TOOLBOX TALK

That thousands of Nigerians are routinely killed on roads and highways each year is no longer shocking news to anyone in the country. Collisions occur by the minute that keeping pace with the count is a tough job. In fact one source has it that a Nigerian is killed on the road every 15 minutes, which works out to be four people per hour, 96 per day and 35,040 men, women and children in a 365-day year! If Nigeria suffered that many casualties in a shooting war with another country in just one year we’ll all be up in arms protesting the country’s involvement in such a life wasting misadventure. We would have been unanimous in calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and most likely the resignation of the leader at the time. But here we are, living with an inescapable reality of a steady decimation of what must be the most productive segment of the population – a clear and present danger to the country’s economic growth and wellbeing – and yet no one is marching on Aso Roc...

Accidents don’t just happen they are caused – by us! They happen because of what we do and/or fail to do. But in Nigeria, where we have a penchant for the absurd, you’re most likely to hear that they happen because God willed it. After all religion is our thing! I believe in God but blaming Him so, to me, is taking things too far. It is as illogical as it is misplaced. Therefore, I submit I see no point in blaming anyone else but ourselves for the regular loss of life and property around the country. Mind you, some government officials do not help matters whenever they make light of these horrific events by simply laying them on God’s doorstep, whereas the public would in all likelihood feel a lot more reassured if they, agents of government, would step up and be more forthcoming on ways and means to stop the next one due from occurring. God’s ways may be mysterious but how he can so regularly will such massive deaths and destruction on his people should beat anyone’s religious im...