The bombs that fell our bridge at fourth mile were launched by no one but us. We all hold responsibility and the falling bridge exposes our sad social environment. To put a blame would only justify our blame game we so comfortably play within our society.
We look at the causes why our bridge fell and not at what caused the causes. One cause was stone harvesting on the river bed .The side effects were not immediate so it went on. We cannot blame the stone business because it was an opportunity and they took it. Everyone has a right to earn and if the barriers to that earning was not strict ,who would not use it. Take a look at the alternate bridge construction agenda. If the land compensation offered to the land owners were not satisfying we cannot blame anyone. The owners have their right to stall the process. If the construction contractors faced taxation hurdles we cannot blame them for their necessary contingencies and time lapse. If the whole process was taxable we cannot blame the taxing agents as well. We look at the story of cuts and commissions and wonder but fail to understand that this story is not subjected to us alone but the whole world functions thus.
Everyone of us who used that bridge can be blamed because we weakened it everytime we crossed it. The authorities could have been more stringent but who would want to destabilize democratic freedom of movement in a democracy when the I told you so or warned you so answer is not immediate but long term.
The real moral responsibility falls on our fault ridden society and just how human culture has evolved. But then again where will you find a faultless society.The idea is to work towards a faultless society. One sure way is to avoid the blame circle. Our bridge has fallen but our hopes should not. We lose hope when we blame. Our bridge will be raised again so must our level of understanding of our world.
Ayeto Ayemi
