Fix The Basics… It’s The Way To Go
It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society. — Jiddu Krishnamurti
The ban on motorcycles and auto-rickshaws is now in full effect. I am for the ban as I was eight years ago and was aghast when the law seemed to have been forgotten. Without a doubt, the reception has been negative resulting in clashes with the police and endless anger online and on the streets. This is not unexpected, but like every new phase of life that comes with pain, it shall pass and there would be a new normal. I commiserate with those who are greatly affected by the ban (especially the ride-hailing companies and their contractors), as well as those (like me) who are slightly affected. Please bear it and make appropriate adjustments. I have words for the government, anon.
We like to think of Lagos as ‘all that’ and Lagosians as tough. Many drivers boast that if you can drive in Lagos you can drive anywhere. They take pride in being dexterous with the menace of the two- and three-wheeled monsters. I often scoff when I hear such boasts. We live in a country of ‘anyhowness’. Things have been upended and the reality for us has become warped such that when there is a move to install normalcy, we break, we think we cannot cope.
The okada is a result of Lagosians’ nay Nigerians’ infernal indiscipline and impatience. We just can’t be patient. It is the very reason we are backward in our politics, our education and just about every aspect of our lives. Chinua Achebe mentioned it in that very seminal book of his, The Trouble with Nigeria.
‘One-way’ driving has reduced drastically but it has not vanished thanks to Okadas and Kekes who think they are above the law. We always look at developed countries with envy — they didn’t become developed by luck or wishful thinking. They did the work required — government and governed. The white man is perhaps just as capable of lawlessness as any other human but the moment a law or regulation is instituted everybody gets in line and the society does not go back. That is how progress is made, one step at a time, not wholesale. We cannot get there in one day but we must begin somewhere.
By the way, the excuse of letting them be, so as not to perpetuate poverty is not tenable enough. When you are in a hole, if you want to get out you do not keep digging. Okada, keke, trading on the curbs, street hawking, etc. are symptoms of poverty. They became very prominent with the population explosion in Lagos, concomitant unemployment, and a free-for-all public transportation system that elevates the agbero and his chairman above the local councils which are known to the constitution (an annoying reality only possible in Lagos). I insist that the type of help that Lagos needs is that which develops every other state so that citizens do not look to Lagos as the only place where personal fulfilment is possible. This is why President Trump and the global nationalism/populism movement also evidenced by Brexit have become a fixture in this century. But I digress.
We learned that tons of okadas and their owners shipped out of Lagos hours after the ban took effect. If their home governments (including those from Chad and Niger) fix their local economies those young men would not now be running from pillar to post for daily survival which is the most basic requirement of existence after air. Interestingly, they contribute little to the local economy beyond the service of moving people on their deadly contraptions at often deadly speed. I don’t know any who rent houses, have families here who attend local schools or use the hospitals and other utilities. I even wonder how they do their business when nature calls.
Lagos boasts of its nigh-20 million population. It is not an asset, it is an albatross, that number, until we get the basics right, and until development is even in Nigeria. The optimum population for Lagos in my view is 10 million. There would be fewer crazy people who would not stay at bus stops for a bus, fewer crazy danfo drivers who would pick-up and drop-off passengers in the middle of the road, uncouth okada and keke riders and drivers who would convert the foot of a flyover to pick-up and drop-off points (I saw this a lot at Computer Village, Ikeja). You couldn’t even take a walk without being run off the road. It is sickening. Lagos is mad, it is not unique. These things detract from our quality of life.
Is the Sanwo-Olu Administration out to change the face of Lagos for good? If yes, bring it on. The team and the party must be ready to lose the next round of elections beginning with the ones at the local councils. It is not easy to drive change nor is it easy to experience it but change is always painful when it becomes inevitable.
If Messrs. Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat want the people to truly believe that they are after their welfare then they must address the following (among many others):
NURTW, Agberos, Danfo: Together with the Danfo department, this is the unofficial fourth arm of the Lagos state government. I believe the security and safety concerns for doing away with two- and three-wheeled vehicles in parts of the state, however, the government must further institute sanity by clipping the wings of this group. I have observed that they rarely wear their green and white uniform these days. They are usurping the functions of the local governments who themselves are happy to sit back and take their share of the proceeds. The concept of the NURTW — a union — in Lagos is warped. Union membership is a voluntary thing, therefore dues payment is not mandatory. That is not how it plays out in Lagos. They get paid morning, afternoon and night, literally. Sometimes more than that. This has a direct effect on the fares for passengers. A terribly annoying culture that must stop else the megacity mantra would continue to be nonsense.
The danfo buses are just terrible and sometime in the future, they must be replaced. They are the least worthy of vehicles on the road. No rear lights, broken mirrors, uncomfortable seats, ‘hanging’ conductors, absolute disregard for other vehicles and even passengers on board. It is also anybody’s guess how many of the drivers are licensed to drive. It is laughable when the vehicle inspection guys harass private vehicles and look away when the danfos drive by. These are the basics that must be addressed. If a comfortable and enduring mass transit system is going to elude Lagos forever (some of the brand new red buses in the Fashola era have become worse than the ‘molues’ they were meant to replace), let this administration take the initiative to set inviolable standards for what we currently have. It is also important to ban the sale of alcohol at the bus parks.
Section of 2 of the law that is now being effected stipulates that: no trailer other than petrol tankers and long vehicles used in conveying passengers, shall enter into or travel within the metropolis of Lagos between the hours of 6.00 am — 9.00 pm. Has this been repealed?
Road markings and Street lights: There are so many places where road markings like zebra crossings and lane markings would be really helpful especially for pedestrians and the physically challenged. So many major highways and streets within the metropolis are also not lit at night. Light creates an ambiance of security and a great degree of aesthetics. Let there be light.
The bridges: The last administration began something commendable by removing bus parks from under the bridges and beautifying them. Let us not continue to live like barbarians in the name of ‘huge population’. Seal off the under-bridges to buses, beautify and reserve some space for public conveniences (open defecation can be addressed that way).
Markets/street trading: A big deal. Reckon that according to the 2012 legislation it is illegal to display wares on walkways. This is still the common thing. Establish large bazaars where all who sell can wait for all who want to buy. This would remove huge human pressure from the road and also eliminate filth on the streets. I acknowledge that this could take time to achieve but it has to be done. Markets should be markets and roads should be roads. The two shouldn’t mix.
There are a lot more basic issues that need to be addressed in environment, health, education and every other area of the city’s economy but breaking the jinx of backwardness, lethargy, and lawlessness on the roads will be a big morale boost for the government and a signal to all that it is no more business as usual. I hope the ban would be final and progress would be made on many other fronts.
