Okorie Uguru, Paul Ukpabio and Biodun Adeyewa
Things have not been the same in the transport sector of Lagos State since the state government announced its decision to curtail the activities of the operators of commercial motorcycles, popularly called okada, and their tricycle counterparts, popularly called Keke Marwa.
As it would be expected, there have been protests in different parts of the city, organised by the operators with sympathy from commuters who are feeling hard done by the policy. In Ijora, Iyana Ipaja, Ikeja and other parts of the city, law enforcement agents have had to battle it out with protesters who believe that their sources of livelihood are under threat on account of the new policy.
The Lagos State Government had on January 27 hinted at its intention to curtail the activities of okada and keke operators by banning them from operating in six local government areas (LGAs), nine local council development areas (LCDAs) and 10 major highways across the state with effect from February 1.
The state government ordered security operatives to ensure total enforcement of the law in order to check the chaos and disorderliness created by the activities of okada and tricycle riders in the state. Besides, the government also banned them from 40 bridges and flyovers across the state.
While residents of Lagos were aware of the pronouncement by the state government and braced up for the envisaged discomfort and difficulties, the effect since the law was enforced has created an abnormal situation in Lagos.
Thousands of commuters spend long hours at bus stops waiting for buses and cabs to convey them to their places of work. Many are forced to trek long distances to avoid getting to their offices late or not even making it to the office. School children had ended up not going to school or getting to their schools late.
Although traffic on the roads was less heavy on the day the ban commenced, subsequent days have seen an upsurge of vehicles on the roads as people who previously preferred to pack their vehicles at home and go to their destinations by public transport, especially okada, are now compelled to go out in their cars, thereby increasing the number of vehicles on the roads.
Explaining the reasons for the ban, the Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said: “After a robust assessment of the debate on what has been widely referred to as the motorcycle (okada) and tricycle (Keke) menace, the Lagos State Government and the State Security Council have decided that the security and safety of lives of Lagosians are paramount.
“The figures are scary. From 2016 to 2019, there were over 10,000 accidents recorded at the General Hospitals alone. This number excludes unreported cases and those recorded by other hospitals. The total number of deaths from reported cases is over 600 as at date.
“Also, the rate of crimes aided by Okada and Keke keeps rising. They are also used as getaway means by criminals.
“Therefore, after consultations with stakeholders, the State Security Council, in compliance with the extant Transport Sector Reform Law 2018, has decided to commence enforcement of the law which bans the operation of Okada and Keke in six Local Government Areas (LGAs) and nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).”
The councils affected by the ban include Apapa LGA, Apapa Iganmu LCDA, Lagos Mainland LGA, Yaba LCDA, Surulere LGA, Itire-Ikate LCDA, and Coker-Aguda LCDA. Others are Ikeja LGA, Onigbongbo LCDA, Ojodu LCDA, Eti-Osa LGA, Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Iru-Victoria Island LCDA, Lagos Island LGA and Lagos Island East LCDA.
Mixed reactions
In spite of the explanation, however, there has hardly been any issue that has divided the opinions of Lagosians as the one on the ban.
While she received the news of the ban with mixed feelings, popular juju musician, Ayo Balogun, says, “It is a pity for those to who okada riding has become a means of livelihood and those who had adopted it as a means of getting quick to their destinations.”
But she said the damages done by okada cannot be over-emphasised as they constitute a nuisance to the roads and the terrible life-ruining accidents they have caused is massive. This, she said, is coupled with the fact that okada is often used to perpetrate evil deeds.
She added: “I pray that the government finds a solution to the problem of transportation to ease the current hardship. Yes, we heard there are buses to this effect, but the number mentioned is not enough.
“We appeal that our railways start to function urgently. It will be of great help to the situation. Also, more jobs should be created to improve the standard of living. This will bring sanity to the state and the people.”
At the time the announcement on the ban on okada was being made, Emeka Uzogwu, a keke operator, was on his third trip from Ogba Bus Stop to Pen Cinema in a new black-striped yellow tricycle he acquired by hire purchase.
He had fortified his keke with a stereo from which blasted the latest Nigerian hip hop music to entertain him and his passengers as he plied the route.
