MEN AND THING’S BY JOE TOKPOIMA
Rip. Van Winkle Slept for twenty years without a jingle. In like manner Joe Tokpoima slept for decades without a headache. Continuous hibernation? Time is of the essence. Without it there can be no appointment and we can only be said to be in a state of bedlam not distinguishable from animal kingdom.
We are getting on with the Gregorian calendar which has fixed January 1 as the beginning of the calendar year. It’s the New Year only for those born on that date and should not be subjected to the hullabaloo which it causes. It however guides systems in all walks of life.
Newness is not necessarily goodness though progress is expected by the insatiable demands of human beings. A new model, kind or product is expected to be better than the old one but it can be disappointing at times. Mass production can be culpable in this regard. Take umbrellas for example which are now so rickety that the alternative of rain coats is increasingly the answer to the rainy season. Users blame this situation on Chinese children practicing the art for a living.
Granted that the skeleton of character cannot change, are we prepared to change our attitudes in the interests of the nation without a formal Secretariat? Yes we can. It takes the will power of mind over matter. History tells us of people who have changed full circle without palpable external forces. Did Saul not change to Paul who wrote most of the epistles in the Bible to cite one example of change? Is it impossible for kush a baron to become the gospel lead?
We can set seemingly impossible targets at the beginning of each calendar year and achieve them. Not only that. Surpass them! If you aim at the sky you can shoot above the trees. The fact is that so many citizens are living aimlessly. Do your colleagues know the religion to which you belong? Are you working for an award? Perhaps not because you are diffident. Honor and ease are strange bed fellows. No pain, no gain. Hard work pays so that at the end of the year we can point to something positive or tangible achieved in our local communities, places or work or the nation.
Wish you all an ambitions and successful New Year!
PRESIDENTAL KILLER CONVOYS
A convoy is a group of vehicles travelling together expecially when soldiers or other vehicles travel with them for protection. It would now appear that the purpose of protection has been perverted to that of endangering the commuting public.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the developed countries too have their limited ways of hero worship like their adoration of the Royal family as if they are super mortals. But developing countries take their adoration too far affecting the everyday life of the public.
There is nothing wrong in break neck speeds per se to clear the way for the safety and protection of the Head of State and other very important personalities. What is wrong is that the police, having directed the traffic in the opposite direction do not give enough blaring notice to the vulnerable public. As a result, pedestrians venture into the streets as usual looking in the usual direction ending in some fatal accidents. Loudhailers should be in full use along the prescribed routes.
The police subject the public to many servile hours before the demi-god passes by. In another developing African country traffic is delivered minutes before their Head of State convoy passes by. Meanwhile as the traffic is stalled some sick people needing emergency medical attention become worse or die and businesses are disrupted because of the sycophancy devoted to the individual.
There are several ways to kill a cat. Why is it so financially difficult for the Head of State to be provided with a helicopter given his penchant for flying for which he is constantly grilled by the opposition press and others? Alternatively Sierra Leone Airways that had airfields in Hastings, Bo, Kenema, Yengema, Bonthe and Kabala could be resuscitated to circumvent this malaise. Convoys should not endanger lives.
IRONY OF S.L.R.S.A. CHAIRMAN’S DEATH
The death of Rev. Dr. Senesie is not only a great irony but it is also esoteric. How a man who bears the greatest responsibility for road safety could himself be involved in a fatal accident not on the highways but within the capital where there are strict and low speed limits? It is an enigma wrapped up in a mystery. If the chief safety officer cannot be assured of safety who else? It reminds me of the accidental death of Deputy Governor of Sierra Leone Waddel in central Freetown decades ago.
Believe it or not there are evil spirits or demons which have been known to cause accidents resulting in the loss of lives. They are unseen and unheard by their actions like the air. The pathologists know the causes of death best but what is certain is that the cause of death due to evil spirits can never be rightly diagnosed by them. They either give the wrong diagnosis or profess to see nothing until the patient dies.
