In less than 72 hours in the month of December 2024, 65 people including women and children were feared dead and many injured following a stampede as some charity individuals and organizations in Abuja, Anambra and Oyo states, Nigeria, distributed food palliatives. Many concerned citizens, through various social media platforms, linked the untimely death of these people to the current harsh economic realities because a lot of households cannot afford basic needs and are in dire need of food for survival.
Whilst the philanthropists and charity organizations are very sincere and are keen to help the needy, there is a need to adopt strategies to prevent reoccurrence of stampedes. A similar incident occurred in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at a church event in 2022 where free food was distributed. It is reported that between 2014 and 2024, Nigeria has recorded more than 10 stampedes. Hence, this has become a serious issue of concern and efforts should be made to prevent subsequent incidents. Giving alms and distribution of food palliatives require proper planning and execution to avoid stampedes. Let’s quickly look at the strategy of Jesus and His disciples.
Just as charity individuals and organizations are moved with compassion to help the needy, when Jesus saw the multitudes that followed Him in the desert, His compassion swelled and decided to provide food. He knew that one can hardly see water to drink and food to eat in the desert. The desert connotes the current hardship most Nigerians are experiencing. Aside from the miraculous manifestation of multiplying five loaves of bread and two fishes to feed 5,000 men as narrated in Matthew 14, He applied wisdom (See John 6:6). He knew what to do in the sense that He had a plan of how to get sufficient food and how to distribute the food without any stampede. So, what did Jesus and His disciples do?
The Bible records that, “..He commanded them to make them all sit down by companies upon the green grass”(See Mark 6:39). Obviously, there was a crowd control mechanism and the people were organized in groups of hundreds and fifties. An effective approach to distribution of free food is to organize the people in groups or centres or schedule specific days for certain groups of people. Organizers can have more than one centre where a specific number of people who have been issued tickets can access. Moreover, security personnel and emergency services need to be engaged to ensure order and handle emergency cases.
Those seeking alms can also learn from the crowd that followed Jesus Christ. They were patient and obeyed instructions. Remember that they had enough to eat and the disciples of Jesus gathered the left-over food. Therefore, do not rush to your grave because of hunger and hardship. May God continue to provide for all charity individuals and organizations to help the needy and also grant them wisdom to distribute palliatives without any stampede. You will agree with me that Jesus’ methods are the best and we can only identify with Him to learn His principles, ways and strategies to overcoming life’s challenges. Whether you are an alms giver or alms seeker, you can accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today. Say this prayer of salvation: Lord Jesus, from today, I accept You as my Lord and Savior. I believe that you died and rose to save me. Let my character be shaped by Yours as I declare that I am born again. Grant me wisdom in all my endeavors. Amen.
By Sunday Omori
HEM Int'l 