Prior to this period, Emeka was unemployed. Disillusioned and hungry, he hit on the idea of operating a keke, particularly because his National Diploma certificate did not seem to impress any employer.
With his keke, the 27-year-old had hoped that in two years, he would have paid off his debt and start saving towards living the ideal life of a man in Lagos; having a home and marrying a beautiful girl to start a family.
His dream turned into a nightmare with the news of the ban. Emeka sat in his keke and watched as the clouds gathered around his dream and swallowed it. For him, it was the end of the road and back to the streets.
Emeka’s case is a reflection of those of many other young men who took off with the dream of making it through okada and keke business, but it would seem that the government was fed up with their menace, hence the inevitable decision to ban them.
Mrs. Adeyemi, a 60-year-old retiree, is not an okada rider or a keke operator. But as a commuter, she is not finding the government’s ban on both funny.
Recalling her ugly experience with the ban, she said: “I went out on Monday for a programme that was scheduled for 9am. But when I got to the bus stop, it was congested with commuters as there were no buses, no okada and no keke.
“We were begging car owners to give us a ride, and they were forced to oblige us out of humanitarian gesture.
“This morning, I couldn’t get a bus on time. I had to spend some time there, and when I still did not get a bus, I trekked down to the next bus stop, hoping it would not be as congested as the first one, only for me to get there and see a worse situation. There was a bigger crowd of commuters there.
“The few buses that came witnessed a lot of rushing and commotion. I had to take a precaution so that I would not be pushed down. And sincerely, I couldn’t rush with the people, so I had to return home. It was a terrible experience.”
Asked what she would advise the government to do as a palliative measure, she said: “I think the government did not plan this ban or restrictions well before embarking on it. They should have something on ground to replace okada and keke before doing this.
“It is as if the government is adding more to the people’s accumulated hardship. Lagosians are going through terrible pains. I just pray that our governor will look into this, because people are going through economic pains in the country.
Another Lagos resident, Bimbo Ojo, said: “I live in Mende (Maryland) and work on the Island. I don’t have a problem in the morning on the mainland. The problem is on the island where, after CMS, one hardly sees vehicles going to the different streets in Victoria Island. That is where the trekking starts.”
On his part, David Ibikunle, another commuter, wore his sorrows on his sleeves as he posed questions to one of our reporters.
He asked: “How do you expect us to get to our various offices daily on the Island? Ask most of the people who work on the Island; to meet up with resuming at 8am, you must have an okada man who picks you up at home and takes you straight to the office to beat the traffic. Now, how are we to cope?”
A banker, who gave her name simply as Gloria, corroborated David’s position, saying: “That is exactly what I have been doing. I had an okada man who was taking me to and from work on the Island every day. Now I wake a few minutes to 4 am and set out a few minutes to 5 am, still I have to trek when I get to the Island.
“My husband is already considering that I leave the bank job. It is a shame that students have to trek long distances before they get to their schools. Our government should please intervene and see what they can do to ameliorate the sufferings associated with this ban.
“Not everybody has a car. Even if you have, do you expect my husband to drop me at work and drop our children at school before going to resume at his own work place? At what time will he get to the office?”
On his part, Olukayode Salako, a self-proclaimed activist, took a critical look at the call for the regulation of keke and okada businesses instead of outright ban, asking: “How do you regulate the operations of a people who refused to be regulated by the state? How do you enforce the laws on a people who do not want to have anything to do with obeying the law?
“The government, I am rather sure, would not have taken these measures if it had been easy to regulate their operational menace, not forcing them to operate in line with the stipulations of the articles of the laws of the state.
“Who will help the government to inject it into their crude orientation that democracy and its electoral process, which they often used to harass the government itself, is about the governance of the rule of law, sanity and what is right for the society?
“Democracy is about the rule of law! Anytime you vote in democracy or for democracy, you are voting to be governed by the rule of law. My belief, however, is that, no government can be so callous like that to decide to stop the means of livelihood and survival of some of its voters.
“At the same time, no responsible government would just continue to be looking for social criminality and environmental crudity to continue to make life unbearable for the generality of its people.
“After all, we all know that providing security for the people is about the most fundamental responsibility of any responsible and responsive government anywhere in the world.
