Photo credit: Channels TV
The move by the Lagos State Government to ban okada and tricycles from fifteen local governments in the state could have been better if government had really put the interests of the various stakeholders in mind.
In the first instance, the government, through its commissioner for information and strategy allegedly insisted that ‘the poor people have asked government to ban okada’.
While I would not say the commissioner is not saying the truth, I would want him to state the forum at which the people actually asked the government to do so.
Apart from the fact that the government action could be said to be an absolute ignorance of the people’s needs, where does government expect the operators to earn their daily livings?
One could further ask whether the roads have been fixed? I’m asking this pertinent question because I’m made to understand that most of the roads in Lagos are far from being motorable.
Let’s even assume some of the roads have been fixed, what about the traffic gridlocks?
How about people living in some unmotorable areas? How about when emergencies arise?
By emergencies I mean a woman being in labour or even a person having a domestic accident?
It’s true the accident rate of okada and tricycles is high, but then is it wise to throw away the baby with the bath water?
I would have thought educating the citizens of which the riders are a part would have done a lot. The law enforcement agencies could be better equipped to arrest over speeding riders.
Are motor vehicles accident free?
How about developing the waterways? A megacity like Lagos deserves a good rail system. By the way, if the rail system which the Jakande administration had finished its paperwork before Mr Buhari invited himself into power, it could have been gradually improved upon.
How much did government have to pay for breaching the agreement of the rail project?
I think the problem lies in the people selling their conscience in terms of votes to the highest bidders. The people who eventually get elected do not actually feel the pulse of the people.
012820
