Boma Winifred
Today marks the 6th day that an undisclosed number of persons have been trapped under the rubble of a collapsed 7-storey building. In those six days, little efforts have been made by the government to ensure that citizens trapped under those concrete walls are rescued on time and well.
Equipment and human expertise were not sought. It was treated like it doesn’t matter. Only months ago, the governor was in Benue to commiserate with victims of herdsmen attack. That was necessary though because it put him on the national political spotlight. He also doled out 200 million to the state government which would later cause problems in the state. Rescuers working on the collapsed 7-storey structure in Port Harcourt have been relying on handouts to sustain their strength.
The governor was away when the incident happened, somewhere in France scouting for investors. At least, so we were told. The initial response was for the pictures and nothing more. Rescuers were mobilized to site with no adequate equipment to handle such level of disaster. Most things done were manually executed by volunteers who elected to help. The governor returned and ordered the arrest of those involved and drove mightily to the safety of Brick House.
But before ordering the arrest of those involved and putting fears in their minds, the governor should have sought expert opinion, mobilized disaster management experts from any corner of the world that they might be and ensure that lives are saved first. That did not happen. That is if the lives of those struggling to survive mattered. Next thing, he had begun receiving visitors who came to commiserate with the state on the collapse of a building that the state is not doing all that is required to salvage.
Members of the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria were in the city for their conference. Even a presidential aspirant and the convener of Bring Back Our Girls was among the keynote speakers. She probably did not hear that people have been left to die by the government they elected to save them. She did not call for those people under that rubbles to be brought back to life. Others include owners of broadcasting houses. They sat, chatted, blew hot lies and left.
Human life in Nigeria is valueless, especially when you are poor. Poverty is the worst crime in Nigeria. Every other thing comes second. The only reason why swift actions have not been expended in ensuring that the trapped victims are rescued is perhaps that they are poor. If a governor, minister or a foreign national happened to be under those concrete walls, things would have been a lot more serious.
The case of the twelve Thai football team that was trapped in a cave for days got international attention. The country was almost on a standstill until the boys and their coach were rescued. It garnered international attention as all media houses, including those owned by BON executives that sat there in Port Harcourt lying to themselves beamed their searchlight on the rescue effort while countries sent in experts to Thailand to ensure the boys were rescued.
But the same media house owners were in the city, lounged in expensive hotels within the centre of the disaster, drank expensive champagnes, spoke, laughed and left.
Has Wike asked for help? No! Does he even care? I don’t think so. If he cared and needed help, those who could have helped were there, in his domain.
The governor actually sacked the managers of the state-owned media houses for not attending the BON event. He said he was embarrassed by their attitude and acts of ineptitude. But having realized that he is running for another term in office, he quickly did a U-turn and reinstated the sacked MDs.
In the case of the MDs, no lives were lost but a building collapse that has so far killed over six persons, the governor has not sacked anyone. He is not in any way embarrassed by the numbers that have died. The commissioner in charge only elected to step down to allow a comprehensive investigation into the matter and when it is ascertained that he has no hand in approving the extension of the initially slated 5-storey building to a 7-storey by officials of his ministry in September this year, he might also retain his job. No outrage of any form, no nothing. No body is protesting, asking the government to do more. People are still there, trapped, dead, smelling.
Having found out that persons within the commission approved an illegal structure, the governor has not sacked anyone. They are all in their offices hoping that the matter gets swept under the carpet as usual. The building plan has not been brought to help rescuers know what they are doing. Only labourers working at the site have been giving directives on what to do. What a pity.
The manner with which the state government is handling the building collapse is not new. Governor Wike has shown that he has no will to serve a huge state like Rivers. Over time, he has been caught napping while things are rotting away.
Take the Orashi flood disaster for instance where flood ravaged the whole area and the governor failed to visit them to show compassion. The people protested. The governor accused them of being sponsored by the APC. But won’t he visit there to campaign for re-election?
Not even when the Vice-President visited did he feel compelled to. Up till date, he has not visited the Orashi region to commiserate with those flood victims. However, election campaigns are near and the governor is going to Ahoada to flag off a hospital building.
The candidate of the APC in the upcoming gubernatorial election visited the scene with his crowd. It was more political than humanitarian. His campaign team made a video of his visit to score cheap political points. They have not sat – the political bigwigs in the state, some of whom are owners of construction companies – to help and salvage the situation. What a pity!
Port Harcourt has been turned into a garbage city. The governor has also shown that he can’t reign in on his appointees to serve the state with the best of their ability. They are sleeping while the state is on autopilot with no consequences.
The agency responsible for keeping the city neat is on a 500 million per month budget but the city is in hands of dirt, confused and smelling. Okada riders are back in town, operating in the heart of the very Government Reservation Areas, a.k.a GRA. Tricycle operators are kings of the roads. The only people who regulate them are the police who are there to extort money from them. The Agberos and park boys are landlords on the roads. Even the police are afraid of them. Who gave such powers, I don’t know. Every other person is busy with politicking while the state is governing itself. What a pity!
