Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde
Fashola (SAN) was on Tuesday the guest of members of the Metropolitan Club in
Victoria Island at a special session on law and order in the state. On the
occasion, he charged those supporting the unregulated operation of motorcyclists
to take a trip to the various hospitals and medical emergency centres to see
the havoc wreaked by their activities
Fashola who spoke at the Kofo Abayomi
Road, Victoria Island location of the club on the topic, “Freedom from Fear” in
relation to Law and Order in Lagos State said the audience should visit
hospitals and emergency wards and see those who had lost limbs, arms, those who
had lost children or those who had become orphans by the recklessness of the
Okada riders. Noting that a lot depended on the citizenry in ensuring an
orderly society, the governor said everyone must build a consensus that the
idea behind the new traffic law was one that involved the quality of life of
everyone, the protection of the assets of every resident of Lagos and their
businesses.
Tracing the various well-organised
public transport systems that had existed in the past like the LMTS and LSTC,
he said it should agitate the minds of citizens and members of the club how the
state arrived at its present state in terms of the unbridled operation of
commercial motorcyclists. According to the governor, in less than two decades,
the Okadas had gained so much prominence that it had become a phenomenon which
should not have been allowed in the first place, stressing that the elite also
contributed as many encouraged their employees to run errands quickly with
Okada. “The only way to stop the business from flourishing is by not
patronising them. It is a business that if the income from it dwindles, the
business proposition of those in it will change,” he said. Conducting an
overview of various facets of life in the state,
Fashola explained that he had taken it
upon himself to lead by example by shunning the use of siren to escape from the
traffic, adding that as a governor he had always taken it upon himself to fight
against any attempt by Very Important Personalities (VIPs) to close roads and
the people must be ready to fight against behaviours and conducts that were
hazardous to healthy and secure existence.
The governor who drew a comparative
analysis of happenings in distant locations said the state government
established the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to allow people
dispose their refuse properly but that the people preferred to still patronise
cart pushers who would dump the refuse in a canal by the corner thus causing
flooding. “Some people are saying they will not obey the law that protects the
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) dedicated lane because they say it is draconian for the
government to insist on its enforcement. “This is a law made by the State House
of Assembly.
A law that I swore on oath to defend
and that is my duty. I make no apologies for doing it and I will continue to do
it. If we continue like this, we are on the road to Bangkok in Thailand,” the
governor stated. He said there should be concerted effort by everyone to ensure
that Nigeria did not reach the notorious status of Bangkok in terms of traffic
because Bangkok is a city that loses about $1 million every year to traffic
congestion and where the training of the average traffic police officer
includes the delivery of babies from pregnant women who are trapped in traffic.
Urging business executives and
corporate leaders to rethink the types of ventures being supported, the
governor said the tricycles known as Keke Marwa represented the sign of India’s
age of poverty which the country was striving hard to move away from as it was
now manufacturing TATA buses and wondered why Nigerians were now embracing it
wholeheartedly. He added that the same applied to motorcycles, which originated
from China, saying currently the Chinese were making fast trains for their
usage while Nigerians were helping their economy by patronising their
motorcycles.
Noting that those who broke the law
with impunity were often more than not, aliens with no respect for rules and
regulations, Fashola revealed that in the last 24 hours, over 100 people from
Niger Republic had been escorted out of the state, stressing that there was no
going back on the enforcement of the state traffic law. Fashola, while speaking
on the topic of “Freedom from Fear,” explained that the presence or absence of
law and order in any society was what determined whether the people would live
in fear or without it. He added that while the Nigerian Constitution guaranteed
many rights, there was no right classified as right to be free from fear in the
Constitution because freedom from fear seemed to have been the forgotten
freedom.
