its so painful

Igala Juju at work.!

cramjones:
It was with a heavy heart that I heard about the death of Minister Ocholi and family. It is indeed a tragic news to his immediate family, the Federal Executive Council, the APC-led government, and most especially, the people of Nigeria who lost a first class asset. He would surely be missed.

Beyond Minister Ocholi's death, what many Nigerians did not know was that on the same day more than 100 other people died as a result of car crashes in Nigeria. Using the World Health Organization's recent data, Nigeria has one of the worst road traffic safety record, ranking 149th out of 184 countries studied by the World Health Organization. Why is this so? And what can we do to reduce these fatalities? We can certainly do a lot more to improve safety on our roads. While acknowledging that we all need to play our parts by wearing seat belts, driving within speed limits, obeying traffic signs etc. I would want to point out the most expedient commonsense things the Nigerian government must do to keep all of us safe and reduce this abysmal record.

1. Simple - Fix the roads! It seems to me from the narration about James Ocholi's case, there was a tire burst which led the SUV to somersault. There are many "death traps" on our roads. We have been relegated to being called "expert drivers" only if we develop techniques to dodge pot holes at high speed! I drove from Jos to Abuja recently and saw a Vetra sedan car who had just passed our SUV slip into a pot hole swerved off the road and caught fire. All passengers in the car, numbering about four were tragically burnt to ashes. It was one of the most horrific sights I have seen. It is no fluke that countries in the Western Hemisphere averages 6 per 100,000 fatalities and we stand at about 618 per 100,000 fatalities attributable to road crashes. To digress a bit, maternal mortality in Nigeria is same number as road fatalities, that is about 600 deaths per 100,000 live births, however, that is story for another day. If our government constantly fail to fix our highways, expand them and enforce traffic rules on its usage, the numbers would only go up, as population increases.

2. Paramedics/Road side emergency response: An image that tells the whole story, was the horrific image of Minister Ocholi's body covered with leaves. Most times during accidents like this all you see is a crowd gathered, with their hands on their heads muttering things like "Jesus!" "Chineke!" "This life!", others get busy with fanning the victims of the accidents. Some even get themselves entangled with the accident victims getting stained with their blood and carrying them carelessly sometimes even inadvertently severing a fractured C4 or C5 spine and killing the victim. My point is, we don't even have a clue of what first aid it. One would have thought that with the Boko Haram insurgency, the government would have created a program to deal with bomb and road fatalities. None of that exists. There is just nothing. According to the American Society for Orthopedic and Trauma Surgeons, over 50% of road traffic accident victims can survive if they get medical attention between 7 - 10 minutes. Are FRCS trained in advanced trauma and life support? Do their vehicles have facilities for emergency transfusions, minor surgical procedures on sight etc? This must change. And if the Buhari government and the Minister of Health seeks to gain any mileage in the CHANGE agenda, Minister Ocholi's death should at least spur some form of political will to change the status quo.

3. Hospitals: It was said that the Minister's wife who was in critical condition, and was rushed to the near by hospital, called Doka Hospital. As someone described the hospital to me, "that hospital is a S***t hole, it is worse than a refuse bin". We are good in building new buildings, but bad with building systems. The state of our health care is so dysfunctional, that even if you go to a hospital the broken system either do not even have any capacity whatsoever to help, some who have very little capacity, drive their patients away in the name of referrals. A survey done just last year by USAID on 15 Nigerian teaching hospitals, showed that none had defibrillators in their casualty departments. We must again reexamine how we ought to build a working health care system. Granted, some can afford to fly to Germany, and would careless about our hospitals, however, Minister Ocholi's wife death reminds us that in medicine, some things cannot wait. It needs urgent, emergent care. A 6 hour air ambulance flight to Germany cannot save at that point.

I wish the Ocholi family the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss, and I hope the Government of President Mohammadu Buhari will learn a thing or two from this traggic event.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

-CramJones

In addition our political convoys so to say, are too fond of reckless driving and overspeeding
They drive as if they have spare lives kept somewhere.
Ocholis death is very sad and painful but all road users must know that there are speed limits to abide by whenever they are on the road
This unfortunate tragedy was as a result of overspeeding

This government also not getting it right.

tomholly:
HMMMMMMMM

you are right!

Since it's happening to both the common men and the men on top, no problem, since they said it's only the poor dat will die using the bad roads, they too will experience it, we are all going to die, but the government only wish we die untimely.... Seriously I felt for him and his family.


RIP.

Interesting! Nothing new in all you have said. Decades back when Lagos / Ibadan Expressway was constructed those things were meant to be available but not provided and we kept quiet. So long as we will not express our disapproval of misgovernance in strongest terms via judgmental prayers, voting pattern e.t.c. would we remain with these challenges. I can hear some silly politician of a thief telling one of their ilk - "why didn't Ocholi travel by air nah?". Sad!

one funny thing is that in Nigeria the more the roads gets better,the more accident should be expected cause most don't have speed limit.
The road was quite okay in case of the minister its was over speeding simply because the road was good but there were excessive bends on that route.
I sometimes pray for bad roads or traffic congestion when I discover the bus I boarded has a bad driver to slow him down entirely and if any accident should occur it'll be minimal cause of no impact.

