HAMZ MUSINGS

CAMERA FITTED PHONE; A CURSE TO SOME PEOPLE.

Hello Leaders of thought, welcome on board to Hamz's Musings this week. Today we shall na talking about about the gadget you're using in reading this very piece right now; Camera fitted phone, Shall we?


In recent times, I have had reason to think that camera-fitted phones might be a curse to some people. Who would have thought it would be a curse to be blessed with a touch that turned anything to gold? King Midas found that out first hand, quite literally. Just the same way I found out that a ‘blessing’ might be a curse in disguise.

When a son of perdition left an unwanted gift of a locally made explosive near a market place in northern Nigeria, disaster was waiting to happen. Thanks to someone with a camera phone, we were able to see a police officer from the bomb disposal unit, fully armed to the teeth and ‘well equipped’ with a common stick approach the bomb in the bag. We heard the shouts of approval as he ‘professionally’ poked the bag with his common stick. And then we heard the ear-splitting explosion. Thanks to the man with the camera phone, we saw the severed foot and mangled remains of a ‘brave’ officer, and we saw other people with their camera phones, covering, hooting and laughing all the way. None offering a helping hand.

When an eleven-year-old-daughter of Jezebel took it upon herself to unleash her sexual lust upon a naïve but willing four-year-old boy, thanks to someone with a camera phone, we saw it all- the bad, the bizarre and the bewildering.

When the Ikeja cantonment witnessed multiple bomb detonations in 2001, several people met their untimely deaths- through no direct fault of theirs. One smart Alec however, saw a curious looking object on the floor. A very ‘brilliant’ idea occurred to him to take a picture with it. He engaged the services of someone else to take a picture of him carrying the device. He never got to see the picture. That device was an undetonated bomb. And it chose that very moment to explode, speedily dispatching him to the great beyond- the land of no return.

When two misguided kids at a children’s party danced in what could best be described as sex with clothes on, it was an unscrupulous adult with a camera phone that recorded the moment.

When the Dana airplane parked in a residential area on June 3, 2012, several people rushed to the scene of the accident. Ostensibly, a large percentage of these people had ‘help’ as the last thing on their minds. Many of them had camera phones and they weren’t idle. One young man struck up a cocky pose with the burning aircraft for a backdrop and took a number of snapshots. ‘most people who were at the plane crash site  had no sense of responsibility. They offered no helping hand. But they were able to take some pictures of themselves on ground zero!’

I could go on and on with several more examples but I believe you already get the drift.


We met an accident scene that leave scores of people down severely injured and some dead  while on my way back from Jos to Kogi state last week. It was many of the unhelpful onlookers who were there to satisfy their curiosity or snap pictures and record videos who impeded the timely response of our already slow emergency agencies. The same Nigerians who would blame government. They were too busy taking pictures of the burning vehicle. Too busy to lend a helping hand or just get out of the way of those who were ready to help. But, as far as I was concerned, these people were not just taking pictures. They were not just covering an  scene. They were covering the blast of a nation, the blast of common sense and the blast of all things decent in them. They were covering a movie that clearly showed a dearth of values. And they were lead actors in that macabre movie.


Now you. If the first thing that occurs to you in an accident scene or any other scene which demands urgent action and emergency response; if the first thing that occurs to you is to whip out your camera phone and begin snapping and or recording away, then that camera phone is a curse. To you, of course.

I do not imply that we all get rid of our camera phones. Indeed, covert videos from phones, camcorders and other hidden devices have proven immensely helpful in countless numbers of cases. They have served as evidence of police brutality, murders, corruption, complicity, election irregularities and bribery scandals.

But there is a line that a value guided life dictates that we do not cross.


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