The rising abuse of sirens on Nigerian roads by public office holders and other high-placed individuals has become a cause for concern. In the conversation below, Suleiman and Adeosun berate the unsociable act.

Suleiman: kai! Insanity on our highways. Terrible! Obnoxious!

Adeosun: What is it? Robbery operations?

Suleiman: No. It is another glorified criminal act. I am talking about the abuse of sirens on the roads. Here and there on the road, you hear sirens being blown anyhow.

Adeosun: You mean sirens shouldn't be blown on the highways? Do you know the status of those who blow these sirens while driving around?

Suleiman: It doesn't matter who they are.

Adeosun: The people in this act of blowing sirens on the highways are mostly individuals in the corridors of power.

Suleiman: And so what?

Adeosun: They feel the whole world is theirs. And as such, they must terrorise and intimidate the citizens under their care.

Suleiman: Is that a normal thing?

Adeosun: Who should answer this? I am sure you and I know that Nigeria is not a classless society. 'Some animals are more equal than others', you agree?

Suleiman: How does that apply to the abuse of sirens on the highways? Must we all accept this stupidity?

Adeosun: How do you want these people in positions of authority to register their presence on the roads? You want them to be passing the highways unnoticed? Or you want them to appear like ordinary citizens on the roads?

Suleiman: You're sounding too quizzical. Blowing sirens on the highway is becoming too arbitrary.

Adeosun: Arbitrary? What do you mean?

Suleiman: I have been to other countries of the world. I don't know of any country where the abuse of sirens is as frequent as in this country. In a civilised world, sirens are not blown for fun. They are blown when the situation demands. Only certain categories of service agents make us of sirens in countries where there is a high degree of respect for human dignity.

Adeosun: And what are those service agents?

Suleiman: The security agents, especially the police, whenever there is a need for them to respond to emergencies. Fire brigades and ambulances also use sirens to provide life support services. But what do we have in our own country?

Adeosun: Public office holders who blow sirens to clear the way.

Adeosun: You know the funny thing in this social mess?

Suleiman: What is it?

Adeosun: Most of the service agents that need sirens for their operations don't usually have functional sirens. Let there be an emergency situation that calls for police intervention and you would be surprised to see their responses stalled owing to either faulty vehicles or non-functional sirens despite the huge amounts of money usually claimed to have been expended on all these.

Suleiman: I agree, it is really a mess!

Adeosun: Yet, some individuals stealing the nation's commonwealth would want to show the whole world that they are on the road. Pomposity for nothing! They don't blow sirens only for the purpose of clearing the way. They blow them even when the roads are already clear.

Suleiman: Does that happen in any sane society?

Adeosun: Are you saying ours is not a sane society?

Suleiman: The fact speaks for itself. Whenever a siren is being blown on our highways, be sure of the personality(ies) passing-the President, Vice-President, governors and their deputies.

Adeosun: What about governors' wives, the so-called first ladies and all their mistresses whose convoys also terrorise motorists and other ordinary road users on the highway with sirens? I wonder how you would feel to see daughters and sons of these supermen being driven with sirens blown to clear the way for them.

Suleiman: I wouldn't feel anything different. After all, I have seen special advisers, special assistants, commissioners, ministers, local government chairmen and their so-called executive aides blowing sirens while driving in convoys on the highways. Madness of the highest order!

Adeosun: Na you call am madness. What then would you say of the traditional rulers who also blow sirens while driving around? Would you also call it madness?

Suleiman: It is the same madness!

Adeosun: What would you say of our senators and representatives who, after blowing sirens on the roads of Abuja, also go to their respective constituencies blowing sirens excessively to terrorise the hapless citizens who voted for them? These are men who are not ashamed of their failure to make any positive impact on their respective constituencies.

Suleiman: Madness is madness no matter who is involved. Do you know the folly in this self-indulgence?

Adeosun: That they are unconsciously turning to a nuisance on the highways?

Suleiman: Yes, because no one accords them any respect any more with sirens blown on the roads.

Adeosun: It is good that people now begin to see this unsociable act as arrogance and abuse of power.

Suleiman: It is not only a demonstration of arrogance or abuse of power; it is also a clear indication of empty showmanship.

Adeosun: What do sirens have to do with governance? Triviality!

Suleiman: It is more terrible to realise that this antisocial act of blowing sirens has severally caused accidents as it distracts the attention of innocent motorists on the roads.

Adeosun: Can you imagine that? In a country that claims to have regard for the rule of law. I wonder what the road safety officials are doing.

Suleiman: Road safety officials? What can they do? You want them to ask these super-human beings to obey the rules in a traffic jam? Can the officials even ask local government chairmen to do that?

Adeosun: But they are on the road to ensure safety.

Suleiman: We are in trouble because the so-called road safety officials themselves are always seen asking motorists to vacate the roads even when an ordinary first lady is passing.

Adeosun: This is too bad!

Suleiman: Don't forget this is Nigeria where the law is meant for the commoners alone. Our country is known for that all over the globe. Such is the battered image of our fatherland. Thanks to Madam Information for coming up with the campaign to rebrand the country.

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