Normally we feel that no matter how the government turns out, that we will be alright. But that's all lies, I just read of a woman whom after loosing two children to the building collapse in Lagos, committed suicide. According to reports, she gave birth to the two kids via the caesarian section, and after bearing all the pain of birthing and raising them, she just didn't think she could bear sitting up everyday and thinking of what she could have done better to ensure she enjoyed the joys of motherhood.

But then, if not for corruption, the woman would have been preparing her kids for school this morning, telling them how they needed to go to school, to grow up and be the leaders of tomorrow. That would have been the case, if the demolition mark that was left on that building, designating it as unfit, for human habitation, was not erased. And some hands greased.

To understand the last statement better, one needs to know that a resident of that neighbourhood had told reporters, that sometime ago the Lagos state government had marked the building as unfit, after it failed the integrity test, the occupants of the building were given quit notice, and made to pack out.
However, after a year, the owner of the building returned, erased the mark, repainted the building, and then rented it out, to occupants, among them, the school. And this was only possible, after a number of people in the board were bribed to turn away their eye, and feign ignorance. And these are the people, paid from the taxing of the people, to ensure that no one inhabited in such death traps. But then, after being bribed away, the building was now designated safe, safe enough for a school, with months old babies, and children, that do not know the first thing about safety, survival or self preservation, these were the ones that were moved into the trap, to sacrifice on the alter of corruption.

We may feel, that Lagos Island is a long way from wherever we are, so will feel relaxed in our comfort zone, and sing "bad energy stay far away".. But i bet you, some parents of those unfortunate kids felt that way, when the same corruption raised its heads and dozens of innocent lives were lost in our own Akwa Ibom state, when a church, that was structurally deemed unfit, was designated fit, because of the connections of the people putting up the building, and back then, a number of promising God loving Akwa Ibomites, lost their lives on the very cold alter of corruption, and to this date, no one has been made to pay for the criminal negligence that led to so much gruesome bloodletting on that day.

We are Nigerians, and we experience these things everyday, millions have died from accidents caused by people diverting the money meant for the making of quality roads, only to make death traps, and then blame witches and wizards from dropping drums of blood on the roads. A lot of hospitals are not just underfunded, but the drugs meant for the pharmacy have been diverted to private pharmacies, while millions of patience die, because money meant to fund the hospitals to be up to standard, to cater for their needs have been diverted to building of posh mansions in vilages, and the poor go back home and die in pain, because the drugs that were subsidized to be within their reach, have been diverted to the private pharmacies of the doctors and pharmacist working the hospital.
And when we suffer personal casualties from the workings of these, we cry blue murder, and blame the governors and presidents for it, as if Ambode would have been able to run the affairs of the state and still move from house to house to ensure that they all meet the integrity test, or as if the President was to move from infrastructure to infrastructure to ensure they are 100/100.

But we fail to blame ourselves, when we fail to question or do anything, when see a building previously marked for demolition, now used in housing a 100plus students, we tend to keep quiet, when a road that had paid for is left undone, while the contractor buys a brand new range rover and invites us to drink and merry with him for Gods blessings in his life. And we celebrate the civil servants living way above their pay grade, and we even aspire to get there and also eat our own chunk of the national cake and clean our mouths, and we even go as far as advocating for people of questionable character to get in, so that they will open the public coffers for us to loot,or give us shady contracts from which we can keep 40%, give them back 50% and use just 10% of the funds for the final projects.
And we will have the effrontery to go thanksgiving in churches to thank God for picking our call, not minding the fact that after he picked our call we disconnected the network cables making it sure that those whom God planed to pick their call, via picking ours, will forever have their phones on emergency and no service.

Until we realise, how dangerous corruption is, and take it upon ourselves, to be the ones to fight and root it out from around us, we will continue to read heartwrenching stories of people loosing themselves, while mourning the irreplaceable loss of loved ones, to disaster that are caused by our looking the other way and feigning "e no concern me".
As it stands almost everyone is corrupt, so lets begin this battle by fighting ourselves to bring back our conscience, because if we all could hearken to that silent voice telling us to do, the good things that would better enhance life and humanity, then we will go a long way in rooting out corruption.
#warAgainstCorruptionBeginsWithMe
#BringingOurConscienceback

Benesis© March 2019

Lagos island building before and after

Lastorator:
Lagos island building before and after

Hello lastorator,