OPINIONS: NOTE: this is the opinion of the writer and may not neccesary be the opinion of Nigeria: my beloved countrys editors. Events which unfolded during the immigration exam deaths and fatal casualties. Numero Uno wrote: EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT OF HAPPENINGS AT NIS EXAM 2014, ELEKAHIA STADIUM-RIVERS STATE I really wasnt sure I was going to write this, but after reading Abba Moros supposed comment which blamed the dead applicants 4 their demise, I just found my hand reaching for a pen. The NIS exams in Port Harcourt was scheduled to compensate for the #1000 coerced out of applicants. No amount of planing or preparation went into it. I hold this view because 4 hours into the scheduled time for the exams, most officials were yet to arrive while applicants were left to wander aimlessly outsyd d stadium gates. However, not all applicants were left to suffer this discouraging fate. Few applicants who obviously had demi-god statuses by virtue of being connected to top officials were allowed into the stadium for whatever reason while we mere mortals were strictly kept outside the gate by some gun-totting security officials. Now, every Nigerian eventualy gets used to the man-know- man state of affairs in this country, so we hardly batted an eyelid even as we saw our co-applicants receiving special treatment. Instead, we just looked on in harmless envy and a healthy dose of cynicism. But events literaly took a turn for the worse when at about 11 Oclock, all applicants were asked to line up to be allowed through a scarcely open gate by few officials after they must have been checked to ensure that they(the applicants) were up to the 1.65 and 1.68 metres height for females and males respectively. When after about an hour, the queue was still practically at a stand still, applicants immediately followed the example of an NIS official who had climbed the gate to address them. While applicants were jumping the gate to get inside, NIS officials had to resort to the strident measure of shooting guns(at d sky) nd offloading canisters of tear gas on applicants for order to be restored. And that was wen pandemonium broke loose. To protect their dear lives, applicants started runnin in all directions, not minding who might be stepped on and injured in the process. During the severe pushing and shoving, people were shoved, pushed down, trodden upon and left for dead. Also original documents like NYSC Discharge Certs, BSc nd WAEC results were also destroyed(we had been asked to bring original certificates for accreditation-which did nt take place, by the way). After the Exam co-ordinators had come back to their senses, gates were thrown wide open and applicants allowed inside. On entering the gate, applicants who were ranging from exhausted and sweaty to collapsed were seen lying to one side of the gate and inside some ambulance cars. Now, the irony of the whole situation is that most of the officials who were asking people to return to their houses for being shorter than the accepted height were themselves far shorter than the applicants. Inside the stadium, officials couldnt quite make up their minds on what next to do. Some of our demi- god co-applicants(remember them?) were already through with the physical fitness test and were casualy sitted, waiting for the written exams to begin... After about an hour of milling about mindlessly, the examination cordinators asked all applicants with a BSc result to move over to one side of the stadium, while those with HND, ND, NCE and so on would remain together. In his words: Do u expect urselves to write the same exam with graduates(BSc holders)? I wld lyk to derail a bit by askin if HND holders are NOT graduates. Y were they given a different(and easier?) exam from BSc holders? When it finaly looked like the crowd had settled down, a fresh group of abt 20 cordinators decended on the BSc holders and applicants were asked to leave for being too short, above 35yrs(pls hw do u determine dat) and for being fat(mind you, they didnt say anything about body weight during application). After d population must hve bn reduced by half, another female official who was on lowcut proceede to walk around and ask female applicants to repack their hair, remove their earrings and necklaces(hw does dat affect the exams?). Finally, at abt 3:30pm amidst a light drizzle, question papers were distributed. Lo and behold, it was Quantitative Reasoning(Almighty MATHS)! But hw were we 2 get our acts 2geda enough 2 reason quantitatively while suffering the effects of stress, hunger, tiredness etc? After the farce of an exam, we were asked to go and sin no more. Sans physical fitness test. I have just some pertinent questions for Abba Moro and NIS: *Wat did u do with the 30milion received from Rivers state alone that you couldnt at least use half a milion to prepare for the exams? *Hw did u EVER imagine that less than 40 officials could handle 30thousand applicants? *Since when did only mathematics become the deciding factor for ones competence in an English-oriented job? *If you had smethn against fat ppl, y didnt u say so on your website? Or did u keep quiet just to get their money 1st? *Y didnt u jst come out and appeal that we donate a thousand naira to ur accounts? U didnt hve 2 go 2 d stress of killing some of us to get ur hands on our money! Somehow, Ive gotten used to hearing our Nigerian leaders spout thrash. But blaming the dead for their death? ABBA MORO HAS CERTAINLY MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF. What do you think about the writers thoughts?
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:53:31 +0000