worries even by President Goodluck Jonathan who quickly visited the scene of horror and one of the hospitals, Asokoro hospital where those who sustained injuries were receiving treatment. The road safety, civil defence and NEMA operatives also rose to the occasion: they cleared the scene and deposited the bodies of the dead in the morgues of these hospitals. The FCT minister, Senator Bala Muhammed, also visited the scene and promised to pay the hospital bills of the victims. And this is where the sympathy, empathy and promises ended.
The events of the last one week betray all the emotions displayed and promises made. For many of the victims recuperating in hospitals, they have been left to their own devices. They are being asked to pay fees for hospitalization and medications. And for those whose relations died, they pay as high as N30, 000 to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones. The host government of FCT cannot pretend it is not aware of this development. Not after it was reported by newspapers and shown on national television. If the government was sincere, from day one, it could have instructed the hospitals to direct the bills to the health department of the FCT administration. This did not happen and the poor and traumatized families of victims now have to bear the brunt.
It has become obvious that politicians are only interested in making political capital out of disasters that mostly afflict ordinary Nigerians. For God’s sake what does government really do for citizens these days? We provide water, electricity (through generators) and security for ourselves at home. Are we also expected to provide same for public places? The military goofed big time last week when it hurriedly issued a statement that the abducted teenage girls in Chibok, Borno state, had been rescued. It turned out to be a hoax. Up till this moment, the military is yet to rescue the remaining girls still in captivity. Whose responsibility was it to provide security for a public school anyway?