He advocated that the responsibility to
give the freedom that secured all freedom lay with every individual who must
make it a point of duty to ensure they secured themselves against fear. The
governor who spoke on the calibre of members that make up the Metropolitan
Club, said they were part of the elite that constitute the few who constitute
the critical mass that drove change when ideas manifest. Fashola who also spoke
on the last elections in Lagos State said a society did need a multitude to
make a difference as the resolve of the elite contributed and brought life to
the move to ensure the success of the one-man, one-vote campaign. Urging a
resolution on the part of all at the interactive session to become a part of
the much desired positive change,
Fashola declared: “If we are to prosper
and develop our national economy, we must resolve to leave here today with a
consensus to lead as champion of change. I am talking about changes in the way
we react to issues, changes in the way we think and in the way we behave.” He
recalled that when the administration decided to stop the illegal expansion of
Makoko, it was called several unprintable names by different uninformed people,
adding that what government stopped was a daily encroachment on the lagoon by
the squatters who were daily reducing its size and invariably the outlets for
water to drain from various parts of the state.
The governor said if the administration
had folded its arms and watched the excesses go on, the structures would have
been built up to under the Third Mainland Bridge and someone could have just
woken up one day and started displaying items on the Third Mainland Bridge. He
reiterated that traffic should not be viewed as a problem but rather a sign of
of prosperity in any emerging megacity like Lagos because as more people moved
into the city there would be congestion.
The governor, however, explained that
the traffic being complained about was the rush hour traffic which was not
peculiar to Lagos. adding that in the United States of America, it is better to
walk in Manhattan than to drive a car, admonishing that Nigerians should stop
feeling sorry for themselves whenever they are in traffic. Giving an insight
into some of the proactive steps being taken to manage traffic, he said the
State Government has gone a step further by introducing the Traffic Radio to
give advanced information to members of the public on how they can plan their
trips adequately.
He explained that the new road traffic law
has made provision against drinking or driving behind the wheels because
government believes that it is only split seconds that stand between the
occurrence of fatal accidents as any momentary loss of concentration could have
catastrophic consequences. Underscoring the prime role of law and order in
achieving a secured and stable society, he noted the fact that the Metropolitan
Club has continued to be successful because of the strict observance of its
rules and regulations by the members urging that they should do the same when
they are outside the Club. Governor Fashola said it is rather ironic that when
members of the Metropolitan Club get into the club premises they feel safe,
stressing however that the club premises did not make itself safe but was achieved
by the members who toiled hard.
He said what is needed from the members
as responsible members of the society is for them to transfer that same energy
to the larger society. Responding to some of the issues raised during the
interactive session that followed his address, Governor Fashola said the
government will continue to put measures in place to tackle street trading, but
urged the people to also stop patronizing hawkers. On the possibility of using
the Bangkok traffic experience as a public enlightenment tool for people to
learn from it, the Governor said a documentary drama titled ‘Emi O laaro’ has
already been designed and released for the public while he has also taken the
campaign for safe driving to various motor parks across the State.
On suggestions that the Highway Code
should be a subject of study in schools for children to learn at formative
stage, the Governor said Government was already working on how to develop a
basic curriculum that would be developed from a book on same subject without
encroaching on the basic school curriculum. On the social impact of laws, the
Governor said every law goes as far as those who conceived it can think of
because given another scenario, a new set of people can bring up something
different, he said government will always listen to genuine suggestions on how
things could be done better. While enumerating the efforts of the Government in
enhancing food security and job creation through agriculture, the Governor said
he is reaching out to sister states for land where unemployed people can be
deployed to work on farms and produce food that would be brought back to the
state to be sold to its teeming population. He said this is in addition to the
Agric YES programme through which graduates are trained and given
entrepreneurial skills and provided with the wherewithal to practice and
produce food.
Earlier in his address, the President
of the Club, Chief Olu Akinkugbe commended the Governor for his efforts at
transforming the State since he assumed office. He said it was as a mark of
respect for the late Chief Ola Vincent who was a former President of the
Metropolitan Club that the Governor postponed his first date with the Club.
Prominent among state officials at the session with the Governor were the
Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, his Health counterpart, Dr
Jide Idris and General Manager of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority,
Mr Tunde Edu while among the members of the Club present were Chief Chris
Ogunbanjo, Alhaji Femi Okunnu (SAN), Ambassador Dapo Fafowora and Chief Philip
Asiodu.
Source:
Sun
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