Cluesless post! the only solution is to avoid over speeding,anything more than 100km per hour is dangerious

Killed by the lackadaisical attitude of our government

I thought the crash was as a result of a deflated tyre.

Pavore9:
The write-up captures my thought.

may their souls rest in perfect peace

Intendy:
one funny thing is that in Nigeria the more the roads gets better,the more accident should be expected cause most don't have speed limit.
The road was quite okay in case of the minister its was over speeding simply because the road was good but there were excessive bends on that route.
I sometimes pray for bad roads or traffic congestion when I discover the bus I boarded has a bad driver to slow him down entirely and if any accident should occur it'll be minimal cause of no impact.

You are right. I doubt if 20% of the drivers on Nigeria roads know that the maximum speed limit on even interstate roads is 100 km/h. People do that speed limit even within the city.

good points raised by the OP but he should know that Kaduna-Abuja road is one of the best in Nigeria. It is regularly maintained. Its a dual carriageway. infact ask those who ply that road over spending and reckless driving that kills people on that road.

Oga cram jones I still remember all the insult you and your likes throw on gej. Your Demi god [buhari] we never still know where to locate him. Aso rock is vacant.

RIP.
You must learn the rules of driven before taking risk on high way. Like the OP said if truly their was a " tire burst" then i think the driver applied the breaks. You don't do!! Am talking out of experience because i have been involved in two accident that could have cost my life if it wasn't for the expertise of our driver. For example when we had a tire burst in the center of the high way we slowly slowly came to a halt. Never did we apply the breaks. On another journey our driver after changing a bad tire forgot to tighten the screws properly then the worst happened while on top speed the tire rolled out of the the car, with the women shouting Jesus!! Jesus!! The driver never applied the breaks. we slowly came to a halt without any body getting seriously hurt. lesson from this is to always screen ur driver's properly before employing them and never apply break when you have a tire burst or a rolled out tire.

first n foremost bad roads dont kill, bad driving kills.
in a bad road like what we saw in the pix of the minister's accident, the road is bad, not tarred so the most a sane driver will go is 40 to 60 km per hr so how does this kill? if there is a tyre burst like what happened the driver can control the vehicle till it halt but when in a bad road the driver is at 120 km per hr n dis happens u can never salvage d situation unless God is by ur side.
bad road dont kill but it will delay ur journey, fact.
we do see accidents happen at good, well tarred roads, so how do we call dis? good road kills abi?
I saw an accident dis jan in uyo along uyo-itu road, the driver drove the car n climbed the demarcation pavement, anybody that knows that road will attest to it that it is a good road so why d accident?
the accident that happened dis yr along benin ore road where the truck capsized n people died happened at a good portion of the road, so do we now blamed the good road for killing people?
3 things cause accident, bad driving, overspeeding n negligence to maintenance of ur vehicle. bad road dont kill, it will only delay ur arrival time, good road dont kill either if u dont wanna show ur james bond skills.

The number of potholes on KAD-ABJ expressway triples the number of ministers PMB has in his cabinets. Fix the roads and reduce unnecessary casualties! We beg...

oglalasioux:
Nigeria's religious system says God dictates everything including the day and way a man dies. The government is following that belief religiously so it's useless to fix the roads since God will still kill when He wants.

That's the general idea among religious Africans all over the world. That's why we are at the dregs of development.

Sorry, God is not a killer! It's the devil that kills through the wickedness of Men.

I think a good lesson to learn here is to pay attention to our cars, especially tires and to drive at a controlled speed. While we wait and push the government to fix the road and provide other services. There are things only we can do for ourselves.

There are already enough dangers on our road than for us to add more complication. Obeying simple car safety rules is also critical so that if an accident happens, we would have at least reduced the chance of death as much as we can.

I learn this from a Road Safety officer. The higher your speed, the higher the chance of death. 110km/h is the most reasonable to maintain. When travelling I always maintain a 110km/h speed no matter how smooth and clear the road is. I leave nothing to chance.

Also, using a belt is a must! As much as possible, avoid situations where you or anyone have to not use the seat belt.

Lastly, patience and self-restrain is key.

may God bless you, and may He allow them to do it.

