I almost lost my life in a stampede once. I had gone to the National Stadium in Surulere, Lagos to watch a Super Eagles? match. Not all the exit doors were opened by the time the match ended. This resulted in pushing and shoveling as an impatient crowd tried to edge through the few open gates. Before I knew it, I was moving or rather, being carried along without any input from me. Bodies were pushing against bodies. Limbs were pushing against limbs. Someone stepped on my heel, almost causing me to stumble. In the process, I lost one of my shoes and sprained the ankle of the other foot with shoe ? it was the era of the platform shoes. It would have been suicidal to try to retrieve the shoe. Fortunately, I got out alive ? we later learnt that a few people died as a result of the melee. It was probably the last time I went to the stadium to watch a match. It was probably also the last time I wore platform shoes ? ?gbemiga? as they were called in those days. I also learnt to be wary of a crowd, any crowd, but especially a surging one. I once took this fear to Rome where I attended an Easter Mass at the Vatican. The crowd was mammoth. And as the crowd increased, so did my fear. But the evacuation at the end of the service was so neat, so precise, so practised, that it was over in minutes. That day, I learnt that it was not about the crowd, or even its size, but its control, its management. I learnt about patience and decorum.

Nigerians like to rush. Growing up, I understood that rushing at the bus stop was the difference between able to enter a ?Danfo? or a ?Molue? and being stranded. The daring ones even learnt how to board buses while in motion. Queuing is seen as a sign of weakness ? a ?suegbe? to use a street parlance. The ?go-getters? rush because it is a sign of boldness, of smartness. This is why we rush for, and at everything ? at the bank for services, at functions for food and give-away, at the Supermarket to pay for purchased goods, sometimes even at the church to receive communion. A friend almost literally lost her ?shirt? in this case, blouse, ? she actually lost her ?gele? and ?iborun? ? at a high brow wedding in Abuja. She was involved with dispensing expensive take-away bags filled with goodies. Everything was seemingly orderly until some people felt the process was too slow and decided to take over by helping themselves. The result was a melee bordering on assault which culminated in things being carted away including the accessories on her. We view queuing for anything with disdain and regard shunting as something to be proud of rather that something to be ashamed of. This why we are not in the least ashamed to rush at the airport where a boarding announcement is made when we already have boarding passes and seat numbers allotted to us. This penchant to rush speaks to our impatient, self-centered nature. It speaks to our distrust of equity and fairness. But more importantly, it speaks to our utter disregard for due process and orderliness.

The joy of Christmas was turned to grief for the country in general but more specifically for those who lost loved ones during the stampedes that caused deaths in certain parts of the country some two weeks ago. They were unfortunately, not the first casualties of stampede. They will not be the last unless we learn the fundamental causes of the stampedes. The first as I said, is our distrust of fairness and disregard for due process and orderliness. The second is our greed, bothering on avarice. Like the first, it has little to do with poverty except that of the mind. Like the first, it cuts across the rank and file of our society. Those who made away with Covid19 palliatives for example were not the poor. They were politicians and government officials. Some of those who are taking advantage of the Lagos State?s Sunday market which is targeted at the lower end of the society are those with cars and drivers who live in their own homes. Some of those who throng worship centers for handout have made business out of it. They take as much as they can get away with from different churches only to resell. Many of those who scramble for mugs, coolers and pens at functions already have shelves brimming with them at home. It is their greed and poverty of the mind driving them for more and more. I once attended a function where we were given bathroom slippers as souvenirs. When I rejected mine politely, a lady next to me who had already accepted hers now wanted mine as well. When I pointed at the pair she had slipped into an already full bag of souvenirs on the floor, she said glibly ?for my driver?. Like many Nigerians in their greed, she missed the point that souvenirs are given in appreciation of attendance for guests at functions. They would not be enough to go round if people took for drivers and house helps.

There is hunger in the land. Of that, there can be no doubt. But then, if we were to go back in time to listen to past musicians and social chroniclers, we?d realise there had always been hunger in the land. We however don?t need data to tell us the poverty level has risen due to many self-inflicted wounds by people and government. We also don?t need anybody to tell us that we have to do something urgently about this if we desire to stave off social upheavals. But poverty is not what caused the stampedes. Those who say so are either being na?ve or mischievous. Or trying use the grief and death of their fellow Nigerians to score cheap political points. There are poor people everywhere. The State of California has about the fifth largest economy in the world. Yet, some of its cities are destitute filled. The purpose of governments is to reduce the causes of poverty. The desire of society, including foundations, organisations ? religious and social-, philanthropists and even governments, is to meet the immediate needs of the very poor. This is a never ending exercise because as the Bible says, ?the poor we will always have with us?. What was attempted two weeks ago was a noble intention on the part of those who reached out to the poor. What went wrong was crowd management. It was the inability to manage the weaknesses of Nigerians when it comes to due process and orderliness. And hunger for freebies. To suggest otherwise is to fail to learn from the mishap. It is therefore, to heighten the risk of repeating it.

?Muyiwa Adetiba is a veteran journalist and publisher. He can be reached via titbits2012@yahoo.com

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