The ban on commercial cyclists in Kaduna

The state joins others like Rivers, Kano, Plateau, Niger, Akwa Ibom and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that have proscribed the operation of commercial motorcycle transport business in specific locations. In all these cases, security concerns have been cited as the overriding reason for the ban. Expectedly, there have been misgivings about the government’s measure. […]

The state joins others like Rivers, Kano, Plateau, Niger, Akwa Ibom and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that have proscribed the operation of commercial motorcycle transport business in specific locations. In all these cases, security concerns have been cited as the overriding reason for the ban.
Expectedly, there have been misgivings about the government’s measure. The state chapter of the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Riders and Owners Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN) expressed concern over the impact on its members, who operate their vehicles as means of earning a living. They also challenged the premise on which the law was enacted.  In exonerating its members from the notion that they posed a security threat, ACOMORAN listed instances where operators of taxicabs and buses had been associated with criminal activities bordering on threat to security, but had not been similarly banned.
The banning of achaba in a city like Kaduna is significant, given the widespread dependence on that mode of transportation by large sections of the society. Indeed, physically challenged persons, through their umbrella organisation, have called on the state government to address their plight in the light of the ban. Their protest in particular illustrates the discomfort that the ban would cause. Many civil servants also use such motorcycles to get to work.
Another factor advanced by the Kaduna State Government for its action was the need to enforce traffic rules, given the level of indiscipline and the general disregard for these rules that the motorcyclists have been known for. While the commercial motorcycle operators provide useful transportation service in the face of perennial inefficiency of public transportation system, this did not come without significant costs that cannot be ignored. The challenges associated with their operations include the lack of regulation and hence anonymity of the operators, since most of them -and the vehicles- are usually not registered. They do not have formal training in driving or in the observance of traffic rules.
 Many have come to see them as carriers of choice for criminals and other vagrants in the execution of nefarious activities because of the machines’ ubiquity and ease of escape from scenes of crimes. It is not for nothing that states that have banned the operators claim significant reduction in crime rate and motorcycle-related accidents.
Nevertheless, while the ban removes a recurring nuisance, the Kaduna State Government should provide alternative means of public transportation to obviate, or at least minimise, the effects of the ban. Besides, the alternative should feature a system that captures the sensitivities of the users as well as provides for local input in its concept, development and operation.
The scheme that the government envisages, which consists mainly of tricycles, should also accommodate the various adaptations to the transport challenges facing the state. These manifest in various dimensions, including the prospects of providing employment for individuals who may be engaged in one area of the scheme or another.
It is in this context that the plan by the government that the scheme would benefit only some categories of indigenous operators needs to be handled with the utmost discretion. It will serve no useful purpose if the ills associated with the outlawed motorcyclists are allowed to manifest in the new scheme.
To make that alternative work, it is vital that a private sector-driven approach be applied, in which vehicles are distributed to would-be operators purely on merit, and based on adequate training and other criteria that should not be cumbersome but convenient to administer.