Our environment is finite, and this is why concerted efforts are put in place globally to protect it. Environmental degradation has direct consequences on sustainable development, as evident in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria, caused by petroleum industry activities. As I was reviewing lecture series with some petroleum geology undergraduates, the issue of oil spillage with its consequences on the environment was a prime topic. I ran through for them the key factors responsible for oil spillages in the Niger Delta, namely; Equipment Failure, Human Error, Sabotage and Theft; which led to more curiosity. “What is the best way to handle a spillage?” I simply told them that the best way to handle an oil spillage is to avoid it.
I have deliberately used the above preamble to illustrate that there are certain events or occurrences that are better avoided than allowed to happen. The most critical is one that might lead to the loss of human life, because of its finality. It is indeed a sad commentary on our capacity to plan that we have continually lost precious lives in attempts to assemble human beings for one thing or the other. You will recall that during a church programme to distribute some food items in Port Harcourt a couple of years ago, lives were lost as stampedes occurred. In Abuja, as the Immigration was carrying out a recruitment exercise involving the distribution of forms, lives were lost from stampede. In Lagos, as the Customs was selling cheap bags of rice to interested individuals, human lives were lost. Just today, In Nasarawa State University, as the government was making available bags of rice to students, lives were also lost from stampede. All these are as a result of our incapacity to manage large numbers. This reinforces the management dictum that: YOU CANNOT MANAGE WHAT YOU FAIL TO MEASURE.
As our prayers and thoughts reach out to the bereaved families, we must begin to wonder why we are not learning from any of these tragedies. Is it as a result of mental laziness, debarring us from planning properly before embarking on these worthy exercises or that we are unmindful of the consequences of crowd or mob action? But I believe that when we consider the numbers of people that may be involved, the quantity of materials that we have, coupled with the venue for such events, these tragedies may not occur or at worst reduced to the barest minimum. The Nasarawa university tragedy is most inexplicable, considering the quality of people there in that environment, and knowing that there are faculties, departments or even hostels that can be organized for such massive distribution of scarce food items.
It is really gravely sad that in all these tragic events where human dignity was debased and human lives lost, there are no sanctions as a deterrent. This is why these ugly irreversible tragedies have continued to recur. No resignations and no firing of culpable individuals responsible for these lapses. This translates to compromised leadership. Let us remember that in management, job functions come with levels of authority and responsibility.
YOU CAN DELEGATE AUTHORITY, BUT YOU CANNOT DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITY. Period.
•Sir Jonas writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
