I drove past two or
three okada riders throwing punches at the driver of a van this afternoon on
Ishaga road. A bike was leaning against
the right side of the white van so I inferred that there must have been a
coming together enough to provoke the rider and his colleagues (who had stopped
to help their friend) to exchange blows with the driver and force his door open
to pull him out. Using my Naija sense,
the riders appeared to be of Northern extraction.
Not long after the
above stated incident, I witnessed another scene on Bode-Thomas Street but this
time there was no fisticuffs. A bike rider and probably a passenger had been
propelled from the okada after a collision with a car. I assumed that in this, the bike rider most
likely was at fault unlike the above case. This rider had features characteristic
of a northerner.
Fast forward to just
about one hour ago but this time, it was on Ikorodu road. The driver of one of
the big, red, former BRT buses was being assaulted by a gang of aggrieved
passengers it appeared. As I drove past
the scene which had caused a mild traffic jam, I saw a young man probably in
his early 20s adjusting his body to launch the large stone in his right hand
through the window to strike the driver. I doubt if any of the combatants in
this scene were Northerners. It isn't uncommon to see this nature of combat on
our streets pitting commuter(s) against bus driver and/or conductor.
I'm not certain it
is accurate to conclude that we Nigerians are violent people. One thing that's certain however is that we
have a lot of violent people as citizens in our land. Two men almost came to blows yesterday evening
in the next compound to mine; there was a lot of shouting despite the pleas for
calm by some ladies present there. One
thing I observed though was that one of the men kept asking the second man who
had been contracted to do a job in the compound if he knew who he was and what
he was capable of. Those questions were
not answered eventually.
Why are some of us
violent and how do we manage this? Is it by discussing or by empowering the
criminal and justice system to prevent and punish perpetrators where
applicable? Are we beyond the remedy that dialogue can provide or should we go
in two footed, studs showing at any trouble maker. I don't know really but what
I know is that we should stop excusing wrong behavior irrespective of the
prevailing conditions and claims of justification. Law enforcement should be
appropriately sponsored so that there can be quick responses to shut down the
kinds of conflicts I witnessed today to prevent death and loss of property.
We as a people need to
tell ourselves to calm down, there's nothing that is irritating or provoking
you that is unique to you and more than what everyone else is confronted with.
No tribe or religion should be stigmatized as violent. We should be advocates of justice and not
just undercover bigots motivated by selfishness and hatred towards those we
have learnt to hate.
By the way, where
did all the buses under Ojuelegba Bridge disappear to? Ambode o!!!! How many
times did I call you?
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