How UNILAG girl died.....THE NATION
Uju Anekwe, sister of the 300-level Accounting
student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) who
was electrocuted last Tuesday, relived at the
weekend the last moments of her sister, Oluchi.
They were together during the incident in Akoka, the
university campus. Uju is a 200-level student of
Medicine in the university.
Their father, Basil, recalled how he received the
tragic news.
Uju, who was injured in the incident, came down
from the family’s apartment with her friend. She
walked gently, limping on her left leg. She had
bruises below her nose and on her right arm.
She said: “It had been long that I visited her on
Akoka campus, since I moved to the College of
Medicine in Idi-Araba. That Tuesday, I visited her
and she told me to meet her at the University
Chapel, because she was attending a Catholic
mass. I saw her bag full of books. She was
supposed to write ICAN exam next week.
“We left the chapel to New Hall to buy popcorn.
When we got there, the vendor was reparing the
popcorn machine. We told him we would come
back. We stopped nearby the popcorn vendor to buy
3-in-1 bracelets. Then, I told her to let us wait for
the popcorn but she said she was going back to
church for Catholic students’ meeting. It was a few
minutes past 7pm.
“We came out of New Hall gate and standing on the
road. I told her we should go to her room but she
was adamant, saying I should give her one of the
bracelets that we bought a moment earlier. As I
was about opening my bag, I heard a loud bang and
we were thrown apart. All I could remember at that
moment was that I was shouting and screaming for
help.
“I noticed electric sparks of white blue light. It all
happened within microseconds. I initially lost
consciousness. When I regained my consciousness,
I saw people running away from us. I tried to stand
up but I could not, because I was still feeling
electrical shock in my body. As I turned, I saw my
sister (Oluchi) with the electric cable around her
leg.
“I don’t know where I got the energy; I got up and
screamed for help. Nobody came to our rescue.
One man came later and single-handedly pulled
Oluchi away from the cable. Others came and
stopped a taxi and rushed her to the Medical Centre
within the campus. I joined another taxi.
“When we got there, we didn’t receive immediate
attention until 30 minutes after. She could have
stayed alive a little longer if the doctor had
attended to her. The doctor did not even show
sympathy and care. They only offered to give me a
drip but they left my sister unconscious.
“As a medical student, I knew my sister needed
urgent attention, but the people in the clinic
seemed helpless. I told them I would not allow
them to give me the drip until they attended to my
sister. Later, one of the nurses brought two tablets
of Panadol. We stayed for some time before they
brought an ambulance to take my sister to LUTH.”
Uju blamed the school for not providing facilities at
the clinic, saying: “The Medical Centre does not
even have a toilet roll. What does the school provide
for the Medical Centre to cope with emergency?”
Anekwe, a senior employee at the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said: “Oluchi’s life
could have been saved. When they brought out her
body, I checked it and I discovered that the only
stiff part was Oluchi’s left arm where the electric
cable struck her. Every other part was moving
freely. And this shows she was left to die because
the nurses and doctors, who attended to her, did
not know what to do when she was rushed to
school clinic and LUTH.”
On how she learnt about the incident, Anekwe said:
“I got a call from my first son, telling me Oluchi was
seriously sick. I did not believe him, because Oluchi
and her sister came home at the weekend. We all
went to church together and she was lively. She
returned to school on Sunday and I promised to
send N30,000 to her for upkeep.
“On Tuesday evening, I withdrew the money from
ATM, with hope that I would ask somebody to
deliver the money to her on Wednesday before I left
for work. I got the call from Chinedu, who asked me
to come back home, that Oluchi had been admitted.
When I got home, Chinedu took me in his car and
headed for LUTH.
“As we entered the LUTH gate, he did not take me
to hospital but he drove to mortuary area, where I
saw Nkem and my wife’s sisters. I asked what they
were doing there, but none of them replied. It was
then I knew tragedy had hit my household. The
N30,000 I wanted to send to Oluchi was paid at the
mortuary. While this was happening, my wife did not
know what was going on…”
Anekwe criticised UNILAG for not equipping its
health centre with good facilities and competent
medical personnel. He said the late Oluchi was not
attended to for more than 20 minutes after she was
rushed to the clinic.
