Deaths from giveaway stampedes: Why FG must take the blame, by Adekunle Adekoya
It could not have been a merry Christmas for the many families who lost loved ones. I sympathize with them and offer my condolences. All of those who died in the stampedes were looking for a way to make the season as merry as possible, but it was not to be. In total, 67 people died in three different locations across the country, including women and children.
About 35 people, mostly children, were killed in Ibadan in the week leading up to Christmas, and about 22 people perished the following Saturday in Okija, Anambra State, at a giveaway event organized by business magnate and philanthropist Dr Ernest Azudialu Obiejesi. Another ten individuals perished in Abuja, the national capital, at another giveaway event organized by a Catholic Church parish.
As is common here, the authorities have been quick to apportion blames, stating the organisers did not put effective crowd-control measures in place. As a result, planners of the Ibadan event, are today behind jail at a police station. Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat, a well-known broadcaster and operator of Agidigbo FM in Ibadan, is the former wife of the Ooni of Ife, Queen Naomi. It is unclear whether similar misfortunes have befallen Anambra and Abuja organisers, where people have died in stampedes.
As the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo famously said: “Problems are like plants. “They have roots.” What was the cause of the stampedes? A deeper examination beyond the surface reveals that, aside from our people’s chaotic behavior during such occasions, the primary cause is deep-rooted poverty. Most families are facing the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in more than five decades, dating back to the conclusion of the civil war. Between 2015 to 2023, Muhammadu Buhari’s administration effectively stalled the national economy.
Under the supervision of this quiet general, the country relapsed into the financial trap from which it had been rescued during the Obasanjo administration. In addition, insecurity skyrocketed as gangs of roving herdsmen militias roamed the country, driving farmers off their farms and creating massive food shortages, resulting in the remaining available food being sold at astronomical rates.
As a result, the nation was headed for starvation. Additionally, groups of kidnappers were operating without any restrictions; traveling from one location to another became a risky endeavor, and economic activity suffered yet another devastating blow for a nation that heavily relies on trade among its many states. Experience has shown that by May 2023, when Buhari departed office, a 50-kg bag of rice that had sold for less than N8,000 when he took over in 2015 was selling for around N50,000.
As if that weren’t awful enough, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu stated in his first speech as president that the gasoline subsidy will be eliminated. This caused the market to respond quite violently, with transportation costs skyrocketing and food prices, which were largely transported by road, exploding through the atmosphere and into space. A 50-kg bag of rice currently costs between N103,000 and N108,000. How many people in a nation where the minimum pay is N70,000 can afford that? And a staple is rice!
Is the president aware that in order to save money on transportation, many business leaders and university lecturers have started sleeping in their offices? Does the president also realize that a man with four children attending Lagos’ primary and secondary schools needs between N4,000 and N6,000 a day only to get the kids to school and back?
The president discussed the casualties from the stampedes in his first media appearance, which aired last Monday, and claimed that the organizers made a “severe error.”
“People’s lack of organization is terribly unfortunate. Our society simply needs to be more disciplined. Though it is good to donate, Tinubu expressed his condolences to those who lost members. Since we are well-organized and disciplined, I have been distributing food and other supplies, including envelopes, in Bourdillon for the past 25 years, and I have never seen this type of situation. Don’t try to donate or spread the word if you know you won’t have enough.
The president made a mistake here. Naturally, I don’t expect him to claim that his actions are to blame for the rising rates of poverty in the country, but he still has to be informed of this. It’s insulting to say that he has been doing giveaways for 25 years without any problems. To what extent is Bourdillon in Ikoyi, Lagos, accessible? That area of Lagos is really exclusive. The wealthiest citizens of Nigeria are members of VIIRA (Victoria Island & Ikoyi Residents Association), which is undoubtedly the most influential communal residents organization in the nation.
The Lagos State Government was forced to prohibit Okada and Danfo from operating within their precincts by the association many years ago. Otherwise, the Bourdillon freebies would devolve into carnage as crowds of people swarm the president’s home to get a piece of his giveaways! I urge the president to try a giveaway at Agege Stadium or another location in Lagos’ Alimosho neighborhood and see the outcomes. Let’s face it: the president and his administration ought to answer for the deaths of our unfortunate citizens during the giveaway stampedes. His actions are also to blame for the country’s growing poverty, thus I implore him and his administration to increase economic activity threefold in order to help the populace.
The main cause is ingrained poverty, aside from our people’s chaotic behavior during such occasions. The nation’s worst cost-of-living problem in over 50 years is affecting the majority of families.
