Traffic: Should Lagosians resort to bicycles?

The culture of riding bicycles was popular in Lagos back in the old days. It was the desire of many to prove their prowess in riding bicycles in the neighborhood and the streets.  Then, there were not many cars on the roads, while there was an ‘enabling environment’ to ride bicycles everywhere. Bicycle rental and […]

The culture of riding bicycles was popular in Lagos back in the old days. It was the desire of many to prove their prowess in riding bicycles in the neighborhood and the streets.  Then, there were not many cars on the roads, while there was an ‘enabling environment’ to ride bicycles everywhere. Bicycle rental and repair centres were also in abundance in the city.
Those were the ‘good’ old days in Lagos, which not only exposed families to fun rides on bicycles but also kept them mentally and physically fit always. Not a few people rode bicycles to and from work. Those who had the wherewithal to acquire bicycles did so to move away from the class of those who rent bicycles. Everyone wanted to own a ‘Raleigh’ bicycle.
 Today, bicycle riding is unpopular in Lagos. Bicycle rental operators have closed shop, while sale of bicycles and the accessories have dropped significantly. The fading glory of the bicycle was a sort of blessing to the motorcycle because of the latter’s ability to ply the dilapidated and marshy roads of Lagos, as well as its ability to maneuver ‘fast’ and beat road traffics usually caused by  too many vehicles  plying the roads simultaneously.
 As operators of commercial motorcycles, popularly called ‘okada’ increased in droves in Lagos, the havoc that they wrecked on the roads also increased, necessitating their restriction by the government from plying major roads in the state. Then, the tricycles came in; but these have not fared better, as the operators of the commercial tricycles, popularly called ‘keke marwa’ also ride recklessly, while the influx has also contributed to the increasing road traffic in the state.
The rising traffic snarl in Lagos, which has not only impeded vehicular movement but also affected business activities and contributed to the increased wave of robberies on the highways, has become a source of worry to all. It necessitated the state government to organise a one-day transportation stakeholders’ summit last week. It was at the event which had Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and other key government officials in attendance, that the Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr.  Boboye Oyeyemi, dropped the ‘bomb shell’; Lagosians should embrace the bicycle again as a means of transportation to reduce the gridlocks on the roads, as well as to keep themselves fit and healthy.
The FRSC chief executive’s call was not exactly new.  The FRSC had two years ago in Abuja, as part of the Africa Road Safety Day 2013 and World Day of Remembering Road Traffic Crash Victims, inaugurated a campaign bordering on riding bicycles. The then Corps Marshal, Mr Osita Chidoka, said at the inauguration; “Riding of bicycles is a healthy physical exercise. People live longer when they use bicycles and this campaign is aimed at getting every road user in Nigeria to embrace the use of bicycles. This is necessary so that we will have safer roads. In terms of environment, riding bicycles would also reduce carbon emission and traffic congestion.”
He then appealed to the government to provide road infrastructure tailored towards accommodating the rights of bicycle riders on highways, while he also urged bicycle riders to ride safely using their helmets and be in the right frame of mind always.
The then Chairman, Governing Board of FRSC, Mr Felix Chukwu, was also quoted  as saying that the inauguration drew the people’s attention to the wisdom in riding bicycles. “When you ride bicycle, you are exercising yourself and this habit of going from one little point to another in a car should be discouraged. With the bicycle, anybody can get to anywhere he wants easily; you are reducing pollution and also helping yourself,” he said.
Earlier, stalwart of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Minister of Transport during the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, Chief Ojo Madueke, had also in 2001, prescribed the bicycle as a veritable means of transport for Nigerians. He said that Nigerians should embrace cycling as a partial solution to the growing gridlock that was crippling Nigeria’s economy.
Madueke, a confessed lover of bicycles, was photographed several times during his tenure as minister riding bicycles. Also, Chidoka, as a practical demonstration of his admonition, rode on a bicycle to the last Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration on May 27, 2015. He was the minster of transport then.
Not a few people believed that Oyeyemi’s recent advice was timely and re-echoed the ‘solution’ that had been proffered by some other experts to the perennial traffic gridlock in Lagos. But, are Lagosians ready to key in to the ‘bicycle revolution’ that has been proposed? Will Lagosians embrace this ‘relic’ when state-of-the-art automobile reigns?
A university lecturer, Suleiman Hassan, said that there was nothing wrong in re-enacting the era of bicycles to combat the rising challenges of transportation in Lagos. He added that a cosmopolitan state like Lagos should device multi-modal solutions to the challenges.
 “One of such solutions is the use of bicycles. The proposed return of bicycles to Lagos is well thought considering the prevailing challenges of transportation in the state. Countries like Japan and China use bicycles to supplement their transport system. Today, the countries are better for it. One hopes that the current government in the state would look at the proposal holistically,” he said.
Sunday Taiwo, a businessman, said the advice was well thought out, but expressed doubt over its workability. He said that urbanisation challenges and lack of development plans would make it difficult for mass riding of bicycles in the state.
 “The nature of Lagos road is terrible. This will make bicycle riders vulnerable to hit-and-run drivers and reckless commercial motor cycle and tricycle riders. There is a long way to go in entrenching any bicycle revolution in the state as I’m sure people would not want to ride bicycles to work,” he said.
However, a civil servant who pleaded not to be named said entrenching a bicycle revolution in Lagos is feasible; all it requires is the cooperation of the leaders and the led.
“We should make our mind adaptable to changes. If the government is proposing the use of bicycles by the citizenry, it behoves on the government to prepare the people’s minds to tune to the bicycle as mode of transport. The end result of such policy is to reduce traffic snarls on the roads and facilitate commercial activities in the state,” he stated.