Well said.
Well written stuff.
Was actually thinking u will start politicizing your write up,but you burst my bubble onlike your friend barcanista. You did well bro.

mrking3:
Spot On! Everything about this country is messed up! That's how I watched my dad died at LASUTH 2yrs ago! You can't believe that as at 2014, the Emergency ward at Lasuth had just One Ambulance to evacuate patients outside the Hospital for surgeries and other emergency treatment. So for one to use the Ambulance, you must have booked down earlier like 3 or 4 days time! So pathetic. The Behind Hiace Ambulance you see on high way are only used for Road victims and not for patients at the Hospital ward. Right inside the emergency room the doctor attached to my Dad was busy eating Gala and coke! After few minutes, he pronounced my Dear Dad Dead!! I nearly strangled him to death if not for the timely intervention of his colleagues that came to his rescue! God help us!

those guys can be heartless forming death is nothing to them. sorry

Nigeria Road is in a bad shape!! Drive safely!

oglalasioux:
Nigeria's religious system says God dictates everything including the day and way a man dies. The government is following that belief religiously so it's useless to fix the roads since God will still kill when He wants.

That's the general idea among religious Africans all over the world. That's why we are at the dregs of development.

God has said:
1. What a man sows shall he reap - Gal. 6:7

If we do not fix the roads, we will reap the myriad injuries that shall accrue from such neglect.
He has ordered us to subdue the earth, if we fail to, the earth will subdue us.

2. God has said 'he that rules over men must be just and rule in the fear of God'..-2 Sam. 23:3.

If this is obeyed, there will be no looting and diversion of funds for road construction into the bank of utopia.

Consequently, there will be no road accidents.

Even in your family, if you fail to provide for your wife and children, you're referred to as an infidel and have denied the faith no matter your Christian devotion cum profession- Paul.

My man, our God is too noble to be associated with such a vain and carefree assumption.

Your failure to know God is the reason for your calamities and woes rather...

Whoever follows God does good, lives good, is honest and is a blessing

I just wish we had the 'Greys Anatomy' emergency standard,things will have bin beta!The leaders we have are not worth calling leaders since the can comfortably embezzle funds meant for all these projects and wen the go dwn wit headache,they fly out to get treatment!My dear people,is only God that can save us!I am a victim of negligence,i am living wit it and I don't knw wen it will b ova!

This is so sad May there soul rest in peace.

As an occupational health and safety specialist I always tell people that safety is the everyone's responsibility but that of employer and employee..An unsafe act from employer or employee can lead to injuries, illness, damage to properties and fatality just as in the case of the late Minister.

From the incidence report I read I learnt the driver was on a high speed and slammed on the brakes after receiving a radio message from the security car behind the minister’s main vehicle alerting him to a low pressure on one of the back tires. The driver’s panicked reaction precipitated an accident as the security vehicle then rammed into the minister’s vehicle, which somersaulted several times, instantly killing Mr. Ocholi and his first son. Mrs. Ocholi was subsequently pronounced dead after she was taken to a hospital.

From the above report you will notice that the cause of the accident are the unsafe act of speeding both from driver and security car, the minister failing to warn his driver to stop speeding and human error on the side of the driver who probably didn't check the tyres before hitting the road and also who out of panick had lapse in memory of how to react in a safe manner to in case of low pressure in tyres.

Safety should be applicable everywhere I bet if the driver was safety conscious there wouldn't have been a fatality.

Until Nigeria takes Health safety and environment which also covers emergency planning and response seriously we will continue to record high rate of fatalities.

Remember every Accident is preventable. Your safety and the safety of others begins with you. If you say safety is expensive then try accident.

NooooO! The problem is that; the depreciation of the naira has in turn, propelled boiz to double their hustle, leading to regular inter-state traveling which on the other hand has led to congestion of our highways without regards for the slogan "SAFETY FIRST"......VIO, ROADSAFETY and who again sef? What are you all doing on our highways? Is th FG wasting her finances on you? Let us know now!!! Let see if we can set up another complimentary body....se! That's what we are good at!!! I NEED CLARIFICATION ON THE FUNCTION OF VIO AND ROADSAFETY OFFICERS, because from my observation, there seem not to be any difference in their operational tasks... Though, the former are a little bit tout like in carrying out their duties. In my own opinion, I'll suggest that; VIO be scrapped and more POWER be given to the FRSC to function effectively.

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There is nothing to learn. Life has no value in Nigeria. It is all about the money. Get billions today and die for N1000 negligence tomorrow. Every mo.ron in that shithole thinks he/she is wise. I couldn't care less.
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banio:
The FERMA responsible for fixing that road should be investigated, and somebody should be jailed for embezzling the funds. That's if funds were allocated.

Should we be allowed to speak bad of the death, I would have said this: even the Ocholi of a man was he not part of the government people complain about?
If only our politicians know this, that a man who throws a stone to the market, thinking he is safe and impossible of being hit with that same stone he has thrown , may unfortunately hit one of his own at the end of the day.
We have heard of cases, where the government will abandon a project for donkey years, thereby making it an easy road to the heaven or hell for the innocent citizens, but in the long run, the government would have one of her own in one of the constant tragic situations the uncompleted project causes. No sooner their own is hit than you will see government hurriedly working on the project which will eventually be completed within a week. What an ironical situation.
Moral lesson:When you know what is good to do, do it. This is not only referring to the government,it is as well referring to all and sundry in general.
It will be well with us in Nigeria. Amen