdown as my addiction has just disappeared without any Pastor straining to deliver me from the spirit of dogs. I am now contended with just three lovely dogs; Ziddane, Shakira and Rocky. But if you think I am crazy, ask Sony Irabo. Like every dog lover, I have had my sad moments. On two occasions I lost Rambo and Master. Their deaths broke my heart. Ask my wife and she would tell you how much these dogs meant to me and my household. Each time you ask her to name members of the family; the list was never complete without our dogs’ names after our sons’.

Well, today’s piece is not about dogs although it provides the thrust as it reminds me of an advert I stumbled on way back in my University days. I think that advert was displayed somewhere around Allen/Opebi during the glittering days of the emergence of this highbrow area. It read,’ the patient dog eats no bone’’ in contrast to the cliche that,’ a patient dog eats the fattest bone.

I can’t recollect the agency that came up with the advert. I can’t even fathom the product or even the client. All I can remember is that it was a beautiful concept that for me ranks alongside the one on Gulder max beer-‘’a man was here’’ and the one on Johnny Walker, ‘keep walking’’. Now I have dogs and I know that when they are hungry or thirsty, patience is not one virtue they display. When my dogs sight me after work, patience disappears from their dictionary as they wag their tails to show love and to welcome me home. Such gestures, however disappear when they see you as a threat. So, to describe dogs as patient was for me confusing, although it was appropriate in preaching about patience.

Therefore, for any creative mind to stand this saying on its head as far back as the 1980s was indeed prophetic as today that advert vividly captures our driving habits which is devoid of respect for one another while patience, a necessary virtue in redressing road crash, is rarely imbibed.

This explains our penchant for flouting traffic rules at will. The result is the death trend caused by road crashes. Now take the example of the half year report for 2012 made available by the Federal Road Safety Corps which indicates that between January-June, a total of2717 crashes occurred killing 1936 people compared to the 2011 report of 2218deaths in 2235 road crashes. The report for September to December 2012 and for the same period in 2011 shows a crash trend that should be of concern to all despite the achievement of 43percent reduction in road crashes and 45percent reduction in fatalities. A critical look at these figures will show that more males die through road crashes than females.  This should sound a note of warning to bread winners and their dependants even though reverse is the case. To every concerned motorist, this also calls for great concern and caution.

In the words of an observer, we are the only beings that have left everything to the will of God while the rest of the world are busy finding solutions to safety issues. We plead the blood, blame the devil, blame government and its agencies while our responsibilities as citizens who directly bear the brunt of road crashes is played down. At a recent forum on road safety, this buck-passing syndrome came to the fore when a female lawyer got up and told participants how she rode on a bike with a plastic bucket as crash helmet. Her motive was to use the occasion to tongue- lash the Federal Road Safety Commission for a bad job in the ongoing enforcement of crash helmet without realizing that she had a responsibility to say no to the okada rider by insisting that the appropriate crash helmet be given for her safety.

In response, the speaker who incidentally is also a Lawyer, expressed shock at the learned colleague’s comments, saying that such I don’t care attitude should be shunned as it could lead down you seven feet.