Following the recent ban on commercial motorcycles and tricycles in Lagos state, commuters in the length and breadth of the state have furiously articulated their dissatisfaction with the policy. With a small land mass, 40 percent of which is covered by water, Lagos state is densely populated by roughly 22 million residents. This megacity is ill-famed for its extremely heavy traffic congestion which reportedly adds up to four hours a day to the inhabitants’ commute.
Given the insufficiency of Lagos Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) and it limited routes, as well as the prolonged delay caused by traffic hold up to mini buses and taxis in the state, the overwhelming majority of inhabitants are largely dependent on transportation by commercial motorcycles/tricycles which are able to swerve across the trafficked ways and reach their passengers’ destinations at a relatively faster rate.
Apparently, the ban has been imposed with a view to circumventing safety and security concerns over this transportation mode. This is because over the years, this supplementary transportation service has reportedly led to several cases of terrible accidents in which many were confirmed dead and a host of others incurred fatal injuries. Prior to this, the former state governor, Babatunde Fashola had banned commercial motorcycles in Ikeja area as a measure to curb the alarming rate of robbery which entailed the use of motorcycles.
The emergence of this motorcycle/tricycle ban policy has led to an intense protest by angry masses who have begun to find hard their daily journey from home to work and back home. Although the ban policy could be advantageous to a certain extent in curbing road accidents on which a proper preventive measure needs to be taken, the government seemed to have narrowed their decision to an inconsistent solution given other alternatives which can better address the situation. It should be noted that the abolition of commercial motorcycle/tricycle without a safer mass transit substitute immediately put in place is an act detrimental to the wellbeing of the absolute majority of Lagos population. When interrogated a few days ago about the reason for the ban, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Ladi Lawanson affirmed that the use of commercial motorcycles and tricycles is antithetical to the planned megacity’s transportation system, and thereby will be replaced by ferries and trains. The former will be commissioned in the next few weeks, while the latter will be inaugurated in the next 18 months.
As a matter of fact, this utterance manifests the fact that issues of public interest are usually addressed with a great deal of levity. Hence, what is it that has been done to mitigate the sufferings of commuters who are compelled – by this terrible situation – to be awake as early as 3:00 daily with a view to catching the few available buses and avoiding the delaying heavy morning traffic congestion? It is unquestionable that the consequence of this policy will span a huge population of civil service, private organizations’ employees, and traders who have to cover some distance on a daily basis to their workplaces and back home.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE BAN POLICY
In addition to the individual owners for commercial purpose who are denied the right to render their sevices henceforth, motorcycle startups such as Gokada, Max, Safeboda and so forth are automatically on cessation, leading to the unemployment of a large population of their employed riders. In her recent report entitled ‘‘A rushed decision’: Angry commuters disapprove of controversial Lagos Okada ban’, the CNN correspondent, Aisha Salaudeen, reports the Gokada’s CEO, Fahim Saleh as saying that the company has forsaken the motorcycle transport aspect of its business, culminating in laying off roughly 800 drivers and 50 percent of other staff who are involved in transport operational services in the state.
The company, which is presently working on its transition to water transport, is looking forward to launching its own ferries in the next few weeks upon fulfilling the set requirements.
These companies have been previously endorsed to fully establish themselves, and recently, the government held an agreement with them on the need to employ a more formalized trend in the services. In the last May, Gokada was successful in raising an amount of 5.3 million U.S dollars to boost its investment, while its counterpart, Max.ng, raised 7 million U.S dollars in June. Thus, such a harsh policy is not only disappointing to these companies but could repel future investors.
Conclusively, in addition to the proclaimed ferry alternative, the laid out 500 extra buses as well as the inner-city train system which is yet to be inaugurated, there is still a need to reverse the motorcycle/tricycle ban policy – given this very large population to be catered for – and consider the enforcement of laws binding on motorcycle/tricycle riders in such a way as to address the issue of frequent accidents. Similar to the BRT, creating separate routes for these motorcycles/tricycles could be put in consideration. The aforementioned train system also needs to be commissioned without delay as it would tremendously help to mitigate the daily sufferings of commuters.
References:
Aisha Salaudeen (2020). A rushed decision: Angry commuters disapprove of controversial Lagos Okada ban: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/14/africa/lagos-okada-keke-ban/index.html. Published on 14th February, 2020.
Nduka Orjinmo (2020). Lagos motorbike taxi ban: Chaos as Nigerian city removes okadas: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-51353665. Published on 3rd February, 2020.
