In the wake of 2002, in the evening of January 27th whennw had just completed the celebration of welcoming in the new year, the streets of Lagos was in its usual busy states, lovers hand in hand, strolling after a dinner date. It was one evening that was filled with joy until disaster struck.
Ikeja military cantonment is in the heart of Maryland and Ikeja Government Reserved Area of Lagos state. How I wished that I could go back in time and avert that disaster that snatched over three hundred promising lives.
It was a bomb blast explosion that occurred in the barracks but its effects could be felt as far as three local government areas away.
We first thought that it was a continuation of the fireworks of the yuletide. The memories of the knockouts, bangers that had been thrown into the air at the dawn of the new year made it unbelievable that it was a bomb blast.
Suddenly, the red flame went so high into the dark sky that once had glittering night stars. Everyone took to their heels and ran to hide their heads from the looming danger.
Some people started shouting the blood of Jesus. Others were confessing their many sins in the bid of not missing out of the rapture. The flaming gorge that covered the sky made it look like the rapture was about to take place.
Everyone scampered for their lives and in the race to be safe entered an uncovered canal and drowned. It was on record that over 1,100 people lost their lives and about 20,000 displaced or became homeless. It was indeed a disaster that will not be forgotten in the snaps of history in Nigeria.
IF I WERE OMNI-POTENT
Man cannot be God but if I had the powers to control these things I would have neutralised the power of the bombs and they would have become ineffective. The bombs were said to me to be mismanaged in the armory of the Nigerian Army at Ikeja Military Cantonment, Ikeja.
The missiles would have been still available and kept for future defense purposes. However, the explosion was not just chaotic for the killings but also capital resources were wasted.
Also, the mass burial site at Oke-Afa at Isolo would have been used for other beneficial purposes than being a burial site that amounts to nothing more than the remembrance of the avoidable bomb blast that greeted us in the wee hours of 2002.
Having sensed that something like this was going to happen, I would have ordered the government to relocate the military base to the outskirts of town as it poses danger for the civilians who have no training at all about bond explosions or scare. I would also have carried out the operation of relocating all military facilities to border towns across the nation to ensure that civilians are safe in the face of such human errors as on 27th of January 2002.
The many promising lives of young adults, teenagers and children who perished on that fateful day would have been preserved if I had super powers and was able to travel back in time.
This was the unfortunate event that stole the lives of our beloved Nigerian men and women who would have contributed their quota in furtherance of the Nigerian project all because I could not travel back in time to save the day.