Izuchukwu Okosi
Few days ago Nigerians were greeted with the sad news of the death of 22-year-old Ayanwole Bamise, the fashion designer who was killed for suspected ritual reasons.
The young lady was heading home from work at 7pm but incidentally boarded an ill-fated Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) which many had considered safer than the regular ‘yellow buses.’
The family of the deceased identified the body of their daughter and sister at the morgue after her private parts were reportedly cut off.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelAlthough the particular BRT she boarded is said not to belong to the fleet of buses that are legally approved for commuters, it beggars the question of how long this has been going on in the country – not just in Lagos.
Many Nigerians who saw the BRT buses as somewhat a safe haven for them with the spate of ritual murders, kidnappings and robberies with smaller buses will understandably be in awe of what has become of our road transportation.
The death of Bamise is more embarrassing at a time we are convincing Nigerians in the Diaspora to return home and invest.
Imagine if Bamise was a Nigerian residing abroad and was billed to return back to base in few days time or in fact the next day. Or she is busy with the process of travelling out of Nigeria for the first time in her life.
Tuesday was the International Women’s Day all over the world and quite unfortunately the demise of a promising young woman will now be remembered for the wrong reasons at this time every year.
This brings to the fore the place of air transport to avert some of these mishaps on roads and even the seas.
The unwritten law is that travelling via the aircraft is for the rich and high-income earners. Nobody seems to care about the average person who cannot afford to buy air tickets.
Only recently, airlines in Nigeria increased their base rates, making it difficult for the average Nigerian to book for Economy flight tickets for domestic routes.
The reasons given for the hike include high cost of jet A1 fuel, forex scarcity, inflation, increase in ground handling charges, cost of buying and importation of spare parts.
The increase in price for tickets from the beginning of March 2022 was shocking to many Nigerians who patronise domestic airlines.
However logical the reasons might be, an air ticket rising to N50,000 or above for local trips is a tad too harsh within a short notice in the face of the poor salaries and harsh business conditions the citizens has had to face.
Surely, the air may not necessarily be the safest means of transport due to technical problems or bad weather conditions, but in the context of the incidents in Nigeria, it sure means that the probability of any such evil acts happening is greatly reduced.
The Holy book (the Bible) admonished in Psalms 127 verse 1: “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stands guard in vain.”
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, the Ministry of Aviation and airline owners should provide the best possible means for average income earners to at least fly the Economy class at a reasonable and affordable rate while the Business class can remain the exclusive rights of the more fortunate folks.
The incessant killings, kidnappings and robberies on the land is getting out of hand. We cannot pretend as if nothing is happening.
Kudos to the Nigerian airlines for new innovative ways of serving their loyal customers but please more still needs to be done to safeguard the lives of more Ayanwole Bamises out there.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
