BY AFOLABI GAMBARI

Ethiopia seemed a distant place from Nigeria in terms of geography. However, a negative breaking news report brought it closer in a twinkling of an eye. The fallout of to the information age! At 8.36 am local time in Addis Ababa on Sunday March 10, a Ethiopia Airways Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane crashed about 45 kilometers outside the capital, six minutes after it took off from Bole International Airport. The impact was immediate and it was devastating, leaving none of the 157 passengers and crew members on board alive. The world immediately went into grief as everyone awaited details from the authorities. Several countries’ nationals were involved in the crash, with Kenya having the highest casualty figure of 32, apparently because the ill-fated flight was headed for Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. Soon after the manifest was released, it dawned on Nigerians that they had lost two illustrious sons – Ambassador Abiodun Bashua and Prof. Pius Adesanmi. The latter had been taken aboard as Canadian, having since 2006 switched citizenship, while the former, a retired United Nations Headquarters staff, had been registered as the only Nigerian on board the aircraft. Nonetheless, their death imposed gloom on the nation as messages of sympathy poured in torrent. Bashua was not as well known among Nigerians as 47-year-old Adesanmi, who until his death was head of the Institute of African Studies at the Carlton University, Ottawa, Canada and had bestrode the Nigerian academic and social communities like a colossus for about two decades. All were unanimous that Nigeria was in a huge state of mourning as a result of the tragic loss of one of their own. Surprisingly, another sudden tragedy was in the offing. At about 10.20 am on Wednesday, March 13, a three-storey building situated on Massey Street at the Lagos Island, collapsed without any immediate signs. In the end, 20 persons, among who were children of a private school on the third floor lost their lives. Scores of others also sustained varying degrees of injuries, some critical. The building had accommodated residents and shop owners and many were of the view that it was unbefitting for a school environment. Interestingly, the death and injury were avoidable as several accounts revealed that the structure had long been faulted by the authorities as not having met the stipulated building construction requirements and consequently marked for demolition. Somehow, in the usual Nigerian way of circumventing the rules, the property owner had managed to escape the demolition order. Reports said a mother who had two children among the dead school kids was inconsolable after the incident. It was not the first time such building collapse would occur on the Lagos Island where law and order on erecting structures seem not to be the norm. Only a few would argue that it would be the last time either. It is whenever such disaster happens that blames would be apportioned and promises of ‘no-repetition’ of such deadly incident would be made. As expected, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode visited the scene on Thursday after which he proceeded to the hospital where the injured were receiving treatment. He also threatened to demolish all structures he described as ‘substandard’. Latest reports say that indeed, the Governor has made good his promise as bulldozers have actually commenced the demolition of the previously marked building on Lagos Island. Meanwhile, echoes of death were also heard from Borno, Zamfara and Kaduna States during the past week. In Borno, the Nigerian forces claimed ‘victory’ over Boko Haram insurgents who they said that they killed in their numbers. In Zamfara, however, bandits who have been spiriting their way in and out of villages on the outskirts of the state capital Kebbi for months slipped in yet again, snuffing lives out of innocent people. It did not appear as if security forces were effective in nipping that in the bud. In Kaduna, communal clashes seemed to have resumed as casualties were recorded with more lives in danger. The coming days had better be peaceful to wipe away the outgone torrid week. That is the hope of Nigerians.