What has Sallah got to do with multimodal conflicts?
Allah commanded Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) to sacrifice his most beloved son, Ismail, and although he loved his son very much, his faith and devotion to God was so strong that he did not hesitate and started all preparations to do as instructed. Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his own son in obedience to Allah caused The […]
Allah commanded Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) to sacrifice his most beloved son, Ismail, and although he loved his son very much, his faith and devotion to God was so strong that he did not hesitate and started all preparations to do as instructed. Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his own son in obedience to Allah caused The Lord to spare the son’s life, and a lamb miraculously appeared in his place.
As commanded, Muslims celebrate this day by giving out meat, food and even money to the poor in honour of the sacrifice associated with it, after the Eid prayers and sermons conducted in large open Eid grounds or mosques. Visits to friends and relations are also common on this and subsequent days. For those of us in the Emirates of Northern Nigeria we also go out to watch the Durbars of our various emirs.
Beyond these public display of charity, gaiety, pomp and pageantry lies a subtle, underlying current; Eid-al-Adha is a celebration of the spirit of sacrifice and through this sacrifice, our obligation and submission to Allah, the Almighty. By sacrificing what we value most we get close to The Creator. We also rise above the mundane and give to others, creating a bond of peace and solidarity, attaining not just spiritual peace and purity but also a link with our fellow beings.
One thing that continuously strikes me on Eid days, and on all public holidays, is our total disregard for modal conflicts and the selfishness of road users. While we all troop to the streets we easily forget the spirit of giving symbolized by this day. We use the streets as if we are the only ones that matter. Selfishness we all understand. But what are modal conflicts? Cars and buses are all modes of transport. So are bicycles, motorcycles and tri-cycles (Keke NAPEPs). So also is the human foot. We should also not forget push-carts, donkeys, camels and horses in some areas. They are all modes of transporting ourselves and our goods from place to place. When some or all of these use the road at the same time, multimodal conflicts arise.
Due to heavy vehicular, human and even animal traffic associated with the Sallah days, as with other public holidays, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Police and other road traffic authorities usually bombard us with public announcements on safe driving and security vigilance on Sallah, Xmas and such days, which is all well and good. The truth however is more complex because ensuring greater safety in road usage requires more than the occasional radio, television or newspaper announcements on safe driving, or the vigilance of drivers.
As we drive, cycle, ride or walk along today let us look not just at the volume but at the number of different road users all of whom I am sure would have preferred a different design of our streets and roads. The design of our roads and the architecture of our streets generally favour only the motorists. Those using mass transit find the bus stops insufficient and generally not convenient. The cyclists find themselves pushed off the road or harassed in one way or another. Those on foot find crossing the road very dangerous. If you happen to be riding a horse then you are on your own. Bad, inadequate and poorly designed as our roads are they still seem to have been built only with the motorist in mind. If you happen to be a child going to school or on an errand then you are really in trouble on our streets. When it rains only the motorist arrives clean or dry.
While it is important to be generous and considerate to all road users, the blame is not entirely on the motorists. Reducing speed, obeying road signs, and looking out for other road users crossing the street is undoubtedly important. However it is time that our policy makers, urban planners and architects start giving serious thoughts to pedestrians, cyclists and transit users in a more comprehensive manner. We should focus on increasing access, safety, comfort and convenience of all road users especially women and children through better street-design, law enforcement and public road-use education.
The goal should be to make it as easy as possible for all who live or work in our cities to use our roads safely and arrive in one piece. We could start with wider roads, protected pedestrian walk-ways and bicycle lanes would be a good start. Stiffer laws and stricter punishment for reckless driving could be another, as well as lowering and enforcing speed limits for built-up areas. People should be able to leave their cars at home and use public transport, bike or walk easily, safely and conveniently.
Making our towns and cities more liveable and navigable will not be easy. Abuja, for example has done some work that can be built upon, with its’ extensive pedestrian walk-ways, zebra-crossings and a few road signs though these are all generally ignored. Most drivers assume that 100/km per hour is the minimum speed limit even in the Central Area,
In the spirit of Sallah let us start being more generous to other road users, reengineer our streets and increase law enforcement to ensure fairness and eliminate traffic fatalities. Our leaders and town planning professionals should also start producing concrete policies and designs on this issue so central to the quality of life in our communities.
Happy Sallah Pastor Stanley
To all regular readers, but especially to Pastor Stanley of Living Faith Church, Jaji, I say Happy Sallah. Some weeks back, while driving to Kano I lost control and drove off the road in Jaji, ending up inside his church premises, after knocking down a large section of his wall. All praise goes to Allah, but I still extend my thanks to the pastor who broke the ice after I emerged from the car, by saying simply, “I hope you are not injured”. All the others who gathered were not too sure whether or not I crashed into the church deliberately. Thanks to the Almighty also that it was not on a Sunday.