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04.12.2015 Feature Article

Let’s Not Invite More Floods!!!

Lets Not Invite More Floods!!!
04.12.2015 LISTEN

Whether we are prepared or not, it is not for me to say! We couldn’t have forgotten so soon the evil that gnawed scores of priceless lives with its horrendous teeth on that fateful Wednesday. I am referring to that Wednesday we called ‘black’ since it stole our sight and our widely opened eyes remained dim in broad day light.

I mean that Wednesday when pitiless people couldn’t help but burry their chins in their palms, and tears drenched the stony heart in the sweltering sun. I am only a boy and can’t be discussing incidents that happened decades ago, so understand that I am talking about yesterday; exactly six months ago! June 3, 2015!

If indeed our memories have failed us, then with troubled hearts we must go back into the archives. Both the print and the electronic media still hold pictures and videos of the gruesome and gory corpses that our minds could see even after we had shut our eyes. Till date, they are still glaring in our eyes and fresh on our minds.

The few rains that have visited us after our black Wednesday have truly been liberal to us. Although they flooded some areas and threatened to seize any creature that came its path, no soul got lost. These few peaceful floods are probably harbingers of dreadful ones

It wasn’t by mere coincidence that we saw a heavy downpour this day which happens to be exactly 6 months of the tragedy. Perhaps it was a reminder of that dreadful incidence. Although the considerable amount of rainfall succeeded in flooding some areas, including the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, thank God it seized no man’s breath.

Plunged in the heart of Kwame Nkrumah Circle by fate, I was terrified by how crowds scavenged available shades with the hope of finding what they might call the safest place. It appeared that vehicles were reluctant to arrive at their respective stations, let alone convey frustrated and frightened passengers who would have vanished into their homes if they could. Perhaps the Solomon at that moment was yearning to leave the inner perimeters of Circle. But, how safe is the safest place?

Their somewhat cowardice is quite comprehensible, if we ponder over the infamous cliché “once bitten, twice shy”. Indeed he who is bitten by the snake flees from the worm. That June 3 disaster shall forever plague our emotions, unless rains elude us altogether. This is as impossible as the night that planned to block the day; the rains shall always come without our notice!

The pledges of every well-meaning citizen to prevent floods are realistic and attainable. From deep within their hearts, our leaders vowed to build better drainage systems. Each strategic plan was documented and signed for future action. We, even in our bitterness, swore to shun practices that invited floods. “We shall never build in waterways! “We shall never dump refuse into gutters!”, we told ourselves.

What percentage of our vows and promises has been fulfilled? A good number of our pledges still stream on the internet, and traces of those vows are still in the browning and tattering newspapers. Does it profit us, when those unfulfilled promises keep lingering on our lips?

Idealism has worked for several countries, but pragmatism is ideal for this country. If we, as a people, can’t transform our dreams and plans into actions, then we are certainly inviting more deaths which already hang on our heads in the near future! Darius Adjong ( [email protected] )

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