Junior Pope: Mrs. Soludo decries disheartening bystanders’ attitude

From Ifeoma Ejiofor

The wife of Anambra State governor, Mrs Nonye Soludo, has described as inhuman and disheartening bystanders’ attitudes in times of emergencies, which concentrate more on using dire situations to make contents for social media instead of responding accordingly.

The governor’s wife who was reacting to the death of Nollywood actor, JohnPaul Odonwodo, popularly known as “Junior Pope”, who was involved in a boat mishap on the Niger River, while returning from a movie location, said that the growing bystanders’ attitudes of neglect during emergencies have cost many lives which would have ordinarily been saved if people around acted rightly.

Mrs Soludo who is leading an enlightenment crusade for people to show more compassion to those who have encountered emergencies and are in need of urgent help, noted that the late Nollywood star might have survived if people around responded fast and paid less attention to generating social media contents.

She explained that common basic life support protocols like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, would have helped significantly if pulses were noticed, but regretted that those who would have acted as first responders were more interested in using his condition to seek unnecessary public attention.

Mrs Soludo who noted that the growing nonchalant behaviours of passers-by during emergencies do not define humanity and wondered how mankind lost the traditional values of sympathy, compassion, and love.

The governor’s wife called for a changed mindset towards situations that call for help instead of trivializing them for social gains, adding that a situation where someone who has been involved in an accident and needs immediate attention is having their videos and pictures taken by bystanders instead of rendering help, is inhuman, and does not define morality.

Mrs Soludo pointed out that humanity needs to live out the distinctiveness of kindness, mercy and love, stressing that when those values have departed from the human face, the world will become more difficult to exist in.

She said that taking videos of emergency situations when help should be the immediate priority shows how far humanity has derailed from valued social responsibilities.

The Anambra first lady further explained that with the introduction of emergency service number (112) into Anambra State, it has become easier for people to get timely response during emergency situations, and asked every resident of the state to know the number by heart and reach out when necessary.

Mrs Soludo also noted that part of the goals of her non-governmental movement, Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo, is to change the mindsets of people towards certain situations, and to teach the importance of reviving pertinent values that once held mankind together.

Soludo’s wife also prayed for the peaceful repose of the actor and sent her condolences to his family and the Nollywood family.