He said: “I was told the doctors were asking for
Oluchi’s medical card before she could be attended
to. As doctors, are they not to save lives first? If
they had attended to my daughter and told me the
medical bill is N2 million, I would look for the
money and pay it, because her life is more
important than money.
“But, they did not attend to her. No effort was
made to revive her and no medical test was
conducted on Oluchi before she died. When they
wanted to transfer the body to the mortuary, a
doctor wrote on a plain sheet and gave Nkem to
take the body to the LUTH morgue. Nkem rejected
it because the note contained a statement that
indicated that Oluchi was brought in dead. This was
to cover their inaction that led to the death of my
daughter.”
Although the family accused the UNILAG
management of carelessness, Anekwe said there
would not be any legal action against the school
and Eko Electric Distribution Company (EKEDC) –
owners of the cable that fell on the girls. He
wondered why the university did not remove the
cable after weeks of complaints by students living
in the New Hall hostel. He said it was wrong for the
school to allow EKEDC to run cables not meant for
the hostels across the campus.
Anekwe said: “We will not take any legal action
against the school and the power company that
owns the cable. I don’t want any compensation
from them. If UNILAG management approaches me
for compensation, I will ask them to give me my
daughter or go to hell with their money. I don’t want
their money; I want my daughter.
“It would be wrong if UNILAG usually pays
compensation for such carelessness. As a parent, I
will never accept any offer, whether money or
material, from the people who watched my daughter
to die. If they are thinking of compensation, let
UNILAG use the money to equip its clinic and hire
competent medical personnel. The people presently
in their clinic are killers.”
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Infant Twins Share Heartbreaking Cancer Diagnosis
After nine months in the womb together, a set of 3-
month-old twin girls, Kenedi and Kendal, are now
sharing something else -- the same heartbreaking
cancer diagnosis.
"It's devastating having one child diagnosed with
cancer, but having two, it's just a lot more work," the
girls' mom Abby Breyfogle told ABC News today.
"There can be awful side effects of chemo -- we
worry about that of course, but in the grand scheme
of things we try to take it day by day."
"We're trying to enjoy all the time we can with
them," she said.
Breyfogle, of Pierre, South Dakota, said two months
after giving birth to Kenedi and Kendal, the mom of
three noticed strange spots appearing on the both
the girls' skin.
"We thought were bug bites but they weren’t,"
Breyfogle said. "Towards the of July they [nurses]
said to wait it out another week to see if they had
gone away and hadn’t."
"We went to the dermatologist and had a biopsy
there," she added. "That Thursday they called me
and said that the biopsy was malignant."
On Aug. 17, following a bone marrow biopsy,
Breyfogle received confirmation that her twins both
had acute myeloid leukemia .
"Everybody kept saying 'I don’t think so. It can't be
that,'" she said. "Having two, of course it's sad, but
we just immediately went to the next step because
we need to fight this. The doctor said it's very rare."
On Aug. 19, Kenedi and Kendal were admitted into
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Two days later, the girls received their first rounds of
chemotherapy.
"This one is very rare and to have both identical
twins have it at the same time, at least at the Mayo
Clinic, in our group we have never seen it," said Dr.
Shakila Khan, division chair of pediatric hematology-
oncology at the clinic. "Beginning of August, they
had a very unusual presentation with the lesions. It's
called leukemia cutis and that means leukemia in the
skin. We do see it occasionally in children."
"We confirmed it and started them on therapy," she
added. "They are doing OK and we are hoping that
they continue to do well."
Despite a long road of treatments ahead of them,
Breyfogle said she is confident that her daughters
will remain strong throughout.
"Kenedi is our little one. She was only 3 pounds, 2
ounces when she was born, but she is as tough as
tough can be," she said. "She's very chilled and
relaxed and Kendal is the opposite. We call her
'grumpy pants' because she has a grumpy look,
which really puts a smile on your face. They are
complete opposites."
"Considering everything that’s going on, of course
there are days where they are fussy, but overall they
are great babies," Breyfogle added. "I can't
complain."
month-old twin girls, Kenedi and Kendal, are now
sharing something else -- the same heartbreaking
cancer diagnosis.
"It's devastating having one child diagnosed with
cancer, but having two, it's just a lot more work," the
girls' mom Abby Breyfogle told ABC News today.
