MV Nyerere, The Ill-fated Tanzanian Vessel by Oladehinde Ibikunle

MV Nyerere, The Ill-fated Tanzania Vessel

Here, in our dear Africa, things which betray the notion of common sense happen in predictable successions. While governments (of her various countries) raise eye brows to express their discountenance, they do almost nothing to abate the probability of such lugubrious happenstance from happening in the nearest future. Lip service they call it. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that the only things African leaders do wholeheartedly and with utmost depth of seriousness is attaining and retaining political offices even  if such mandate is against the people's will.

Though somewhat lagging, Africa has not hesitated in embracing the technologies of the advanced continents but Africa has failed woefully in putting in place measures to reduce the disadvantages of these modern technologies. We cannot imagine land transportation (whether rail or road) without regarding the fact that road crashes and derailing are probable. We want to fly in aircraft but we are flippant in making sure we fly safely. We put in place ferry to move our citizens and goods on waterways but put in place zero safety precautions in cases of unpredictable accidents. This is the apparent case of the recent mishap of the ferry, MV Nyerere in Tanzania where lives of innocent and hapless Tanzanians were lackadaisically wasted.

How do you explain without contradicting simple logic that a ferry with the capacity of about hundred passengers was made to ply the lagoon with over three hundred people on board? As if that was not enough, there were reports that cargoes of maize and other farm produce were stocked in the ferry. Tell me, isn't that suicidal?

As an African who understands how absurdities are surreptitiously perpetuated, I am convinced that the ill-fated MV Nyerere would have been overburdened with overload on countless voyages before it eventually surrendered to weariness on 20th of September, 2018. It is either the government of Tanzania and its ministry of transportation have failed in their duty of ensuring safe voyages especially in the supervisory aspects or some officials have compromised the ethics of their job by allowing such suicidal overload.

But then, such a number of poor, innocent Tanzanians cannot pay for some people's misconduct and negligence with their lives. It is a monumental injustice that four days national mourning cannot vindicate.  Let appropriate investigation be professionally made and those found to have educed this doom be arrested and doomed by the law. The ministry of (water) transportation should be subjected to intense scrutiny to determine whether or not the ministry has failed in its ministerial duty of ensuring the safety of commuters and travellers. The operator of the ferryboat, Tanzanian Electrical,
Mechanical and Services Agency (TEMESA), should also be probed. Her operating license should be revoked for she cannot guarantee the safety of her passengers. Whether by government or by whomever is concerned, enough life jackets should be provided in Tanzanian vessels, life boats should be made available in vessels for without life boats, the case of Titanic would have been worse. Helicopter should be provided with life guards patrolling over lakes and lagoons to save lives in emergency cases. Anything fall short of these recommendations, gives the impression that the safety of water transportation in Tanzania and Africa at large is unsure.

© Oladehinde Ibikunle.