By Ebele Orakpo

Traffic was moving slowly on the Abuja – Keffi road on this beautiful and tranquil Tuesday morning and suddenly, the tranquility was shattered by the blaring of siren from an ambulance carrying a corpse probably to its home town for burial.

“What is the meaning of this for God’s sake. Why must they disturb the peace of everyone?” shouted Isa, irritation written all over his face.

“Can’t you see it is an ambulance?” asked Mary.

“Of course I can see. I am not blind,” retorted Isa.

“So you should stop complaining. Ambulances are not supposed to be stuck in traffic due to the nature of their job. If they are delayed in traffic, the patient may die before getting to the hospital. That is why they need the siren to clear the road for them,” lectured Mary.

“You mean they carry only patients?” asked Isa. Just then the ambulance zoomed past and Zainab, another commuter in the passenger bus commented: “The guy is carrying a corpse, look at the coffin lying on the floor of the vehicle.”

“See? So why the hurry? Why disturb our peace?” asked Isa smugly, feeling justified over his initial outburst.

“For goodness sake, the poor guy is dead so where are they rushing to?” asked Tony, taking interest in the discussion for the first time.

“Judgement!” blurted Zainab. “His case has probably been called up and he is yet to get there.”

“Oh please! What judgement? At the High Court or Supreme Court? There is no need for all these. The guy has already gone to face his Creator as soon as he drew his last breath. All these other things we do here are just vanity. Before a man leaves this earth, he would have known his stand with his Creator,” preached Isa.

“The truth is that in our society, using the siren is a status symbol, so people tend to abuse it,” said Mary.

The discussion shifted to our leaders as a police van carrying some policemen (who from all indications were not on any serious assignment) came along, with siren blaring, disturbing the entire neighbourhood, coupled with the blazing heat of the sun. Commuters could be heard hissing.

“Are these people blind? Can’t they see there is traffic hold-up? Why are they bent on adding to our misery? The heat is killing, the dust is another matter and here they are, adding noise to the whole mix,” commented Steve.

“That is typical of them or what else do you expect from them?” asked Mike.

“The IG should call them to order. Why use siren? Where are they going to? Instead of getting down from their vehicle and clearing the road to ensure free flow of traffic, they are there making noise. Well, let them jump over all the vehicles, what are they waiting for? “ asked Joe angrily.

Narrated Steve: “The last time I travelled to Benin from Lagos, it was the same problem, meanwhile, it was their men obstructing traffic with their unnecessary check points. It was so annoying.”

“The day I began to respect Gov. Fashola of Lagos State was the day I attended Bishop Oyedepo’s son’s wedding,” stated Phil. “He was mingling freely with the people, without putting on airs. And when he was leaving, he left quietly without noise, no siren, no eye-service guards. I was highly impressed. This means there is hope for Nigeria.”

“He is an example for other politicians to follow. Not only is he performing, he is also doing it quietly, unlike the noisemakers we have in some places. Anyway, empty barrels make the most noise,” noted Emeka.