As expected of any responsible public servant, we thought the
‘Honourable’ Minister would have come out to apologize to Nigerians and mourn
the departed souls. Rather, Abba, whose name sounds like noise, chose to tongue
lash, he blamed them for their untimely journey to six-feet below.
Saturday 15th of March 2014 will go
down in the history book of Nigeria as a BLACK SATURDAY. It was a day that
started with much hope, especially for the hundreds of thousand unemployed
graduates who trooped out to different locations across the country to write
the sham called Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) Recruitment Test; a day many
would wish they had fallen ill, got drunk, slept off or bedridden to prevent
the stress and pain they suffered in the name of writing the assessment test
arranged Interior Minister, Abba Moro and co.
On that fateful day, Nigeria lost
four (4) pregnant women to the shameful and incomprehensible act of the
Ministry as well as the nation’s Immigration Service. The deceased could
actually be counted as eight (8) because they died with their unborn babies.
Possibly, one or two were carrying twins or triplets. What a colossal loss!
According to reports, several
applicants collapsed due to pandemonium, excessive heat and suffocation. For
our stadia, they looked as though a major sporting event was ongoing. At the
end of the day, eighteen (18) people were confirmed dead. Has anyone thought
about the fact that this figure could be linked to the date itself – ’15/03′
(15+3)?
It is disheartening that future
leaders were once again wasted as a result of greed and incompetence of one
man, Abba Moro. Despite stating earlier that the test was to be written by
520,000 applicants for available 4,500 job slots, more were shortlisted to sit.
Eventually, nearly 1million desperate job seekers rushed to the venues. It is
pertinent to note that each candidate paid N1,000 to apply, thus, about
N1billion was generated from poor citizens.
As expected of any responsible
public servant, we thought the ‘Honourable’ Minister would have come out to
apologize to Nigerians and mourn the departed souls. Rather, Abba, whose name
sounds like noise, chose to tongue lash, he blamed them for their untimely
journey to six-feet below.
In his words: “The applicants lost
their lives due to impatience; they did not follow the laid down procedures
spelt out to them before the exercise. Many of them jumped through the fences
of affected centres and did not conduct themselves in an orderly manner to make
the exercise a smooth one. This caused stampede and made the environment
unsecured” HABA MORON!!!
This is a man accused of gun-running
and smuggling of arms in 2012 by a civil society organisation, National
Anti-Terrorism and Peace Network (NATPW). The group stated that it received the
intelligence from an unnamed source in the secret service. It further expressed
shock that a man with dubious morality and questionable character could be
appointed into any sensitive position in the country.
Again, Abba Moro was accused by the
same group of moving about with a short service pistol without permission or presidential
directive to bear arms, while serving as Chairman of Okpokwu Local Government
Area, Benue State, between 1999 and 2007. He was subsequently arraigned before
a court of law.
To make matter worse, such a man
with no compassion for human lives is seeking to become Governor of his State
in 2015. His benefactor, Senator David Mark, is reportedly planning to ensure
the position is zoned to the Idomas.
In countries where things are done
properly, by now, the minister should have resigned or sacked immediately.
Since none of these has happened, we make the demand: Abba Moro and other officials
responsible for shabby organisation that caused the stampede and needless
deaths that accompanied it, must leave office now!
by Ayobami Ladipo
Culled from Ynaija
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