Hit and run phenomenon

Hit and run phenomenon

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I was at the Automatic Teller Machine recently and found that some chap called Owolabi had forgotten to remove his GTB cash card from the machine. I think the excitement of collecting money from the machine had overwhelmed him.

Now, what do you do if you find the same since it does happen, commonly? I gave the card to the security people in Shoprite for safe keeping along with the hundreds they also have at hand!

Social experiment

Recently, a social experiment was carried out in Dubai. A film crew went all over town testing the honesty and morality of the Emirati community. An actor pretended to lose his wallet in over 100 places on the streets of Dubai. On every single occasion, the wallet was returned to him intact!

Now, it’s up to you to determine what will happen on the streets of Lagos or Port Harcourt were we to conduct a similar experiment. What is the moral yardstick in Nigeria? What percentage return rate would we have in Lagos or Enugu? I challenge any of our television stations to film this experiment covertly in their local area.

Hit and run

Let us, for instance, consider the issue of ‘hit and run’ on Nigerian roads. There are many occasions when a body is found on the streets in many of our cities. There have been occasions when someone is even dragged many metres on the road following an accident. There are many occasions when someone is knocked down and the driver speeds away without bothering to stop. Who are these people? The drivers, that is; and how do they sleep well at night? How can they sleep at night and go to any place of worship the following day? Have you witnessed this before? Have you hit and run?

Make a change

Miss Naomi Ese is a young beautiful 16-year-old girl, an aspirant on one of the hit TV shows. Sometime ago, she was travelling home on a bike when a car knocked her off the bike. She had whacked her skull on the ground and this left her confused and mildly deaf in the ear. She also sustained a fractured skull over the left ear and bleeding on the brain. This was the main reason why she came to my attention.

Fortunately, the young man driving the car did not run away. He assisted in taking her to the hospital and stood by to support the family both morally and financially. She required an emergency operation to remove the blood clot from her brain and save her life. She was home to recuperate within three days and a month later, was almost fully recovered to continue pursuing her singing career.

If the driver had run away, it is very likely she would have died. If he did not support her family financially, it is possible she would have died or become severely brain damaged. This would have been a big loss to her family and the society at large.

The action of the young driver is to be commended and demonstrates the highest level of personal worth and honour. Sadly, some Nigerians do not achieve this level of integrity. Of course, there are issues as relates to the reactions of the community and the Police in this matter, which may influence the panic and the flight response.

Many people have been beaten up by bystanders who take the law into their hands and many have also been molested and robbed blind by the Police. Involving the Police in many of this kind of business often does more harm than good, as they proceed to fleece both the accused and the accuser.

We need to change the situation as a society and encourage people to stand up to their responsibilities. We need to acknowledge the sacrifice made by the gentleman driver who stood by Miss Ese and his efforts should be celebrated as I said. Only then can we have the type of society that looks after the weak and protect the vulnerable amongst us.

The kind of society we would all be proud of.

PUNCH.

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