What Sort of Country Do We Live In?
Fire raged at a major market for hours unabated. A commercial city like Onitsha did not have fire fighting services.
Eventually, they borrowed a fire fighting truck from Asaba, capital of another state.
On getting to the fire, the borrowed truck did not have enough water in it.
And so, people stood by and watched their means of livelihoods and even loved ones burn to the ground.
Yet these traders are taxed heavily monthly. Their taxes are not enough to safeguard their investments.
Yet these traders pay outrageous amounts in rent.
Yet our government is increasing VAT.
Our Commander in Chief has responded almost 24 hours later with a statement on Twitter calling the incident ‘regrettable’ and ‘calling on’ parastatals to embrace standard fire fighting techniques.
Willie Obiano will wear his sunshades today, carry his walking stick, rub vaseline on his Jerry curls and go to the ruins.
He will point here and there and his PR team will take pictures. He will promise compensation to those who lost loved ones and properties. He will promise to rebuild the market. He will set up a committee to investigate the cause of the fire. He will go back to his GH and we’ll move on. We? We will make #Prayforonitsha posts on social media.
What sort of country do we live in?