Nigeria on the move--- gutters and danger.

On the highways and paved roads which traverse the townships,dotted with hot spots which can be viewed as downtown areas, where shops and businesses cluster,with street merchants selling their wares by the roadside.The street merchants sell mostly food items and household needs. Intersections usually habour mini-markets and many street hawkers who sell a variety of wares. These intersections are usually congested.
It is not uncommon to drive by crowds standing around nervously, some people with arms folded across their chests,just standing, watching as accident scenes are cleared, or as victims are being removed and taken to hospitals or to the morgue. Innocent bystanders are sometimes involved in these accidents. A driver may loose control of their vehicle,or have the breaks fail,or may be overtaking (passing)another vehicle at the wrong time and place, and go plowing through everything in its way. Sometimes,vehicles or motorcycles end up in the open gutters, passengers and all.These humongous gutters are scary.
Sometimes, fires engulf the wreck, especially when fuel tankers are involved,and result in total devastation.
Witnesses and bystanders go to the rescue,helping in any way they can, handling injured people,removing the dead, and doing other heroic deeds to handle the situation. Ambulances,actually hearses, do exactly what hearses do. Ambulances which respond to emergencies are yet to start operating. If any operate,I did not see or hear of such. Accident victims remain at the mercy of good Samaritans to take them to the hospitals in pickup trucks, cars, motorcycles or any means possible,before the police arrive. Motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents are very common and waste many lives. Many of these accidents are avoidable. Many victims would survive if real emergency help was available. Some victims are further injured by wrong handling and many victims die from injuries which should not take their lives. Emergency help in the real sense of it is not really available.

It is a well known fact that some commercial drivers use a shot(of hot drink, like whisky), before starting their rounds in the morning, especially during the harmattan season. The shot is supposed to do what coffee does, but it is hard to understand how alcohol can become a stimulant or eye opener in the morning. It is no wonder some drivers, especially the motorcycle drivers, drive as if the devil is after them. At the end of the day, they do not even make that much money, as the owners get most of the money earned. Most of the commercial drivers lease the motorcycles and cars and pay flat rates to the owners on a weekly basis. Getting enough sleep before going to work will help a lot, chewing on kola nuts will beat using hot drinks, since coffee is not readily available. Most of the coffee on the market are the decaffeinated instant products.
Going back to gutters, I am still trying to understand why gutters are left uncovered after the completion of road projects. I have no idea who is expected to cover the gutters or why the contractors are paid for road projects if they leave the gutters uncovered. In this twenty first century, in an oil producing country, deep,wide gutters are left totally uncovered,as they border roads and highways, obviously for the purpose of carrying rain water to the proper channels for proper disposal. These open gutters can send a driver unfamiliar with them into a confused panic especially when a swerve is necessary to avoid a careless driver. Cars and motorcycles drive so close to the edge of the gutters, putting passengers at great risk. Pedestrians walk too close to the gutters.Pedestrians cross these gutters to get to their destinations.Wooden boards are strategically placed for people to cross the gutters and go into shops or places of business. Otherwise the gutters are open and people cross at their own risk. Watching the activities around gutters can cause serious anxiety for a person not used to such.

A glimpse into the gutters reveal improvised garbage dumps in some areas. All kinds of garbage can be found in these gutters. Plastic bags rank at the top, followed by bottles( plastic and glass),metal objects, disposed tools and gadgets, an occasional carcass can be seen in the gutters. A family of chickens, mother hen and chicks were sighted in a gutter clucking away while scavenging for food. How they got in there and how they would get out were questions on the mind.They probably live in there feeding on scraps of food thrown in the gutters until the chicks get old enough to leave on their own or fly out of the gutters. Other less friendly creatures also ply these gutters.
I can't see how flood water moves through these mostly clogged gutters, or maybe they get cleaned in the rainy season,I don't know.
It looks like the gutters are not even noticeable anymore to the people who see them or go by them daily. They walk and drive really close to these gutters with no qualm whatsoever.

The hustling for survival brings humans and even non humans to these roads and highways in these mini cities. At the peak of traffic one can see cars and trucks, motorcycles,lorries, occasional trailers dragging containers, pile up trying to pass through an intersection. With no working traffic lights, or police patrol directing traffic, it becomes a free-for-all struggle and usually everyone is in a big hurry and the resulting jam can last for a long time. Add pedestrians, both human and otherwise to the mix, and it becomes quite interesting to watch.
On one such day, as I tried to stay focused and not lose my spot to a clever driver,
or be maneuvered too close to the gutter, something very funny happened. At the jam with everything at a standstill,a goat,yes a goat,a white goat with black legs and face, abdomen bulging over the short sturdy legs , was pushing her way through the jam. She made her way through, crossed to the other side of the road,paused before deciding to head right. It was too funny,as the goat,unfazed by the confusion, hustled her way through the traffic in search of food. She was very focused.
The goats and their compatriots, the chickens,and others, work as unpaid sanitation workers, scavengers who eat any edible garbage with pleasure. In some araes, they roam unperturbed,seriously doing their jobs and they look quite well-fed and healthy. Which brings to mind a group,called sanitation workers in childhood days, who made sure that public health was not jeopardized. They inspected shops and surroundings for cleanliness, and made sure that no animals were roaming the markets. Those were the good old days.
The red flags of the PWD (Public Works Department) workers also come to mind. The PWD men patched potholes on the roads, removed debris from the roads, and cleaned gutters, and then there were policemen and women with white gloves who directed traffic at intersections. Where on earth did these government workers go? When will road contractors be made to cover their gutters or be responsible for injuries and death caused by these open gutters? Covering their gutters should be part and parcel of the contract. Open gutters, no deal!
Awka, in Anambra state is looking good. Being a new city being put together with some kind of planning may be the reason. I can't recall if the gutters are covered. I really hope they are.
To be continued---