Safeness is certainly the best policy amid the tumultuous revelry in welcoming the New Year. This is the concern that pushes various government agencies into a no-nonsense campaign against all forms of harmful merrymaking that put to risk and peril valuable properties and invaluable human life. We had been prone to the dangerous practice of igniting firecrackers in welcoming the New Year and sending off to the dustbin the bad things of the year that passed. People are caught in varied forms of mixed beliefs regarding the ways to meet the New Year, igniting firecrackers being one popular practice across creeds, races and social status. To many, listening to the thunderous bangs of firecrackers is a delight but there are those who are not contended and would still want to do personally the lighting and ignition of such firecrackers.
If there is any good luck that firecrackers bring during the onset of the New Year, it is chiefly upon the makers and sellers of such items that rake in the profits from customers. We know too well how huge an industry is the manufacture of firecrackers is and those in the business are having a heyday during the yuletide season and the coming of every New Year. But despite the growth of the industry, firecrackers remain unregulated. Law enforcement authorities are unduly tasked to confiscate illegal firecrackers in the market instead of setting regulatory controls at the manufacturing level. It is truly awful how government would opt to run after vendors of unregulated firecrackers while it remains remiss in imposing regulations at source.
Alternative means of merrymaking had been proposed by various sectors if only to effectively rid the people from the harmful effects of firecrackers. Indeed, there are a lot of safe ways to celebrate the coming of the New Year than igniting unsafe firecrackers. People must heed the admonitions and constant reminders to refrain from igniting firecrackers. It is personal safety that it more important than the mere making noise and revelry. There can never be prosperity to look forward to if one suffers injury in the revelry. Tales of remorseful victims must serve as apt warning for all and sundry to refrain from igniting harmful firecrackers.
We have been apprised of the irreparable perdition that firecrackers cause upon life and limb. Many people are too stubborn to learn from those who had fallen victims to firecrackers that they continue to meet the coming of the New Year with a bang. Others are even deadlier in that they use firearms in creating that big bang, the slug of live ammunition becoming a stray bullet that pose dangers to lives of innocent people.
Strategies to ban the use of firearms had already been institutionalized that men and women in uniform are mandated to seal their firearms to ensure that such firearms will not be used in the revelry.
Amid the merrymaking and revelry, we must heed the conscientious call to refrain from using firecrackers, most of which are deadly in that they contain poisonous substances and burst too powerfully that it can blast off once body and limb or even cause death. There is always good reason to celebrate the coming of the New Year to ensure a prosperous safety year 2025.
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