End-of-Year Festivities: Intensifying Vigilance

Anxiety is gathering momentum as the month of December 2024 evolves. This month as in the previous years is the epicentre of end-of-year festivities which is essentially Christmas for Christians and culminates in January 1st which is the New Year Day celebrated by all and sundry.
The end-of-year festive period is usually characterized by the good, the bad and the ugly. 
It is the time in which  most families hold their meetings, organise weddings, village development association members converge on their different villages and other localities to hold their annual conventions and organize fundraising occasions to foster development, traders make brisk business, some families organize thanksgiving, funeral and memorial ceremonies and couples and lovers do  visit recreational and relaxation spots. Pupils and students as well as their teachers who are on Christmas holiday also join in the festivities and also prepare for the second term of the school year.
While people prepare for the festive part of the period of the year, the devil through the various forces of darkness also executes his agenda of socking blood through all sorts of accidents, poisoning, tearing families apart by injection all sorts of discord and damaging the future of children and youths who indulge in different sorts of crimes and deviant behaviours such as scamming, drug trafficking, drunkenness, fighting, pick-pocketing, armed robbery and burglary. Most of the crimes committed during this festive period are intended to raise money to spend as a means of aggrandizement and command of authority.
Indeed, as preparations gather steam for the end-of-year festivities and even during the celebrations proper, there is need to exhibit great vigilance. This is because negligence in many cases would turn feasting into mourning, joyous family reunions into disintegration, business from boom to bankruptcy and shutdown, many school children, especially girls not returning to school because of pregnancies and both boys and girls because of drug abuse. Vigilance has to be intensified starting from the individual levels up to that of the State. A proper workable synergy needs to be put in place by the different societal actors so that after the festivities, joy will remain and a positive balance sheet will be celebrated. 
Taking into account the precarious security nature of the period, government through defence and security forces as well as administrative authorities have to work in the atmosphere of heightened vigilance and alertness to ensure that citizens celebrate Christmas and New Year in peace, calm and serenity. As the time draws nearer, all and sundry need to implement the Head of State's habitual instructions on hitch-free celebrations. Defence and security forces therefore have to step their leading role in order to ensure the security of people and properties as well as free and safe movement throughout in the entire national territory. Government should also step up vigilance along the borders considering that this period is that of intensive cross-border movement. Security forces equally have to step up vigilance in urban centres that are usually prone to armed robbery and other attacks, while road safety officials have to adopt all measures to curb accidents that usually characterise the end-of-year periods.
In addition to  defence and security forces, health authorities both public and private have to demonstrate high alertness and preparedness by mobilizing equipment and personnel to attend to likely cases of accidents and food poisoning that are usually rife during the end-of-year festive period. To avoid the occurrence of accidents in the first place, road users, especially drivers, should strictly respect the Highway Code. Passengers on their part have to redouble vigilance by observing the manner in which drivers and commercial motorcycle riders ply the roads. Any violation of the Highway Code has to be checked and the drivers’ attention drawn to the actions that if continuously tolerated might put the lives of passengers at risk. Both proprietors of transport agencies have to pay attention to the road worthiness of their vehicles and put them in good state to carry passengers. They equally have to ensure the good health, physical and mental sanity of the drivers and must not over work the drivers for the sake of making more gains.
People equally should be careful about what they eat, how they eat and where they eat. It is difficult to give total trust to others. Just with some vigilance, people would avoid the upsurge in poisoning that is gradually becoming a call for serious concern during funerals, weddings, family and village meetings and other ceremonies that attract a variety of people from diverse backgrounds and motives. People must also guard against excessive drinking of alcoholic drinks either in public drinki...