The value of a thing is the price worth attached to it. Put in another way, value is the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
In Nigeria, lives are beginning to become valueless. Apart from the fact that a lot of people are no longer attaching any value to the lives of others, a lot of Nigerians are also not attaching much value to their own lives.
All of these are beginning to reflect on the number of avoidable deaths that are daily reported in the country which are often caused by the carelessness of those in authority or by sheer greed and quest for some to make brisk money at the expense of other people’s lives,
Just a few days ago, there was a report of the unfortunate and gruesome murder of timothy Adegoke Oludare, a chartered accountant and Director of finance in one multinational company in Abuja who travelled down to Ile Ife to write his MBA degree exam but was murdered in his hotel room where he lodged.
In 2009, a woman sold her three -old -son for N300,000:00, at an eatery at Iyanu-Ejigbo area of Lagos, and when interrogated, she said, “I want to use the money for some runs.” That simply suggests she valued the money to her child.
On Tuesday it was reported that five persons died at Ladipo, Oshodi suburb of Lagos State as a result of a gas explosion. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), one female and three male bodies were recovered from the venue of the incident, while a 10-year-old child who was trapped in the explosion died on the way to the hospital.
Read Also: Nigerian lives matter: Stop the killings
Hakeem Odunmosu, the Lagos Commissioner of Police, while addressing journalists at the scene, said the unfortunate accident was ignited by a phone call.
He said one of the casualties was making a telephone call close to one of the gas cylinders.
Many Nigerians would rather die than lose money, no matter how small the amount
Related News
Odunmosu said it is completely avoidable, human negligence that led to the explosion.
From what I have seen there, from what I have heard, the thing blew off, someone was trying to refill the gas cylinder as well as making a call,” Odumosu said.
That tells you how many Nigerians value their lives. One man’s carelessness has led to the death of some other five persons and loss of properties.
It is a shame that we are in a generation when a human being could legally be bought and sold. Human life is equated to money and other selfish interest. It is a shame that we are in a generation when a public officer would pocket what belongs to a million others, and would not blink an eye if they die.
Many Nigerians would rather die than lose money, no matter how small the amount. A commuter once engaged a driver at Idimu in a fight over an N50.00 change, and while people tried to stop the fight, he insisted he would rather die than leave the change for the driver.
It is a shame that we are in an era where a minister would openly tell lies to deceive the masses even when the truth is obvious. The Lekki tollgate killing and the cover-ups from the government tells you our value to life.
It is disturbing that the military that is supposed to protect the people is the one used to kill unarmed youths. The military came in their numbers with their vans to kill and harvest corpses of the ones they are meant to protect. That is what life means to a Nigerian soldier.
It is a common scene in many petroleum filling stations to see people making phone calls while buying petrol even when there are signs warning people to desist from such acts boldly displayed.
The Ladipo gas explosion like many similar others was an avoidable incident we incurred on ourselves because we do not value our lives.