“Any government, therefore, which cannot provide security and an enabling environment for its people to thrive comfortably and feel safe and secured in it has failed.
“The Lagos State Government will, indeed, be failing Lagosians if it continues to watch while the ‘economic’ activities of a few residents in the state continue to make life unbearable for the rest of us, as it has been with the okada and keke invasion.
“The more they troop into the Lagos environment every hour from different parts of West Africa with their fully loaded trailers of okada and keke like the invasion of a beautiful farmland by locusts, the more it becomes very difficult for the state government to curtail the nefarious activities of many of them. The more it becomes difficult to regulate their crude daring and lawless operations, and the more dangerous, scary and frustrating it is for the rest of us.”
Mrs. Modupe Adeniyi, a school proprietress, also supports Kayode’s views.
She said: “For me, it is very right. They were not banned totally. I am affected because now I am a bit relieved of the tension I felt seeing the way they ride. The ban should be made permanent.”
Emmanuel Ajibulu, a trade unionist, also agrees with the government.
He said: “The ban on commercial motorcycles and tricycles in Lagos State, which took effect on February 1, 2020, prohibiting operators of those vehicles from using a number of major routes in the city, which has a population of more than 20 million people, came as an exciting piece of news to me.
“I will not only commend this enforcement order but will also express appreciation to the government for showing concerns to the plight of the citizenry who have consistently expressed displeasure over the activities of these men within the metropolis.
“Unfortunately, a good number of commercial motorcyclists have constituted a nauseating nuisance and disorderliness which makes Lagos State a mockery of its self-proclaimed Centre of Excellence.
“Besides, they also need to look for workable solutions to reduce traffic gridlock and should as well extend care to the people by fixing the bad roads and ensuring that law enforcement agents are always available to nip crime in the bud to make Lagos safe and to also be a desirable mega city.”
‘We’re waiting for our sponsor to take us back to North’
Be it as it may, operators involved in okada and keke businesses in Lagos have been lamenting their fate.
Mohammed, an indigene of Kano State, is heading back to the North from Lagos where he was squatting with Musa, a native of Katsina, on a street off Allen Avenue, Ikeja.
Mohammed recalled that many of them who hailed from the northern part of the country were living in the said building, having all come from Kano to Lagos at the behest of a Kano business man who sponsored their journeys to Lagos and also set them up with okada business as soon as they arrived the city.
At the time he spoke with one of our reporters, Mohammed’s bike had been loaded into a North-bound truck along with eight others belonging to his friends.
“Tomorrow night, we will be on our way back to the North,” he said in a voice ladened with disappointment.
Asked which part of the North they were headed, he said he did not know, adding that the man who had been feeding and clothing them with the business would be the one to tell them their next destination. The important thing, he said, was that they had been productive and had been re-paying the man’s investment in their okada business.
A tricycle operator, Ebun Olayinka, said he had been in the business for six years.
He said: “I got the keke I am using now from Alubarika Microfinance Bank. It is the second one. The first on was bought for me by my boss. It sells for N400,000, but it was given to me on hire purchase for N700,000. Now the price for one keke is N600,000 and would be given out as hire purchase at N1.1 million.
“There is guarantee that you can finish the payment before the stipulated period. Failure means forfeiture of all the payment one had made, no matter how much one had paid.
“Sincerely, the ban or restrictions on keke means facing challenges of how to feed and take care of my family.
“I used the proceeds from keke to sponsor myself when I got admission into Lagos State Polytechnic. I paid a lot while in school. Even my project, I singlehandedly handled it with money made from keke. I believe many individuals like me sponsored themselves by riding okada or keke.
“I know some of my friends who are family people that are financing their children in school and feeding their families with proceeds from keke. What alternative do we have now as our means of livelihood has been cut away?
“Some have children in universities. No way to cater for myself and others affected by government’s act of insensitivity to people’s wellbeing.
“Now that we are jobless, it will definitely create a setback in the security we’ve been enjoying in the state. If the boys have no other means, they may go back to crime.
“We are begging Mr Governor to look into our plight and come to our aid. This is not what he promised us when he campaigned!”
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