"There can be awful side effects of chemo -- we
worry about that of course, but in the grand scheme
of things we try to take it day by day."
"We're trying to enjoy all the time we can with
them," she said.
Breyfogle, of Pierre, South Dakota, said two months
after giving birth to Kenedi and Kendal, the mom of
three noticed strange spots appearing on the both
the girls' skin.
"We thought were bug bites but they weren’t,"
Breyfogle said. "Towards the of July they [nurses]
said to wait it out another week to see if they had
gone away and hadn’t."
"We went to the dermatologist and had a biopsy
there," she added. "That Thursday they called me
and said that the biopsy was malignant."
On Aug. 17, following a bone marrow biopsy,
Breyfogle received confirmation that her twins both
had acute myeloid leukemia .
"Everybody kept saying 'I don’t think so. It can't be
that,'" she said. "Having two, of course it's sad, but
we just immediately went to the next step because
we need to fight this. The doctor said it's very rare."
On Aug. 19, Kenedi and Kendal were admitted into
the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Two days later, the girls received their first rounds of
chemotherapy.
"This one is very rare and to have both identical
twins have it at the same time, at least at the Mayo
Clinic, in our group we have never seen it," said Dr.
Shakila Khan, division chair of pediatric hematology-
oncology at the clinic. "Beginning of August, they
had a very unusual presentation with the lesions. It's
called leukemia cutis and that means leukemia in the
skin. We do see it occasionally in children."
"We confirmed it and started them on therapy," she
added. "They are doing OK and we are hoping that
they continue to do well."
Despite a long road of treatments ahead of them,
Breyfogle said she is confident that her daughters
will remain strong throughout.
"Kenedi is our little one. She was only 3 pounds, 2
ounces when she was born, but she is as tough as
tough can be," she said. "She's very chilled and
relaxed and Kendal is the opposite. We call her
'grumpy pants' because she has a grumpy look,
which really puts a smile on your face. They are
complete opposites."
"Considering everything that’s going on, of course
there are days where they are fussy, but overall they
are great babies," Breyfogle added. "I can't
complain."
A shocking death and the will of God
A Shocking Death and the Will of God
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
A shocking death and the will of God
A Shocking Death and the Will of God
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
A shocking death and the will of God
A Shocking Death and the Will of God
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Simon Kolawole
How do you respond to the electrocution of a
promising university undergraduate, a first-class
material at that? You can say "it is God's will" — as it
is our custom in Nigeria — or you can say that once
again, another light has been dimmed in clearly
avoidable circumstances. Oluchi Anekwe, a 300-level
accounting student of the University of Lagos, was
killed on Tuesday when a naked wire fell on her from
an electric pole. Since there was no natural disaster
such as a storm, you get the sense that the deadly
cable had been hanging dangerously for a while. It
was somebody's responsibility, I guess, to maintain
those cables. The "somebody" failed in his duty and
there are no consequences. Life goes on. We await
the next electrocution, the next "God's will".
So, how many people have died needlessly in Nigeria?
If someone illegally goes on an electric pole to tamper
with the installation and gets electrocuted, we can say
there was a trespass and a self-affliction. It is still not
acceptable for any Nigerian to die carelessly —
whether or not it is self-afflicted — but official
negligence makes it all the more painful and we
should, ordinarily, be full of regrets. Only God knows
how many people have died from electrocution in
Nigeria for reasons that are considered to be God's
will. The rain falls and a weak electric pole comes
down on innocent road users or passers-by and send
them to their early graves. It is "God's will". It is the
will of God that people should be careless about their
jobs and go away scot-free, right?
Could it be God's will that people should do the right
and sensible thing? To start with, cables are hardly
laid over the ground these days. They are laid below
the surface — like sewage and water pipes. It not only
solves an aesthetic problem, it addresses a health and
safety issue. I am shocked anytime I see newly
developed areas in Nigeria still laying surface cables
on rickety poles. Let us admit that the electric cables
have been over the ground for decades and we can do
nothing about that for now — but could it be God's will
that electricity officials who get paid to oversee the
electric infrastructure should be diligent in enforcing
and maintaining safety so that naked cables stop
killing innocent Nigerians? How many people have to
die before enough is enough?
