By Waheed Bakare
A few years ago, when a notorious political thug died in a plane crash in Nigeria, one of my friends postulated that the guy could not have died peacefully in his sleep going by the "atrocities" he committed in the course of his political odyssey. As I listened to him with simulated interest, I could see traces of spiritual arrogance in his argument which lacked vestige of positivism. His position was a parody of the truth about human tragedies, sins and inevitability of death.
I wondered who says "sinners" cannot die peacefully in their sleep and "good" men precluded from violent death. For instance, why will a first class brain described as amiable like Oluchi Anekwe, the electrocuted University of Lagos student, meet with such a cruel death particularly when she was coming from the church?
Why did such fate not befall a cult member on the same campus? Oluchi's father's summation on his daughter's death epitomised spiritual humility, a rarity whenever human tragedy occurs. He neither blamed the devil nor questioned God for not preventing the tragedy.
He rather found solace in his belief that God must have taken her away from this sinful world. We all have the potential for spiritual narcissism. We knowingly or inadvertently make self-righteous remarks, exaggerate our spiritual importance or even fail to be humble in our prayers.
We make spirited efforts to foist our religious belief on others. But it is arrogant and erroneous to assume that our spiritual path ought to be everyone's. Some may even consider worshippers who died at the Synagogue Church of All Nations' guest house as heretics.
Such discrimatory remarks is part of the spiritual arrogance I am talking about. Everyone runs away from death but ironically it is a necessary end. Do humans have control over when, how and where to die? Over the years, there have been deaths caused by human panics and stampedes in different parts of the world. People get killed while scrambling to get better seats at theatres, shopping on "Black Friday" when Christmas is approaching and trying to run away from fire outbreak in night clubs. On October 20, 1982, a football match between FC Spartak Russia and HFC Haalem at the then Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russia, ended in a tragedy.
The period was cold and snowy resulting in the sale of few tickets. Since few tickets were sold, only the east stands of the stadium were opened for spectators and for security reasons, only one exit from the stand was left open. Spartak was up by one goal and some of the spectators thought the game was over and were leaving the stadium through the single exit towards the end of the game. But again, Spartak scored the second goal during the injury time. Those who had left the stadium surged forward to re-enter the venue but were prevented by security agents.
This resulted in a stampede, which left at least 67 fans dead. The scorer of the second goal reportedly said if he had the premonition that his goal would be the harbinger of death, he would have chosen not to score. Although 67 was the official figure declared, survivors and people who could not trace their loved ones claimed that the death toll could be as high as 340. This tragedy was not reported in the Russian media and it was not discussed in the open until 1989 because of press censorship of the then Soviet Union.
On April 15, 1989, an FA Cup semi final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield England ended in a tragedy. The kickoff for the match was 3pm but as at 2:45pm there were still many fans outside waiting to enter the stadium. The match kicked-off and huge crowds of fans were still outside. With over 5,000 fans struggling to enter through overcrowded areas of the stadium, there was a stampede leading to the death of 96 fans. Also on July 24, 2010, 21 people were killed in a stampede during the Love Parade electronic dance and music festival, in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
At least 27 people were also killed during Pushkaralu Festival as thousands pushed one another during religious bath in the Godovari River in India and on November 23, 2010, 340 were also killed at the Cambodia Water Festival on November 23, 2010. And just on Thursday, a stampede occurred killing over 700 pilgrims and injuring many more.
This is the deadliest disaster at Mina, Saudi Arabaia, since 1990, when 1,426 people died. The above tragedies show that stampedes occur mostly at sports, political, musical and religious events with the latter leading the pack. Despite these tragedies, people have not stopped visiting theatres, sports arenas or venues of religious festivals because going to those places is about passion and faith. It is for the same reason that the hajj tragedy in which a crane fell on pilgrims during a storm and Thursday's tragedy will not deter Muslims from fulfilling their religious obligation despite insinuations that tragedy ought not to happen in a holy land.
Besides, their faith has prepared their minds that death will come at the appointed time and there is no magic wand that can shift it even by a second.
The tragic event of September 11 in Saudi Arabia has also brought out the beauty of Islam in an ideal Islamic society. The family of each of the over 100 pilgrims that died in the incident will get N70 million while those who suffered permanent disabilities will get N30 million.
However, the payment will not deprive the families of the deceased as well as those injured from making further claims before the competent judicial authorities. Besides, two members each from the families of the deceased are to perform next year's hajj on account of the Saudi government while those still recuperating could send for members of their families to stay with them in hospitals at the expense of the government.
I juxtapose this with the tragedies that had occurred in Nigeria and their aftermath and conclude that we have never been blessed with sensitive governments. Life is irreplaceable, but compensation will bring at least a slight mitigation to those left behind by victims of tragedies. The vicious circle in Nigeria would have been to set up a panel, recommendations would be made but not implemented and everybody goes home until the next disaster.
http://newtelegraphonline.com/saudi-arabia-human-tragedies-and-spiritual-arrogance/
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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