By Patrick Ochei
Midwifery Market is located along Okpanam Road, just immediately after the NNPC Filling Station, still within the Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. The market derived its name by the popular Delta State School of Midwifery which is within the same vicinity.
It’s truism that the Midwifery market is a place for buying and selling of food and other house items, which started as a business enterprise and still holds that status. It is believed to be owned by an individual who years back saw the need to site the market as a result of a surging population and development around the Okpanam axis, which is satellite to Asaba capital city. But beyond buying and selling at the market, there are other activities of interest that go on within the market environment. This will definitely interest you to know.
As a nosy journalist, I decided to embark on a curiosity voyage one of these nights that I got bored at home and decided to take a walk. Not just a walk, I drove my car in the cool of the night and was surprised to notice heavy movements around the market. I landed there, parked my car, remained inside and watched keenly the activities of the night. I was equally on red alert, fearing imminent attack by these bad boys that have continued to maraud unabated at the market. We hear that the market environment is a breeding ground for cultists and drug peddlers, and so if not careful, they may suspect a kind of surveillance and strike.
From past 11pm, I started noticing different kinds of movement by should I say daughters of Jezebel? But these are beautiful creatures of God, except that this class chose the easy way, thereby becoming daughters of easy virtues. I saw female teenagers, some older by size, walking about innocently and up and down the popular hotel around the place. I see, the hotel’s outside corridors serve as a meeting point. Guys come there to make their choices, price the products as they rate their values and go home with their products which are in female forms.
Okada, keke and taxi are equally big businesses around, as they kept on ferrying in and out those of them that the trading favours. It was obviously an exchange of money and body for the night or just for few minutes. But something was going on non-stop.
Those bad guys around were on their own part, parading up and down, smoking and sagging. The cars that were parked along the road also served them to rest their backs and possibly engage any of the girls in quickie romance. After all, they have them free on the basis of window shopping, and they also serve as some sort of protection to the girls at the spot.
But I fear who no fear these girls sha. I was astonished that as the night was getting deadlier, these free emotion angels were just walking up and down in the midst of alleged criminals. I sat in my car watching some girls hopped into cars of total strangers just to go and exchange their God given good nature for money. Do they even fear that those hours in the arms of a total stranger could lead to their end? At this time of ritual killings everywhere? That’s the one that fears me the most. But unfortunately, all what these girls think about is the money, not the consequence of their actions.
In the midst of all these, some of the traders who were getting ready to park their wares, also use the night to park dirts and dump the refuse by the median of the road. Oh, this too! I pity my dear State and those in charge of keeping the environment clean and safe. No Wonder the issue of ravaging flood never abates in Asaba. It can’t, because some of these market people dump their refuse inside the gutters and along the roads; and as it rains, the refuse goes to block waterways, thereby causing erosion and damaging roads.
At a point, I got so irritated that I almost got down to challenge some of the women dumping the refuse. And I immediately remembered I was on a stinge operation at an unholy hour in a dangerous terrain. Anything could happen. I quickly restrained myself. In that state, I remembered Hon. Joan Onyemaechi (Ada Anioma) as the then DG of Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency. These were the challenges she faced. Who could be like her again? She was remarkable as she was able to tame these environmental disasters. Now they have resurfaced. History will keep Ada Anioma in a golden area of its records.
It was an all night long investigation. When I looked sideways of the Midwifery junction, I still see traders selling, in particular, those preparing indomie noodles, those selling food and the homeless abokis. The day was getting dawn and yet, no hibernation on the part of these traders in the night. This was just more than the night rain. I suddenly remembered I left a family at home; and I needed them to continue my journalistic expeditions.
At the time I put on my car and zoomed off, those by the side were surprised that someone was inside the car. May be if I had made myself visible, I would have had a customer, if not for the night, but at least to keep me company in the car. But that’s not my thing. Actually, I was even praying in my mind for God to just grant them mercy and make them to experience instant turnaround behaviour.
Can we entirely blame this class of people for behaving deviantly? No.
No in the sense that Government has not realised that it has a constitutional responsibility to every citizen in terms of their security and well-being. What measures has the Government put in place to check these kinds of menace? Who is to blame when citizens don’t have Government’s educational, security, economic, etc protections and instead, decide to embark on self help?
What about the parents? What happens to parenting in this contemporary age and time? Where have our parents missed it?
What about the educational system? What lessons are the teachers inculcating in our future leaders? Are people still patriotic in our society, who should have a duty to do their work with passion and dedication?
A lot of things in our society, particularly quality leadership has failed our youths who are supposed to be the active segment of the society. The youths instead of learning and growing with patience for patriotism and capacity, are channelling their energy into the wrong ventures, and at the end, they turn out to be a disaster to the entire system. God help us!
But unless something drastic is done, our society is gradually turning into the present day Sodom and Gomorrah. A serious anarchy is brewing within the Nigerian system called society. We must rise to the challenge and go back to the drawing board immediately. Value reorientation, anchored on transparency and accountability of the leaders, is the solution.
Comrade (Deacon) Patrick Nweike Ochei is the Secretary, NUJ Delta State Council, Publisher, Anioma Trust Newspapers and Member, Delta State Child’s Rights Implementation Committee.