Why the monster may not go away

By Sunmola Olowookere
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It was around 4.30 p.m.  on a weekday and it was hectic as usual. Civil servants had closed from work and were going to their homes. Parents and guardians were dashing to pick their children/wards that had also closed for the day from their schools. It was a rush hour.

Due to this situation, there was an almost regular and constant congestion at the roundabout in front of popular Akure shopping mall, Shoprite. Cars and motorcycles were  dashing to their various destinations.

 None want to wait for the other. There was no right of way; its a game of the fastest and the smartest. This is one of the major factors that contributes to the congestion. This particular day was no different as it was congested as usual.

 Hence a traffic warden was posted there to supervise the movement of traffic. All traffic approaching the intersection from the secretariat area had been stopped by the traffic warden who was stationed there to control the congested traffic at the intersection.

However, this fast motorcyclist would not be stopped as he muttered to himself “why is he stopping us now? Well, I will simply ride pass him before he can pass the other side”.

Having made that decision in a split second, he felt an adrenaline rush which made him reckless as he felt that he had the right to slip stealthily by the traffic warden who was usually friendly with motorcyclists.

However, luck ran out on him as the traffic warden was not feeling particularly friendly or accomodating that day.

He grabbed the handle of the motorcycle às it moved dangerously close to him which made the rider to screech to a stop and the traffic warden deftly yanked off his keys as the motorcyclist struggled to get a hold on the motorcycle. Now sober, he stood by his motorcycle, looking dejected. He begged for mercy but the traffic warden showed no mercy and then stood at one side looking at the police traffic warden who had his motorcycle key in his grasp.

 The traffic warden was a young, tall and lanky guy with a stern look splashed across his ordinary face so that people who came in contact with him would take him serious.

The Okadaman knew that he was in for it and the adrenaline propelling him to rush in a bid to make a lot of money for the day slowly ebbed out.

I was also on Okada (Nigerian name for motorcycle). My Okadaman (also Nigerian name for motorcyclist) looked disdainfully at his unfortunate colleague as he stood by his motorcycle.

None of his colleagues stopped to help him as they usually did whenever any of them is involved in an accident.

During any clash with police, the particular Okadaman would have to carry his cross alone.

Rather than sympathizing with him, my Okadaman said “he has not understand the way it is done yet or he is trying to play smart. This policeman would not have arrested him if he had played ball. I know him very well. We always settle him. He is a simple guy. He even collects as low as N50.

” If that Okadaman had been “settling” before, the police man would not have arrested him. Did he think he was there to play? Now he would pay at least N200 if the police man show him any mercy”

As the traffic warden passed the traffic on our lane, he saluted him “Askari!”. The police man lips moved in a slight smile as he nodded briefly in his direction.

My Okadaman beamed with pride. It must be a big deal having a police -man as a friend. He asked me “can you see? When you are good to them, they recognize you anywhere. Even if I ride past him when he has not passed my lane or ride very close to him, he will just look away.”

Citing another example of ” good police men”, he said “like those that stay on the Imafon road ( Imafon is a suburb in Akure), once you start giving them money and they have recognized you, you are free. They will no longer check your papers”

What a testimony! How could he not see anything bad in giving away his hard-earned money for no just cause?

I was wondering how a victim of such blatant corruption could explain it away in such a fashion when he suddenly sighed and said ” but its all corruption…. “

I could not resist retorting “so you know its corruption? “

He admitted sheepishly “we know but what do we do when they deal with us if we don’t settle them?”

He asked me.

What a question! How can the under trodden, defenseless, powerless and poor masses fight against tyrannical corruption especially from an organ of government that was supposed to fight for them? Such a fight will be pitiful at best.

However, one thing is guaranteed to be a check against the tyranny of unscrupulous security officers; it is that all motorists and motorcyclists must ensure that they abide at the rules and regulations of the highways. They must also have complete papers. It give them freedom from corrupt police men.

Unfortunately, the monster called corruption is having a field day in our midst because many Nigerians look for ways of cutting corners in every aspect of their lives.

 We tend to look for easier, cheaper and quicker means of doing things in order to dodge spending or doing  as much  as we would have done had we toed the proper path.

This aspect of our makeup has made us the scorn of other countries that should have revered us. We lose our respect by the day especially when they read about the corrupt antics of some of our leaders in the media.

Hence our counterparts from other countries regard us with ill-conceived skepticism at best while some less courteous one are outrightly suspicions and hostile no matter how talented we appeared to be.

In the scenario painted above, a security person who stays on the road to extort impoverished motorists and motorcyclists that are struggling to make ends meet under the pretext of conducting a ‘stop and search ” have failed in his primary duty.

While any of these security persons is busy gathering his ill gotten gains, he would have lost focus of what is paramount; which is ensuring the safety of people’s lives and properties.

With so many checkpoints, how are some people able to move arms and ammunition so easily? They would have tossed few naira bills at the police men on patrol and waltz past, little wonder why we are in the quandary in which we are today.

Corruption has seeped so much into the fabric of our everyday life. Though we are quick to point accusing fingers at the politician who is able to join “the moving train” and steal public funds, but in our everyday lives, we refused to accept that we have become corrupt too.

A housewife that keeps part of the housekeeping allowance for herself to do some thrift is guilty of misappropriation of funds.

 In most government establishments, they demand for or slyly suggest that you give them bribe or gratification to do the job they are being paid for.

People are forced to dance to their tune in order to have a smooth operation whenever they have cause to procure any government document.

Today, we live in a society where anything goes. Corruption in several forms has become a part of lives. In the just concluded elections, most of the electorate openly demanded for bribe at polling units.

Those political parties and candidates that would not give out bribes or did not have much to give out were seen as overconfident or arrogant. We forget that gifts and gratifications tend to becloud our sense of reasoning and justice.

After the whole deal, we would be shouting “our leaders are corrupt”. Then where do we get the moral justification to speak out against vote buying and other elections malpractices after we sold our franchise?

The federal government is currently in a war to fight corruption in high places, however in almost five years of nipping and chipping at corruption, the fight has had very minimal impact and it is undermining every aspect of our existence, even the church.

No matter how much the Buhari led government shakes its fist and screams at it, the monster is undaunted. It grows in leaps and bonds as it feeds on our imperfections and now it has now become Hydra headed.

With such a comfortable and accepting atmosphere it has found in our midst, will this monster ever go away?