Wages of irresponsibility, by Muyiwa Adetiba

Traffic jams along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway are not new. They are in fact, almost ritualistic. It is as if some gods want to exert some toll on commuters from time to time and we are yet to come to terms with ways of appeasing them without donating blood. The traffic gridlock around the notorious Kara bridge reared its head again recently through a trailer accident as it almost always does, and spread like cancer as it almost always does. This ensuing traffic coursed through the organs and arteries of the Lagos mainland spreading to the Third Mainland bridge. It didn’t stop there.

The entire Lagos/Ibadan Expressway was locked down. It didn’t stop there. Neighboring Ogun State also had its share. People spent eight, ten hours in the traffic. People spent the night. Among them would be nursing mothers. Among them would be the sick and infirm – even some who started the journey healthy might have developed avoidable complications. Among them would be people who were not going to their final destinations. Among them would be people who were low on fuel and whose heart would be palpitating as they stood the risk of being stranded in the middle of nowhere at 3am. Everyone of those involved would have a story to tell especially those whose ten-hour ‘captivity’ resulted in some permanent damages – doctors warn of the risk of pulmonary diseases when people sit for too long. 

The secondary cause of the traffic jam would be conveniently put down to the repair of the damaged expansion joints along the Kara bridge which had in days preceding the accident, turned the place to a notorious strait of Hormuz where only the daring or desperate pass. But that would be half the story.  Some analysts have also said the solution is in having an alternative route. They argue that Nigeria has ‘outgrown’ that lone gateway in population and therefore, usage. But we all know that is not the full story. The other half of the story that is hardly ever told, is the indiscipline and irresponsibility of road users. The traffic along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway can be heavy. But so can it be on major highways around the world.

The situation was probably exacerbated by the repairs at the time. Again, other busy highways do repairs from time to time. The difference is that commuters in Europe and elsewhere, trust the system and they trust themselves – and fellow road users – to adhere to strong and ingrained driving ethics. The difference is the consequence for dangerous and irresponsible driving which can be quite serious in many countries. Nobody for example, would be mad enough to drive against traffic on an expressway in Europe. Here, any little inconvenience leads to people facing oncoming traffic. Here, members of the law enforcement agencies lead the way in dangerous driving. Here, sirens are a license to drive recklessly and cause mayhem.

Only a drunk – or suicidal – law officer would do that in Europe. We can have as many highways as we desire, but if we do not imbibe the culture of disciplined driving, with our leaders and law officers leading by example, we would continue to have needless deaths and preventable gridlocks on our roads. What happened on the 16th and 17th September at Kara bridge and environs, can be regarded as part of the wages of an irresponsible and self-centered approach to road usage. It was the price the nation, and people – including the innocent – paid. It was also a reflection of our attitude to rights and responsibilities when it comes to issues of queueing and patience.

Another aspect of a self-centered and irresponsible behavior for which we are already paying, and are going to pay more dearly, is the attitude towards the environment. We block canals and water channels with structures. We block drains and pipes with refuse. We sand-fill and fall trees indiscriminately. All these in an era of climate change – another area of human recklessness for which humanity is paying a heavy price – and we wonder why more and more areas are getting flooded. As usual, we absolve ourselves of blame and look up to government to ‘come and help us’. The same government which has allowed things to fester through bad leadership, incompetence and greed. The same government officials who have become landlords in areas that should never have been reclaimed. Yet, when rain falls, it does not fall on one man’s head according to Bob Marley. And while on climate change, it was felt at the turn of the millennium, that the world would not be able to handle a population beyond four billion. Now, here we are, with over eight billion people and counting and we are seemingly oblivious to the consequences of over population. While other continents have tried to exercise restraint on population growth, Africa, the poorest continent, ranks only behind the middle-east in population growth

Nigeria is the most populous black nation and also has one of the world’s fastest population growths. So, while Europe and Asia, are worsening global warming through their irresponsible use of fossil fuels and armaments, Africa is putting pressure on ecology and world’s ability to sustain itself, through uncontrolled procreation. Already, drinking water has become scarce for many of the world’s poor (25%) and it is estimated that it would become a luxury for half the world by the turn of the century – if the world survives till then. Besides, we don’t need a seer to tell us that our irresponsible breeding is pauperizing us in Nigeria. It is creating scarcities in areas we never imagined some thirty, forty years ago. It is also fueling insecurity.

The bible says the wages of sin is death. Is this death literal or figurative? And what are the wages of our irresponsibility, this collective sin against the environment? Against the possibility of a continued human existence? I don’t have the answers. What I do know however, is that nature is an exact judge. The measure you put in is the measure you receive. Nature is like that lady who judges with a blindfold and a sword. 

The month-long annual ‘Season of Creation’ ends tomorrow. It was instituted to create global awareness for the environment. Unfortunately, it came and went with hardly a wimp. This is despite the glaring manifestation of the effects of environmental abuse globally. We cannot continue to breed like rabbits; we cannot continue go against the flow of nature and expect that there would not be consequences. We simply can’t.