The Courage Of Martyrdom – Clutching Life From The Jaws Of Death Via A Burning Tanker
He could have been forgiven if he had bailed out immediately his tanker carrying combustible fuel for delivery to a filling station caught fire. It would not have mattered that the combustion started in a crowded part of the town of Agbarho in Nigeria’s Delta State.
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Not even the so-called MOG’s would have done this for their flock. Ejiro Otarigho, the tanker driver, is a true hero in a country searching for one.
I watched the video several times and shook my head in wonder at the amazing feat this driver performed. The selfless, in fact, self-sacrificing action he took in a life-threatening situation without one iota of consideration for his own safety but with immense concern and focus on prevention of needless loss of lives of others he doesn’t even know! Ejiro is a living martyr.
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He is still alive, but he had given his life in order that others may live. Ejiro is in another incarnation!
Did you see the smile on his face while covered with sooth on successful escape from the burning trailer after driving it to a bush path where it can cause no deaths and destruction? That is the smile of a fulfilled man. A man who has achieved his aim of altruistic service to humanity, risking his life so that others may live.
Not for him fear and trepidation that he has just escaped death. No evidence of high blood pressure from that tension-soaked maneuver. No anger at the folks who saw this as a Nollywood drama and all they were interested in was their video recordings.
You could hear one of them yelling at others to go open the door to help the man out of the burning truck – no, not himself, let others go. If it was to share money or be a ‘delegate’ he would have been at the forefront. Typical Nigerian attitude….
There are several lessons to learn from this story with a happy ending. Ejiro risked his life to save others, but this will change his life for the better. Better than he ever dreamt of in his lifetime.
Did not the bible say that whoever chooses to save his life would lose it but those who lose their life doing good) would keep it or words to that effect? Read Luke 17:33. Ejiro ‘lost’ his life yet he is alive today. Yet we have seen many dive out of such a vehicle to avoid certain death and yet die through fractures sustained!
In our armed forces are there no examples of commanders who abandon their troops in the heat of battle? Are there no examples of Politicians who left their injured police orderlies at accident scenes to avoid ‘danger’ to themselves? But again, there has been a sprinkling of unsung heroes in Nigeria.
There was the story of a Commander – the late Brigadier-General Maxwell Khobe – who led the Nigeria intervention forces in the liberation of Sierra Leone and was in fact made the war-torn country’s Chief of Defense Staff.
When RUF forces closed in, he was advised to evacuate in a helicopter to avoid certain death or capture by the insurgents. He refused and first ensured all the soldiers were evacuated to safety through several flights – he was even helping to load wounded privates into the helicopters without consideration for his own safety.
At the time the helicopter, at last, came for him, the rebels were at a shooting distance, and he was lucky to have made it out alive.
General Khobe was ready to lay down his life for his troops! Did his nation honor him? However, I recall that at his burial, Sierra Leone sent a powerful delegation and even published a full-page advertorial (in the Guardian, I think) of his exploits and their immense gratitude.
It is gratifying that the Delta State Government has appreciated his heroism and gifted him the sum of two million naira. The gesture is appreciated but miniscule, to say the least.
How much did they pay delegates at their last Presidential primaries? Is what those delegates did comparable to Ejiro’s dangerous feat? Why would manipulable political delegates with all expenses paid get $10,000 allegedly, and Ejiro gets $3,333? What is a Delta citizen’s life worth?
Two million naira cannot buy a Tokunbo 2004 model Toyota corolla! If the Delta State government is serious, they ought to buy the man a replacement tanker lorry. No more, no less.
All those who happily bought forms for N100m should show they love this country by showing love to Ejiro. They do not have to donate N100m each, just a collective N100m will be appreciated by Nigerians, Ejiro and God.
Let them mobilize those generous souls who allegedly ‘bought’ forms for them. They can collectively buy a single trailer even if Tokunbo! This is the time to show that that show of shame was not a fluke or subterfuge.
Atiku needs to atikulate with Ejiro and the Jagaban Borgu needs to dip into his bullion van. Peter Obi can prove cantankerous and greedy Father Mbaka wrong this time. Where is Pastor Bakare?
He didn’t spend anything above the N100m form fee. So, now he can spend the savings he made by not spending on delegates and having a zero vote of which he is so proud. Am I communicating or do I say this in Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo people?
Ejiro is a hero and needs to be celebrated in this season when what to celebrate has been so scarce in Nigeria.
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He must consider relocating to Lagos where he can live anonymously as the loud donations and massive press coverage would keep those militants and kidnappers salivating and hoping for, and planning how to get their cut.
Lastly, there are too many petroleum tankers on our roads. They, and the cement trailers, are the reasons our roads do not last, potholes develop and, in a few months, the roads are impassable.
Can the petroleum minister please get the depots across the country working again to save our lives and road infrastructure? Does it make sense to build new roads and let petrol tankers destroy them due to the abandonment of the petroleum depots we used valuable resources to build and maintain?
A little sound thinking and appropriate actions will help our governance and stop us from moving around in circles and arriving at nowhere.
Lagos. 22nd June 2022 – Austin Isikhuemen
Download the first chapter of The Storytelling Series: Beginners’ Guide for Small Businesses & Content Creators by Obehi Ewanfoh.
