Stampedes are nothing new. But the one which happened in Nigeria during the Immigration Job recruitment exercise last week should make our political leaders ashamed. They have failed this Country; they have failed the youths of this Country.

Media reports are full of incidents of stampedes. But as far as Nigerians are concerned, until last week, stampedes happen in far places like China, India, Cambodia, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, during religious festivals or pilgrimages.

Early this year, a deadly stampede occurred at a mosque in China, as religious cakes were being shared. The stampede resulted from people’s surge to obtain the hallowed cake. Another happened in India during the funeral of a famous spiritual leader, killing and injuring many.

In 2010, thousands died in Cambodia following a stampede that occurred at the end of a three-day Water Festival. Iraq recorded many deaths during a Shia pilgrimage in 2005. People were trampled to death and Saudi Arabia, venue of the annual Hajj, also has its own share of stampedes.  Closer home in Africa, we recall that a stampede occurred in Ghana on May10, 2001 during a World Cup qualifying match between two local teams, killing 126.

What is common to these different stampedes is that they happened during religious and sporting events, with high emotionalism. This is why the Nigerian Stampede which occurred on March 15th, during a job recruitment exercise organized by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) will always stand out as bizarre and shameful. Who have ever heard about stampede in an exam hall? Strangely, the NIS chose to hold the examination not a job fair, in the open – a stadium!

The Liberty Stadium in Port Harcourt has a capacity for 16,000 but 23,000 youngsters cramped into it and, soon, liberty turned into captivity, killing people. This scenario was replicated in several centres across the country, including Lagos and Abuja, where seven died and 50 fainted.

Conservative figures put the death toll at 20. The stampede at the various venues resulted from people either trying to gain entrance into the venue or jostling to obtain the insufficient question papers, in a pre-planned examination with a specific number of candidates. Perhaps, there is some truth in the saying that Nigeria cannot plan anything except a coup.

Unfortunately, these were happening while the world was still watching the Sanusi saga and the butchery Boko Haram. The NIS opted to escalate the drama by exposing its incompetence and insensitivity to plight of millions of our impoverished and jobless youths.

In 2011, youth unemployment was put at 23 per cent. We know it has doubled and even tripled because Government has not taken any serious measure to address it. The NIS advertised 10,000 positions and received six million applications, with each person paying N1000 application fee. Do the math. Yet, what the youngsters got in the end were death and disillusionment.  Cancelling the exam doesn’t ease the pain, neither does honoring the families of the deceased.

The Immigration boss has blamed the stampede on poor crowd control but this is not good enough, given that the turnout was expected.  Was the stadium the best venue for an examination? If the NIS was unsure of how to go about it, why didn’t it consult JAMB, WAEC and similar bodies with a history of conducting national exams? Also, could the exams not have been staggered so that the applicants could take them on different days or in batches?

Clearly, this is a country that has no regard for life and safety – a nation that has no plans to alleviate the suffering and discomfort of its people.  If the youth are truly the future of a nation, Nigeria doesn’t seem to know. Youth unemployment, like the electricity malady, is the biggest problem in Nigeria. Every unemployed youth is an additional danger to this nation.

The Jonathan administration has yet to demonstrate any seriousness with creating jobs for the youth.  Where are the industries and factories that can create employment?  Where is the infrastructure to drive industrial activity? What happened to the old apprenticeship scheme introduced to help youths gain skills? What incentives are being given to encourage self employment?

Undoubtedly, Nigerian youths are hurting and haemorrhaging to death from unemployment. The future of this country is being severely harmed by corruption, mismanagement and disorganization. It is not enough that the Federal Government has given jobs posthumously to families of the deceased youths. It is also not a panacea that the examination has been cancelled.  After all, there will be a repeat exam and there’s no guarantee it will be better planned this time, since the country is now allergic to planning and organization.

What is needed is a lasting solution to our mess – the stampede is only a sign of the deeper and more deadly problems facing us. May the souls of all our ‘Jobless’ dead youths rest in peace.

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