Chime, okada ban and Enugu people

We know for sure that okada can take the passenger or traveler into the most remote part of an area where, perhaps, vehicles will not have easy access to; we know that moving on okada is faster in a crowded city, like Enugu, but riding on okada can also be very, very dangerous if you […]

We know for sure that okada can take the passenger or traveler into the most remote part of an area where, perhaps, vehicles will not have easy access to; we know that moving on okada is faster in a crowded city, like Enugu, but riding on okada can also be very, very dangerous if you have the misfortune of being carried by a reckless rider who might equally be depending on marijuana or alcohol.

Yours truly had on several occasions flagged down okada operators, negotiated and mounted on the bike only to realise that the rider was smelling alcohol and Indian hemp. When I could not bear the stench, and his bad handling of the motorcycle, yours truly asked him to stop, paid him off and went my way.

So why the hue and cry about the  current  Enugu State Government law prohibiting the use of motorcycles within Enugu capital territory enacted by the Enugu State House of Assembly on July 3, 2015? Some fifth columnists have gone into action, writing all sorts of jagajaga about the law which they post on the internet.

Part of the law states, among other things, “Subject to the provision of this law, no person shall, from the commencement of this law, ride, or operate a motorcycle for any purpose whatsoever within the territory. Any person who operates a motorcycle in contravention of section 3 above is guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to imprisonment for one year without option of fine. Any motorcycle used in contravention of this law shall be impounded and upon conviction of the rider, be forfeited to the state.”

Chime, who signed the law in the presence of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Mr  Eugene Odo; House Leader, Mr S. K. E. Udo Okoye, who sponsored the bill on the request of the government, and other principal officers of the government, explained that the law was aimed at checking the activities of robbers and other criminals who operate on motorcycles; and also protect lives and property of the people living in Enugu.

It was reliably gathered that the state Commissioner of police, Mr Musa Daura had written to Governor Chime, informing him that most of the crimes perpetrated in the state were committed on motorcycles.

Daura reportedly alerted Chime that between January and May this year, there had been 26 murders; 82 armed robberies; 17 kidnappings; 58 car snatchings; 46 house breaking; 54 burglary and other 221 crimes in the state which had connection to the operation or use of motorcycles.

Daura’s incredible and mind-opening information compelled Chime to approach the House to enact a law that would ban totally the use of motorbikes in the capital city.

After signing the law, Chime declared, “The House of Assembly today passed the bill and we’ve enacted the law whose primary goal is the protection of lives and property of our people. This exercise effectively bans the use of motorcycles, otherwise known as okada within the Enugu metropolis.”

Chime further said, “As a government, we made efforts to streamline the operations of the genuine operators, but these efforts unfortunately, had not been fruitful because crime rate rose and most of the crimes were facilitated by the use of motorcycles by other evil-minded persons.”  Shortly after the passage of the law, an Enugu Magistrate Court presided over by Magistrate Ebere Udeze sentenced two motorcyclists ridding within Enugu capital territory, Eneje Jonathan and Ucha Friday to one-year imprisonment each without option of fine.

In the judgment delivered after a summary trial, the magistrate held that Eneje and Ucha violated Enugu State Law 5 prohibiting motorcycle operators in Enugu metropolis. The third accused person, Ogbonna Gabriel, who pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him, was granted bail, but to be remanded in prison custody pending the time he was able to produce a surety.

For the first time after so many decades, the high rate of “traffic anarchy” on roads in the Coal City seems to have been reduced reasonably with the disappearance of motorcycles from the streets and roads. But it should be noted that even with the new law, some diehard, stiff-necked young men still operate motorcycles very late at night and in the early  morning hours  around the Garki, Awkunanaw area of Enugu.

The only problem yours truly has about the current law is that those who enacted it, probably forgot to consider the newspaper vendors who were using motorcycles to do their genuine business of newspapering; now the law is affecting the proper circulation of newspapers and magazines within the metropolis. Also, those who are into courier business – who use motorcycles to distribute parcels and letters to the owners, have all been badly affected by the law. One wonders how they are coping since the ban took effect!

The other problem yours truly has with the law is that the government failed to provide alternative means of living for the over 10,000 okada riders who have been thrown out of business in Enugu by the new anti-motorcycle law. If the Chime government can go extra mile of making available thousands of tricycles for the commercial motorcyclists who have been hard hit by the ban that would make the government not be seen as a “fair regime.”

Tony Adibe wrote this piece from Enugu, Enugu State