TAKING RESPONSIBILITY: OGA! ARE YOU THE GOVERNMENT?

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Mr Egodi is a bus driver. He works from very early in the mornings, as early as 4am to meet up with early morning ‘rushers’ that is, workers and other business persons who leave their homes in the wee hours of the morning  everyday by public transport. Mr Egodi has a family of four, his wife and three young children, a girl who is just seven years old, boy 8 and the eldest boy 10. These children attend a public school just a few miles from the home and the trio walk to and fro the school every day.

Their mother Mrs Egodi sells roasted corn and sometimes plantains during the day by the roadside. She has a gutter right in front of where she does her business and oftentimes, throws the peels of the plantain and corn right inside the gutter and of course overtime, the gutter has gone from stagnant to a heaped refuse bin thus preventing any further flow of water. When she is cautioned by anyone to refrain from dumping refuse in there, her responses include “na you be government, is it your father’s house or what is your business”?

On the other hand, Mr Egodi buys a bottle of cold beverage drink during the day which most times is very hot hence the need for that drink. He gulps the content of the cold bottle and immediately, instead of leaving the empty bottles in the bus till he gets to a proper refuse bin, he would rather throw the bottles on the street which many times would eventually roll or get kicked into the nearest gutters by idle street mischief-makers. Again when a passenger scolds him for dumping the bottles on the street, his responses not anyway different from his wife’s will also include “oga or madam patriotic, what is your business, abeg when you get to your home or  office you can talk to your children or workers like that, this is my bus or are you government?”

One day while everyone was still at work and children on their way from school, it rained nonstop and heavily too, and of course the roads and many houses were flooded and since many of the gutters were already blocked with refuse from the likes of the Egodis, many people could not find their way home so easily including the children of Mr and Mrs Egodi. And while the children tried to wade their way home through the waters, given the current of the flow of water, the daughter was suddenly picked up by the flood even as the helpless siblings screamed for help as they couldn’t get hold of her given the heavy downpour. 

Luckily, it took the intervention of a man who was also at the scene to rescue the little girl whom by the time she was eventually pulled out from a spot was bleeding profusely from a big scar on her head very close to the right eye; it was obvious she had smashed her head against a huge and sharp object whilst the torrent of waters swept her away.  Sadly she lost that eye at the end of the day. Till this day, Mr and Mrs Egodi blame the government for the fate of their daughter.

Now some of the questions for the likes of the Egodis include “is it the government that filled the gutters with refuse or that makes the rains fall? And this brings me to my topic “Taking responsibility of our Environment".

A few days ago, it rained heavily in Lagos and some other parts of Nigeria leaving people stranded at home for as much as two days whilst many others lost so much properties even as a couple of lives were lost.

The thing here is, the rains will always come and when they do, one can never predict how much damages they would leave behind so why do we as citizens keep engaging in the wrong things when it comes to protecting ourselves from having to encounter the wreckages of an aftermath of heavy downpour every year?

Reports have it after what happened in the Lekki axis that apart from blocked drainages by refuse, many people built houses over drainage systems, who does that?

It is so insane the way we behave in this part of the world. The blame over such houses built should be on the town planners who either ‘okayed’ such plans or didn’t do their work by ensuring that such houses shouldn’t be positioned there in the first place. It is such scenarios that make some ignorant people quickly blame the government; after all it is the government who appointed those supervisors in the first place, right? What about you, the neighbour or citizen who turns a blind eye to such habits with the attitude of “it’s none of my business” and unfortunately, it becomes “your business” when the entire environment, including yours suffers the consequences of what was initially termed “none of your business”.

  

Now who and what is the government?

The government is made up of people from amongst us, right? hence if we as citizens can eat gala, biscuits, corn and throw the waste in the gutters, then what do you expect from our representatives in government? Of course they would turn a blind eye to such buildings and even do less or nothing when it comes to disciplining anyone seen dumping refuse in the gutters.

But then who cares? Nobody!

Instead everyone is busy looking for anyway to get their bread ‘buttered’ so nobody is held responsible for anything until the day of reckoning when all those involved or not involved in these irresponsible acts and habits are affected in one way or the other. Then once again, the government is blamed and the circle continues.

The truth is, we are first of all our own government before anything else. Let us speak against any damaging environmental act around us and caution anyone involved as in doing so we protect not just our environment but ourselves as well.

So when next you are asked “is it your business or na you be government? Be quick to reply “yes, it’s my business” or “yes, I am the government” without batting an eyelid.

Next time, we'll talk about the business of recycling, reuse and more!

(c) STELLA ENE-INYANG