How can you get yourselves an army of losers to enforce your policies?
Honestly, I’m very angry right now. Extremely angry. I mean,what nonsense is this?
For your information, I’m a Lagosian and I’m also thick in the middle of this madness. I mean,what is this?
Of course, I’m referring to the ban on ‘okada’ riders by our State Government. What else could I be talking about?
Truth is that I’ve heard all arguments for and against. Many have spoken logically and most have spoken sentimentally but one thing I know for sure, this episode affects everyone one way or another and if not properly handled, it could degenerate into something no one bargained for.
Luckily for me, I’m now self-employed so I don’t have to fall into that routine I was enslaved in when I was a 5-9 worker. That isn’t an error, I wasn’t really a 9-5 person in the pure sense of it. I count it from when I leave home to when I get back. 5am to 9pm! That is the life of the typical Lagosian and it wasn’t easy. But one plowed on just to make that living but our leaders have this knack for making things so much harder for the citizens.
I laud this administration’s effort to convert the state into a mega-city but they always all seem to make the same mistakes – they always put the cart before the horse. ALWAYS!!!
Now tell me, how does the ban on ‘okada’ make Lagos a mega-city?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not rooting for ‘okadas’. I think they’re one of the unsafest modes of transportation. I’ve seen first-hand the harm they cause. I lost my dad to one just last year but I want to address an issue here. I need answers to some questions I got:
Now that you’ve taken away the means of transportation for hundreds of Nigerians, is there an alternative?
While dreaming up this mega-city plan, wouldn’t it have been better to 1st invest in solid railways like the ones in the mega-cities we’re trying so hard and badly to emulate?
Are the buses we have available even nearly enough to cater for all the commuters we have?
Is every road motorable?
How do we get to those nooks and crannies in Lagos where buses don’t get to and only ‘okadas’ can sniff out?
Now that you’ve taken away and ‘crushed’ the means of livelihood of thousands of breadwinners, what next? Is there a plan for them? To monitor them?
If the ‘okada’ riders take to crime like they’re being forced to, do you have the manpower and firepower to tackle the menace?
Do you just assume they’ll all get frustrated and return back to their villages?
I need sensible answers to these questions because our safety as Lagosians might just depend on it. I’ll be fine if a reader explains to me something I’m missing here. I probably haven’t seen the big picture so I need someone to show me.
The way I see it, people in this country just come up with ‘cool’ policies and ruin it all with the way they enforce. How can you get yourselves an army of losers to enforce your policies? I mean, I saw a van carrying a number of seized bikes away just last week and I saw a dispatch rider’s bike among the confiscated bikes.
From my understanding, even dispatch riders are culpable? For crying out loud, there are dispatch riders in even Mega-cities!
I guess if you don’t own a powerbike or a Harley-Davidson, you can’t ride a bike in Lagos as a private bike owner.
Are these enforcers well educated to understand how to enforce or are they just sent out like a group of Zombie dogs to execute the will of their master?
The worst part is that all these is in the midst of a lingering fuel crisis so folks have to trek to work or to their homes. Is this the mega-city dream our governor envisioned?
I call it all a joke… A mega-joke!
God bless Lagos. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
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I’m simply known to my readers as BlogAces. Predictably, my posts are called BlogAce’s Posts and I tweet from @blog_aces. I write about life generally and try to lace it with humour. Enjoy it!
Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
Great… Someone finally speaking some sense. I read and article about this last week from one Makanjuola and it the same down line you both have. The true remain, the goverment doesn't have an understand of the real stituation and some of us are not helping matter cos we also don't have an idea of the real situation. No one like Okada, but that what they find accessible and avaibale. Buses within the state are not enought and can't provide for all ciziten. We talk about okada like they are the only crazy driver! Lagos driver are generally mad and need to check their brain. Some private car drive like someone who need a referral to yaba left. So stops them from the road? Until the government address the situsation of bad transportation, okada still remains one of the option. When there's sufficent option, people will not want okada.
