<html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1> Nigeria: The Ban on Okada   <a href="http://allafrica.com/publishers.html?passed_name=Daily%20Trust&passed_location=Abuja">Daily Trust</a> (Abuja) EDITORIAL September 26, 2006 Posted to the web September 26, 2006 The federal capital authority has joined what appears to be the road sanity train by banning the use of commercial motorcycles also known Okada. According to an agreement between the union of Okada operators and the FCT authorities, Okada operations would cease operation within the Abuja City Centre with effect from October 1. The announcement must have come as a relief to road users especially those who have had encounters with the menace of Okada operators. In most Nigerian cities, commercial motorcycles were accepted into the mass transit system to fill a vacuum created by the rural-urban drift which culminated in overpopulation and the overstretching of available transport facilities. All across the nation, the operation of commercial motorcycles have created more problems than they were envisaged to solve - causing accidents and resulting in traffic congestion. A large chunk of the motorcycles do not have registration number plates. This makes it impossible to track them in the event of accidents or use for criminal purposes. Unfortunately, it so happens that the motorcycles are used for both purposes. Okada riders flagrantly disobey traffic regulations by riding on the wrong side of the road resulting in grievous accidents. What is most intriguing is that whenever an accident occurs as a result of the recklessness of these operators, they gather around the scene beat up motorists and commuters and sometimes setting cars ablaze. Statistics have revealed a gradual rise in the number of people maimed as a result of Okada rides. Because most riders refuse to obey traffic laws, accidents involving motorcycles are usually fatal, resulting either in death or disability usually of the passengers that they carry. Efforts by the road safety authorities to organise training workshops to help enforce driving codes have yielded no useful result as majority of the Okada operators are either not unionised or fail to turn up. The few who come for such training soon lose the training they have acquired as they return to the mainstream of operation. A good number of the riders are also linked with drug use and abuse. On the crime scene, the motorcycles have been used in street crimes such as bag snatching. Robbers have been known to use Okada as getaway vehicles while carrying out their nefarious activities and in some cases, they help thieves spy on neighbourhoods while looking out for police posts as their criminal friends carry on their activities with impunity. The beauty of the Abuja ban is that for now, it is not total. Unlike other government policies, the federal authorities have mobilised over a long period to ensure that this policy does not come as a surprise. Indeed, it has met with the leaders of the motorcycle operators who have agreed to the restriction of their operations to the suburbs of the city. To fill the vacuum and reduce the impact which would result from this ban, FCT authorities have introduced mass transit buses into the city transport system. We salute the courage of the ministry of the federal capital territory for this gesture. We however advice that the new bus system is managed in such a way that it would not end up like other government policies - a flash in the pan. We also commend the operators for agreeing to withdraw from the city centre and urge them to properly organise themselves in the suburbs and keep an eye out for each other with a view to reporting the bad ones among them to the relevant authorities. Since the duty of government is to provide jobs for the citizenry, we urge the FCT authorities to go a step further by working with other relevant agencies to ensure that those whose income would be affected as a result of this decision have alternate jobs to keep body and soul together. This is premised on the realisation that an idle brain is the devil's workshop. Now that Okada is almost out of the scene, we hope that other road users would learn the discipline of obeying road signs and rebulations to increase safety, reduce the carnage on our roads and ease traffic congestion. Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200609260482.html </div> </body> </html>