The Death Of A Poor Security Guard | An Embarrassment To Gov. Okowa

Traffic jam in Asaba | How The Avoidable Death Of A Poor Security Guard Causes Gov. Okowa Some Embarrassments — A typical traffic jam within the vicinity of Chinedu Igboke’s school

A thirty-something-year old man, Mr. Chinedu Igboke, lost his life in Asaba. Delta State, last Monday, September 30, 2019, after a torrential rainfall that pounded the city of Asaba all through that day. This story was reported by both the off- and online media, including the ubiquitous Vanguard newspapers.

Mr. Igboke was a security guard at a privately owned school located along the Shekinah Love Assembly Street, Off Ralph Uwechue Way, Okpanam Road, Asaba. His death, from all indications, was caused by someone else’s carelessness cum negligence of duty.

Manholes in Asaba | How The Avoidable Death Of A Poor Security Guard Causes Gov. Okowa Some Embarrassments — Some of the manholes in Asaba, the capital of Delta State, waiting for the attention of the people concerned

The polytechnic graduate-turned security guard was said to be directing and controlling traffic, which built up on Shekinah Love Assembly Street, following the gridlock along the notorious Okpanam Road, when he lost his balance and fell into an uncovered gutter that was full of water.

According to an eyewitness, before help could come, the young man from Ebonyi State had already been forcefully and powerfully pushed into the deep tunnel which channels storm water from the area into Anwai River.

When the news first broke out, I went to the school to confirm the story, but somebody there lied to me that no incident of that nature took place within that vicinity.

It was after much effort and pressure that a source that asked for anonymity confirmed to me what really happened and confirmed to me that the deceased fell into a gutter and was really swept away by the flood to an unknown destination.

I can now authoritatively inform you that the body of the late Chinedu Igboke has been recovered.

Chinedu’s colleagues and other people who spoke with me around the vicinity of the incident commended Governor Okowa for his good works in Delta State, but gave him a hard knock over the condition of gutters and manholes in our towns and cities, especially in the capital city, Asaba.

According to one of them, “We know that the commendable Storm Drainage project is yet to be completed, but the gutters and manholes in the areas where work is already completed should be properly covered. Or, are they waiting for more people to fall and die in them before covering them?”

While leaving the school premises after the confirmation of this sad story, I looked around and discovered that a manhole within the school premises had just been gagged, as you can see from the photograph below, to prevent future occurrence. Investigation revealed that it was hurriedly done by the school authority, after the death of Chinedu.

A manhole | How The Avoidable Death Of A Poor Security Guard Causes Gov. Okowa Some Embarrassments — A manhole around the vicinity of Chinedu Igboke’s school hurriedly gagged by the authority of his school after his untimely death

My questions now are: Why do we always wait for bad things to happen in Nigeria before doing what is right? Why do we prefer cure rather than prevention? Why are several gutters and manholes in our towns and cities still wide- open, long after they were created? Are we waiting until more bad things happen before gagging or covering them? Is the job of covering and maintaining them not the duty of somebody? What are the people concerned waiting to cover them, several months after they were created?

I need somebody to help me with answers to these questions, with a view to stopping the bad publicity that this type of bad news brings Governor Okowa.