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The Emergency Called Christmas

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By Dare Babarinsa

My cousin left Abuja last Friday at 5 a.m and reached Lagos 28 hours later at 9 a.m on Saturday.   There was no accident on the way nor a vehicle breakdown.  There was neither an encounter with kidnappers nor robbers. But then Kogi traffic happened. They entered Kogi traffic in the morning  and did not exit until evening.
There were few overworked police and road marshals at work. As you are reading this, hundreds,  possibly thousands of Nigerians are bugged down in bush traffics as they negotiate their way home for Christmas and yam festivals.
It happened that way last year. If care is not taken,  it is going to happen in 2026 and 2027. For us, it is as if Christmas is an emergency; an unforeseen event! Some people have blamed the bad state of most of the Federal highways.  That may be part of it. However, the truth is that many of our drivers are not road worthy.
How do you explain adults driving to block oncoming traffic and then expect miracles to happen. Bad roads are all over the world.  Even, His Excellency,  Mr Peter Obi, would confirm that there are bad roads in China! But in Nigeria,  our badness on the road is world class!
Therefore,  some of our citizens would still be in Lokoja lockdowm when Christmas will come and go.
I think our law enforcement agents should start planning for next year traffics. It is already too late to talk of doing anything about 2025.  It may help if some confirmed bad drivers are made to spend Christmas Day in the psychiatric ward.
Dare Babarinsa,  CON is the
Chairman, Gaskia Media Ltd
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