Commentary, Opinion

The National Maulid Wake-Up Call: Why We Need To Pay Attention To Crowd Control Now

For an event like the National Maulid hosted by our National Chief Imam, His Eminence Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, I expected nothing short of a massive turnout for the climax of this year’s edition at New Fadama, as has always been the case. But what I witnessed was far beyond anything I anticipated.

It was a literal sea of humanity. The location, and especially the choked roads surrounding the Fadama School Park, simply could not contain the sheer volume of people. Because prominent figures like the former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Interior Minister (representing the President) and other dignitaries were in attendance, security and organization were quite satisfactory inside the main venue. The reason was simple- the VVIPs were there.

Unfortunately, the exact opposite was happening right outside the school park gates.

With every single inch of space tightly packed with men, women, the young, and the elderly, it quickly degenerated into a “survival of the fittest” situation. It was a chaotic mess of relentless jostling, pushing, pulling, and elbowing as patrons desperately tried to navigate their way to and from the venue. To make matters worse, there were only about three narrow pathways acting as entry and exit points. Combine that with the absolute recklessness of some motor riders ‘displaying’ around the event area, and it felt like our traffic laws had completely gone on holiday.

After enduring the suffocating squeeze, being aggressively shoved around, and having my colleague’s sandal literally torn off in the melee, I thanked my stars, moved far away from the crowd, and vowed not to return to the main venue again, at least not that evening.

As I left the venue, one thing became glaringly obvious: we have not learned much in crowd management, even after the tragic 2001 May 9th stadium disaster and the recent deadly stampede at the El-Wak Sports Stadium. Although the context of these events may differ, the catastrophic risks are similar. But true to our typical nonchalant, reactive nature as a society, we are clearly waiting for a fatal disaster to strike before we finally see the wisdom in being proactive.

Having organized similar large-scale events in the past and knowing the massive turnouts they pull, the event planners, collaborating with state security agencies, could implement basic, modern crowd control measures such as:

1. Creating wider, unobstructed entry points with barricaded “IN” and “OUT” lanes to prevent people from crushing into each other.

2. Deploy security personnel outside the gates to actively control the flow of the crowd, rather than just guarding the VVIPs inside the park.

3. A firm plan to halt new entries immediately, once the venue and the surrounding perimeter reach a maximum safe capacity.

It is my sincere hope that these changes are adopted for future editions. We cannot keep gambling with human lives. We owe it to every single citizen who gathers in faith and celebration to ensure they return home safely. Let’s fix this.

Written By: Mohammed Zunurene, GBC Sunrise FM