The Ibadan charity event, organised by Queen Naomi in Ibadan, and other philanthropists in Abuja and Okija in December 2024, were meant to be noble and charitable events in line with Islamic and Christian injunctions: feed and care for the underprivileged. However, the events ended in unspeakable tragedy due to stampedes that resulted in the loss of precious lives.These unfortunate incidents has raised fundamental questions about the role of government in ensuring public safety and preventing such tragedies.
Despite the organisers’ position in Ibadan that the relevant government ministries were informed through courtesy calls, and the massive publicity the event received on radio and television, the Oyo state government and security agencies have claimed they were unaware of the event. However, this claim in my opinion is untenable, as it is the primary duty of government and security agencies to gather intelligence from the public, social, and mainstream media. It is also the government’s responsibility to stay informed about potential gatherings that could impact public safety.
The police, and other security agencies that are responsible for maintaining law and order, should have anticipated the massive crowd that the event would attract in the densely populated city of ibadan and take proactive measures to prevent the stampede. Even if they were not officially informed, they can’t posit that they didn’t hear it on radio and television. Their failure to do so highlights a glaring intelligence failure on the part of the government and security agencies in Oyo state.
The catastrophic outcome of the charity events in the three locations in December 2024, is a stark reminder that the government and security agencies must do more to protect the lives of citizens.
These tragedies unfortunately, in Ibadan, Abuja and Okija which resulted in loss of lives, underscored the need for the sub-national governments to take proactive measures to prevent such incidents in future.
It is the primary duty of the government to protect lives and deliver the greatest happiness to the greatest number of its citizens. This duty is not limited to providing basic amenities but also extends to ensuring that citizens are safe and secure.
To prevent such tragedies in the future, sub-national governments must take proactive approaches to governance. This involves scanning the environment to identify potential high-risk events, taking proactive measures to protect lives, and ensuring that effective crowd control measures are in place. The government must also hold accountable those responsible for intelligence failures and security lapses.
Ultimately, the tragedy at the Ibadan, Abuja and Okija charity events should serve as a wake-up call for sub-national governments to re-evaluate their approaches to public safety and security. It is a stark reminder that the government’s primary duty is to protect the lives of its citizens, and that proactive measures must be taken to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future.
Frederick Braimah. Ph.D.
14th January, 2025
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