Did you hear about the container that fell off a trailer
and killed a family of three in Lagos recently? It was
the will of God, I was told, because if God had not
willed it, there was no way the accident could have
happened. You know the line: were it not for God's
will, the container would have missed them by a few
inches or they wouldn't have been on the road at that
time. It was their destiny. Do you know how many
containers regularly fall off trailers and crush people to
death in Nigeria? Do you know that the last one is not
going to be the last one? Do you know that there are
rare cases of such accidents in some other countries
— countries where the name of God is used as a curse
word or as a joke? Why should God decide to be killing
his children in Nigeria with containers all the time?
I am wondering if it is God's will that safety standards
should be enforced on our roads by those who rule
over us. I am wondering if it is God's will that officials
who certified a vehicle roadworthy should be called to
account for their negligence after accidents. I am
wondering if broken down vehicles should be left in the
middle of the road at night. I am wondering if it is
God's will that our streetlights should work so that
people will stop dying in avoidable accidents at night. I
am wondering if it God's will that our roads should be
littered with potholes that serve as death traps,
sending sorrows to homes on a daily basis. I am
wondering if it God's will that hospitals are ill-equipped
and people die daily from treatable ailments.
Some years ago, a friend's younger brother fell ill at
midnight. He managed to get a neighbour's car to take
the brother to the hospital. He got to the gate of the
estate and found it firmly locked. The security guard
said they were under instruction not to open the gate
until 6am. All pleadings fell on deaf ears. By the time
somebody came to his senses and ordered the gate
opened, it was too late. My friend's sibling had died
right in the vehicle — according to "God's will". If God
did not want the brother to die, the conventional
wisdom declares, the brother would not have fallen ill
at night when the gates were locked. In fact, the
brother would not have fallen ill at all. My friend was
traumatised for years and eventually relocated from
Nigeria, unable to overcome the devastation.
In godless countries, it is God's will that there should
be emergency services. It is God's will that you dial a
number at anytime of the day and the ambulance and
paramedics show up. It is God's will that life-
threatening cases are treated without any pre-
condition of making cash deposits. But in our godly
country, it is God's will, we are tutored, for bullet-
wound victims to bleed to death. It is God's will that
accident victims are abandoned to die because there
is nobody to guarantee payment of hospital bills. It is
God's will that our hospitals should be in a deplorable
state, and the people who embezzled the funds and
mismanaged the commonwealth are able to fly abroad
for the best medical treatment, while the people are
dying from typhoid and malaria.
An older friend of mine is diabetic. He had managed
his condition very well for years, for at least 10 years,
until one fateful day in 2011. His wife was having her
birthday. He decided to surprise her by taking a gift to
her at her shop somewhere in Mushin, Lagos. As he
parked his car and made to walk up to the shopping
complex with the surprise package in his hand, his leg
got stuck between the failing concrete slabs on the
gutter. A few weeks later, he had to have his right leg
amputated from below the knee. He subsequently lost
his job — as there is no protection for disabled people
in Nigeria — and spent a fortune rehabilitating himself,
setting himself up in business and buying a prosthetic
leg. I am even not calculating the emotional cost to
his life.
I was made to understand that it was "God's will" for
my friend to experience what he did. Some will even
go to the extent that maybe he had committed a sin
and God wanted to punish him. Maybe he had done
some evil to some people and it was Karma time. And
I was thinking: but could it also be God's will that the
local government should have maintained the gutters?
Could it be God's will that the same council that sends
thugs to harass traders and motorists to extort all
kinds of taxes and levies from them should also care a
bit about the safety of citizens? Could it be God's will
that part of the millions of naira going into the coffers
of councils should be spent on building a decent
concrete slab on a gutter? Could it be God's will for
the government to take responsibility for its failings?
I understand God's will in a simpler way: that is, I have
done all that is humanly possible but still could not
help the situation. I then surrender to the higher
authority. If the electricity officials had properly
maintained the cables and there was a storm that
caused Anekwe to be electrocuted, I will say: what
more could human beings have done? If the officials
responsible for maintenance are investigated and
charged to court for negligence and manslaughter, I
will say we are making every effort to enforce health
and safety rules in Nigeria. But from all I can see, the
tears in the eyes of the grief-stricken parents will still
be fresh when another "God's will" brings another
loosely hanging cable down to kill another innocent
Nigerian. You call that God's will? Really?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)