1. Now that you’ve taken away the means of transportation for hundreds of Nigerians, is there an alternative? YES. LET THE 'HUNDREDS OF NIGERIANS' WALK. OR TAKE THE BUSES AVAILABLE.
2. While dreaming up this mega-city plan, wouldn’t it have been better to 1st invest in solid railways like the ones in the mega-cities we’re trying so hard and badly to emulate? YES. THE LASG HAS ALREADY INVESTED IN LIGHT RAIL. NO STATE GOVERNMENT CAN INVEST IN RAIL OTHERWISE. CHECK THE LAWS ESTABLISHING THE NRC.
3. Are the buses we have available even nearly enough to cater for all the commuters we have? MAYBE NOT. DOES THAT NOT TELL YOU SOMETHING? START A BUS TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS!!! ABI YOU COME LAGOS COME COUNT OKADA?
4. How do we get to those nooks and crannies in Lagos where buses don’t get to and only ‘okadas’ can sniff out? THATS EXACTLY WHY THE LASG DID NOT BAN OKADA OUTRIGHT. CHECK THE LIST OF RESTRICTED ROADS, THOSE 'NOOKS AND CRANNIES' ARE NOT INCLUDED. SO YOUR QUESTION IS ACTUALLY MISDIRECTED.
5. Now that you’ve taken away and ‘crushed’ the means of livelihood of thousands of breadwinners, what next? Is there a plan for them? To monitor them? THE LAW IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. RICH OR POOR. IF YOU BREAK THE LAW, YOU FORFEIT THE INSTRUMENT USED TO BREAK THE LAW. IF THE POLICE SEIZES GUNS FROM ARMED ROBBERS, WILL YOU ASK THEM TO RETURN BECAUSE THEY ARE THEIR 'MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD'? DID ANYBODY HAVE A 'PLAN' FOR YOU BEFORE YOU CAME TO LAGOS? IF LAGOS IS NOT CONVENIENT, LET FOLKS GO TO ABUJA?
6. If the ‘okada’ riders take to crime like they’re being forced to, do you have the manpower and firepower to tackle the menace? Do you just assume they’ll all get frustrated and return back to their villages? WELL, GO AND CHECK HAS THE LEVEL OF CRIME INCREASED SINCE THE RESTRICTIONS? THE GENUINE OKADA RIDERS ARE CONTINUING WITH THEIR BUSINESS UNMOLESTED, THE 'FAKE' ONES HAVE BEEN SHOUTING LOUDEST OBVIOUSLY.
7. From my understanding, even dispatch riders are culpable? For crying out loud, there are dispatch riders in even Mega-cities! THE LAW ACTUALLY RESTRICTS ALL TWO-WHEELED VEHICLES (INCLUDING HARLEY-DAVISONS)BUT THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED A RIDERS' LICENCE THAT COVERS DISPATCH RIDERS. MAYBE THE ONES YOU SAW DID NOT HAVE IT.
WALKING IS GOOD FOR EVERYBODY; INCLUDING RESIDENTS OF MEGA CITIES.
mehn! this situation has become a thing of "the more u look the less u see" not only for Lagosians but for Deltans also. The answers you are looking for can be summed up in the fact that d" lawmakers" believe that when we are tired of complaining, we will finally adjust. They will suggest that the okada riders go in to self employment and skill acquisition like they ever purchase made in Naija goods.
Tweeted about this before seeing the link seconds after. I agree with the article too. Though 'Okada riders' have their bad sides [some use it in perpetuating vices], it won't entirely make sense if okadas are banned considering the fact that the money made from it feeds families and also its importance as a mode of transportation amongst lagosians. I think it would make more sense if okada riders are given tricycles so as to make up for the bikes. If this policy isn't reversed the crime rates, unemployment rates in Lagos will definitely be increased.
Exactly the same questions i have.
Our policy makers do not have reason, or listen to reason.