Nigeria Content Online

The Lagos State
government, yesterday, announced a law banning motorcyclists, popularly
known as okada, from carrying pregnant women and children.

Babatunde Fashola,
the state governor, at the Stakeholders Forum on Motorcycle (Okada)
operations, said the ban which also includes road safety measures and
restricts the movement of motorcyclists, especially from all Lagos
bridges, will take effect from September 1.

Mr Fashola said the
move was for “the preservation of human lives and the safety of
property, and called on government agencies including the police,
traffic management agencies and state task force agencies to enforce
the law.”

Case for the underage and unborn children

Speaking on the ban
on the carrying of pregnant women and underage children, the governor
said, “The child has no say but our government has the right to stand
up on behalf of that child.” He also reiterated the need for crash
helmets and other road safety measures, saying that his government had
decided against placing an outright ban on commercial motorcycling
because of the service it provides the public and “for those who
provide these services as a means of livelihood.”

‘The danger of okada’

Also speaking at
the forum, Marvel Akpoyibo, the state police commissioner, said
okada-related accidents accounted for an average of 70 per cent of road
accidents in the state, between January and May this year.

Mr Akpoyibo, in his
call for appropriate measures in curbing the spate of accidents, said
further analysis showed that 14 per cent of okada-related accidents in
the state within the five-month period were fatal.

“Although a large
section of Lagos populace have come to regard commercial motorcycles as
a necessary evil, it has become imperative for government to
intervene…. To this end, stringent measures must be taken to curtail
the excesses of commercial motorcycle operators,” he said.

He, however,
identified “corrupt practices on the part of law enforcement agents, in
the issuance of vehicle and drivers’ licences, and dearth of
infrastructure and road signs” as some of the factors also responsible
for carnage on the roads.

Some stakeholders’ grudges

However, not all
the stakeholders were fully satisfied with the government’s decision,
as evident in the grumbling by the crowd during the forum, especially
regarding restrictions of motorcycles in some parts of the state.

According to Dansu
Alphonsus, a commercial motorcyclist in Ikeja, the banning of
motorcycles in some parts of the capital city will ‘indirectly ban him
from working’.

“I ply Ikeja area,
so by banning okada along Obafemi Awolowo way, Alausa, and Mobolaji
Bank Anthony way (all in Ikeja) will affect me too much; it’s like not
working again.”

“We should be
allowed to carry pregnant women also; it will not be good if they are
stranded where they cannot easily get transport,” he said.

Another commercial
motorcyclist, Joseph Oladoja, said the implementation of the law will
largely depend on government’s resolution to curb corruption in
obtaining drivers’ licences and other road usage permits.

“For instance, the
rider’s card which is supposed to be N800, we pay about N1,600 to get
it; the number plate which is N4,000 normally, we spend N6,000 to get
it, and this discourages most okada riders. It will be easier to
sanitise our roads if we also curb corruption in those offices,” he
said.

Courier services,
along with the okada riders, also stand to face major challenges as a
result of the new law, starting from next month.

Oladipo Akinyele of
Xpress Partners Limited, who spoke for Courier services in the state,
said their services “will be greatly affected by the restrictions
placed on motorcycles.”

“Our business
services people in core areas where it is only easy for motorcycles to
reach,” he said, in his appeal for a review of the law.

Mr Fashola,
responding to requests from the motorcyclists and courier service
owners, said his administration will look into the issues.