Lagos and the ‘golden rules’ for commercial motorcyclists

Apart from plying their trade with reckless abandon, okada riders do   the most bizarre and unthinkable things which have continued to unsettle the citizens. That is why the number of casualties resulting from okada riding has continued to grow despite government’s continuous campaign against the operators’ misdemeanors. A visit to Igbobi orthopaedic hospital and other […]

Apart from plying their trade with reckless abandon, okada riders do   the most bizarre and unthinkable things which have continued to unsettle the citizens.

That is why the number of casualties resulting from okada riding has continued to grow despite government’s continuous campaign against the operators’ misdemeanors.

A visit to Igbobi orthopaedic hospital and other hospitals in the state reveals that rather than ease transportation problems and create job opportunities, okada riding has succeeded most in killing,  maiming and incapacitating Lagosians.

Infact, to some people, okada riding is the easiest route to death.

According to the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Osita Chidoka, at least 450 people die monthly throughout the country as a result of accidents involving okada.

Also giving statistics on road accidents in Lagos State alone over the past 20 years, the state commander of the FRSC, Mr Kayode Olagunju, said no fewer than 56,419 persons died or sustained serious injuries in road accidents that occurred within Lagos between 1989 and June 2008.

The figure, he said, included 10,471 motorcycle crashes recorded between 1998 and the middle of last year. Olagunju said the 10,471 crashes involving the motorcycles between 1998 and 2008, represented 13.8 per cent of total auto accidents for the period.

There are many more deaths and injuries sustained through okada riding daily which could not be accounted for by the road safety corps

But the Lagos State Command of the Federal Road Safety Commission has said that it has arrested about 7,000 commercial motorcycle operators in the first quarter of this year for violating traffic rules in the state.

The FRSC Sector Commander in the state, Mr Jonas Agwu, who stated this, said stringent measures were being taken to reduce recurring cases of okada-related accidents in the state.

Agwu explained that the commission had since January, stepped up the campaign against unsafe habits and reckless riding among commercial motorcyclists.

He noted that the okada operators had for long indulged in various traffic offences thereby endangering their lives and that of other road users.

He added that indiscipline among okada riders would no longer be tolerated as violators would be made to face stiffer measures.

Agwu listed common traffic offences by the riders to include disregard for traffic light, over speeding, overloading and failure to use crash helmet.

And in order to give a bite to the efforts of the road safety corps to rid Lagos of the nuisance being perpetrated by okada riders, the state governor, Babatunde Fashola [SAN]said with effect from July 1,it will commence full implementation of laws governing commercial motorcycle operation in the state.

The implementation of the laws, according to the state’s Special Adviser on Transportation, Kayode Opeifa comes in form of restrictions on the okada riders

He said one of the restrictions is that okada riders should stop carrying pregnant women, women with babies strapped on their backs as well as school children.

According to him, nobody below 18 years should ride motorcycle; no horn except that of a motorcycle should be fixed on the motorbike; no car stereo should be used; and no motorcycle should ply a dual carriage way and bridges across the state.

 Some of the roads that okada riders are banned from plying include all the routes in the Lagos Central Business District, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Bourdillon Road, Gerrard Avenue, Alexander Road, Osborne Road and Alfred Rewane Road on the Lagos Island. They are to avoid the Third Mainland Bridge, the Jibowu to Ikorodu roundabout axis of the busy Ikorodu Road and the entire stretch of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

Other routes that are off limits to the okada riders are the entire network of roads around Alausa Secretariat, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Road to Maryland Junction and Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

 He said several meetings had been held with the leadership of the Okada unions —  Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State, MOALS, under the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and All Nigerian Autobike Commercial Owners and Workers Association, ANACOWA under the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN

Kayode Opeifa, said that government could hardly wait for that day to implement the new rules saying, “The full enforcement of all road traffic laws and regulations guiding motorcycle operations became necessary because the state government is more than ever committed to the protection of lives and property of Lagosians.

“Many lives who could contribute meaningfully to the development of the state and the nation are being lost through the menace of commercial motorcycle operators on  the roads. Henceforth, commercial operators also will be restricted through traffic road signs on some Lagos roads and intersections.”

Opeifa said that government will deal with Okada operators who flout the rules.

Stakeholders in the state have however reacted to the proposed rules for okada riders in the state.

Chairman, Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State, MOALS, Comrade Tijani Pekins told Odua Trust that the new rule is a right thing at the wrong time.

According to him, the laws governing motorcycle operation predates the use of the means of transportation in Nigeria, saying if successive administration in the state have implemented the laws to the letter, operators would have adhered to them and the number of casualties resulting therefrom would have been drastically reduced.

He condemned the growing incidence of violation of traffic rules by okada riders, stressing that the development does not portray them as law abiding citizens.

He however said his members support the new rules and will collaborate with the state government to ensure its fruition.

According to him, the association held a meeting on Wednesday with the state government and other stakeholders on the need to extend the commencement of the new rules to September 1,this year.

He disclosed that the state government has accepted the new date, stressing that that would give his members ample opportunity to get acquainted with the rules before its implementation.

He said the association will also print flyers in English, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo languages to mobilize its members, while also urging members of the public to also comply with the rules as well as report any recalcitrant member to the association.

Speaking, a lecturer at the Lagos State University, Suleiman Hassan, said the new rules would mark the beginning of the end of recklessness by okara riders in the state.

‘’Even though it is seemingly late, it is better late than never. The implementation of the rules is what we need to check the various abuses by okada riders .Every other person in the society must keep vigil on the rules in order to ensure its success.’’

He however enjoined law enforcement agents that would execute the rules to ensure that they do their jobs religiously without any short cut.

According to him, anyone caught flouting the rules should be made to face the full wrath of the law.

But Mr Feyi Adesina, a factory worker, said while some of the provisions of the rules are in order, others still leave much to be desired and hoped that with time, the state government would fine-tune them.

According to him, the closing hour for okada riders is still questionable and inappropriate for someone like him whose job routine is shifting.

‘’Some of the roads to my office are not motorable. It’s only okada that can access these roads, even at late night when I am resuming.’’

Mr Tade Solomon, a school teacher, expressed doubt over the readiness of the law enforcement agents to enforce the new rules, saying, “the beautiful ones are not yet born among them.’’

According to him, if tactical arrangements are not made by the government, the exercise may go a long way to create, “chop, chop” for the law enforcement agents.

‘’Corruption is very well pronounced here. It has eaten deep into the fabric of our society and that is why things are not working. And that is why these new rules may end in the dustbin and government would not prosecute offenders,” he added.

Lagosians are however waiting whether or not the new rules will succeed in taming the madness of okadamen in the state.