Falling From Heights

Falling and No Fall Arrestor

I was thinking this morning...... about falling from heights. The thoughts came to me when I read the headline 'Olisa Metuh collapses in court during trial.' I wondered how Olisa Metuh could allow himself to hit the ground so hard. Was he not using a fall arrestor? It is a rule in Health and Safety for anyone working at a height above 1.8m to use a fall arrestor, to protect themselves in case of a fall from height.

 

You see, in life people will fall but falling by itself may not be a problem. I remember the words of one of my instructors at a training I attended in the UK some years back. While teaching about the risk of working at height, he had said, 'It is not the falling that is the problem, it is the sudden stop.' It is so true. Think about it, if you fall from 300ft down and at the point of stopping suddenly, a rope holds you back, no problem, it is bungee jumping. When you fall from 2000ft above ground and at the point of hitting the ground, a parachute slows you down. Do not worry, it is sky diving. I once fell from over 180ft straight down at a speed of 109km/hr at 90 degrees drop into a black hole. With bated breath, I screamed imagining how great the crash might be. At the point of crashing, the metal cage I was in just rolled along on the track. Life did not jump out of me because I was in the 'Oblivion roller coaster' at Alton Towers. So, it is not the fall that is the problem, it is the sudden stop.

 

Everyone I know in politics, business or even in corporate organization wants to move to a higher position. They want to climb the corporate ladder but most of them forget that if you must work at height, you will need a fall arrestor. Little wonder the biblical phrase, 'How are the mighty fallen?' is so common. Have you wondered how some big names of yesterday in Nigeria are nobody today? They have fallen from grace to grass. The sad part is that, most did not fall on grass, they fell on concrete surfaces. Ouch!!!

 

Babachir Lawal, the former grass-cutting SGF, Timipre Sylvia, Ogbonaya Onu and many other APC chieftains with PDP parentage worked at height and fell. At the point of hitting the ground, they were given parachutes and they landed softly. They went home smiling because it was an exciting sky diving experience. It is not the fall that is the problem, it is the sudden stop. Olisa Metuh, Dasuki, Fani-Kayode, Diezani and all the other PDP goons were working on the same platform thousands of feet above ground. No one advised them to get a fall arrestor in case they all, and they did fall. When they fell, they expected some form of parachute or rope to hold them up and stop them from hitting the ground, but there was none. They crashed like humpty dumpty. It is not the fall that is the problem, it is the sudden stop.

 

My advise to everyone in high position, working at height especially on political platforms, is that they get a fall arrestor, because the fall will soon start. My prayer is that you will not fall, but if you do fall, will anything hold you up? The best and most trusted fall arrestor is your integrity. Do you have any? Psalms 41:12 says 'And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity and settest me before they face for ever.'

Happy Sunday.

....Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.