Montage...How Safe Are You?

Another Montage article for you guys. A couple of things before you start reading. The main character, if you will, is a really integral part of this article for me and I couldn't have written it without her help. Sharon, thank you very much for opening up to me about your experience. I only wish I could have done your story more justice. 

You can find her blog here: http://howtomakeitindubai.blogspot.ae/ and the article referred to below here: http://howtomakeitindubai.blogspot.ae/2013/01/how-to-be-wuss.html

Also a couple of you might see your names pop up in here...thanks for your contribution it meant a lot and provided great balance to my rather haphazard attempt.

Enjoy ;)

How safe are you?

How often do you hear a police or ambulance siren in Dubai? That probably depends on what part of Dubai you live in. But when last did you get up to look out your window when your neighbour’s car alarm went off? Did you ignore the noise because you don’t care or is it in fact because you feel like Dubai is a safer place than most? If you often leave the cocoon that Dubai creates for us or if you’ve lived anywhere else before, you’ve probably realised how safe we are here by now.

The people I spoke to around Knowledge Village listed qualities such as a stable government with a cautious foreign policy, good economy, lower crime rates and strict laws. Tola, a UOWD student said “the tourism drive of the Dubai government is key in ensuring security. Why? People don’t go to unstable or chaotic places and as Dubai’s economy in the 21^st century revolves around tourism the need for security cannot be overemphasised.” An article in Huffington Post seems to agree with this as Dubai was ranked the 7^th safest city in the world by TripAdvisor.  It was liked by 11 people and disliked by 10.

One person who might have disagreed with this ranking is Sharon, and Indo-Canadian piano teacher in Dubai who had a worrisome experience here recently. On a blog entry on her personal blog howtomakeitindubai.blogspot.ae on the 25^th of January this year she gave a detailed account of her experience. The entry titled “How to be a wuss” describes what at the very best can be called solicitation or sexual harassment and at worst attempted rape.  Thankfully she had a lucky escape but did not report the incident. Why?

One reason stated by Jennifer and Paulette, two 2^nd year students from Middlesex University, is that they feel like locals often have the upper hand. “If I’m reporting a local to the authorities they would probably back them over me as they value and protect their people so much” says Jennifer. She goes on to explain that she has never actually tried it and this is just a matter of perception which makes her feel rather vulnerable especially as a student in Dubai.

This imbalanced perception of safety created by Dubai varies with each person I speak to. One thing that keeps ringing in my head however: with these apparently obscured views on safety and security, what happens if we leave the safety of Dubai?

Nigeria is why I hate politics and politicians.

I weep for my country. I'm sad because most of us are too ignorant to know what we have and those that do know are too scared, unable or unwilling to do anything with their knowledge. Knowledge is power my foot. In Nigeria all too often knowledge is prohibitive. I'm sad because we are too content with the way everything is.

Yes people are dying, but it's not my family so who cares??
Yes people are laundering money but I have food to eat and it's not like I can do anything about it can I??
Yes my neighbour is getting robbed but if I try to help it'll all end up on my head and I have enough problems of my own thank you very much!!
It's happening but it's not my problem; let someone else take care of it.

If we constantly wait for someone else to take care of it then who ACTUALLY takes care of anything? We live our problems to someone else and they pile up like dirty plates in a kitchen sink. Charity begins at home; wash your plates.

Nigeria needs to wake up; at home and abroad we need to wake up. Your country is falling to ruins and you're sleep-walking in No Man's Land. What needs to happen for you to open your eyes?? Our president is pardoning thieves and keeping them in political offices. Government officials are saying no to helping the country's youth but yes to buying overpriced sports cars to celebrity couples. Planes are falling out of the sky like birds whose wings have been clipped and no one is being held accountable. The old voices are going one by one, clearing the way for young activism but there seems to be none to take its place.

While all of this is happening in the motherland what are you doing??

What am I doing??!! Nothing!! We're all doing nothing. SOMEONE has to have a better plan than "let's sit and see how this all pans out". I know I'm not the only one with a passion for the future of Nigeria. I can't be the only one thinking these things. I'm most definitely not the only one doing nothing.

I despair at the fate of our country and the selfishness of its youth. I worry that the only answer anyone seems to have is for us to become part of the system. We are all creative and resourceful people; let's think outside the box a little bit.

Source:
http://free-extras.com/images/homer_and_a_doughnut-1088.htm

The politicians and government officials?? They are sucking us dry. One day you'll wake up and the headlines will say something like "Nigeria has been dissolved". Like a bankrupt business, they'll melt us down and merge us with surrounding countries because greed made our bellies fat but our knees weak.