By: Ikechukwu Augustine Obah
I feel devastated seeing the gory videos and pictures of the Umunya Junction (Enugu/Onitsha Expressway) accident scene, which happened on Friday, September 15, 2023. If not for the insensitivity and non-valuability of human lives by the government, that accident would have been avoidable. We wouldn’t have been writing “Rest in Peace” up and down in the media space for people who left their respective families in search of daily bread.
Also, earlier this week, it was reported that a 100-level Nnamdi Azikiwe University student was killed by an unknown gunman at Ifite-Awka. Imagine the psychological impact such a death would pose on the deceased family members just because their child went to school to further her studies.
Unfortunately, the state government has yet to issue a public statement and take responsibility for these two critical issues.
I know the state government media aides might come out with a defence that the aforementioned road is a federal government road, but let me remind them that it is Ndi Anambra that plies that route, and thus, it behoves the state government to provide palliative interventions on that failed portion.
This indifferent attitude of the state government has made me start questioning myself.
Does it mean human lives are no longer sacred?
Will heaven crack if the state government, through the Anambra Road Maintenance Agency (ARMA), embarks on periodic maintenance of our roads?
Indeed, the state government is predicted to rise to occasions like this, show empathy and ingenuity to serve the populace, and most importantly, stop playing to the gallery and face governance.
It is now public knowledge that the current state government is lackadaisical in securing the lives and properties of Ndi Anambra. Every Onye Anambra devoid of sentiments and political affiliations is aware of the insincerity of the government in this regard.
(Mgboejiejeogu)
16 September 2023.