Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

One person’s meat is another person’s poison, so says a maxim. Thus, when Lagos State banned commercial motorcycles and tricycles, Ogun State was flooded with the displaced motorcyclists.

This would naturally be the situation, since no such law or order was in place in Ogun State to restrict Okada riders from plying their trade. Areas and communities such as Akute, Ajuwon, Alagbole, Ojodu-Berger, Ifo, Warewa, Agbado, Ifo in Ifo LGA, Ibafo and Mowe in Obafemi-Owode LGA, Sango, Ijoko, Ota and Ilogbo in Ado-Odo/Ota LGA, Sagamu and even Ijebu-Ode, have since witnessed astronomical rise in the presence of commercial motorcyclists, which relocated from Lagos.

Apart from road crashes synonymous with commercial motorcyclists, people also view an average Okada rider as aider of crime. It was not surprising that Ogun residents expressed fears over the sudden influx of commercial motorcyclists into their communities.

There are also divergent views by residents on the situation. Some hold the belief that there will be an upsurge in crimes some are of the opinion that such influx will come with its economic benefits.

Chairman, Committee on Transportation, Olufemi Adeniyi, said the state was ready to embrace and allow the displaced Okada riders to operate in Ogun. He said his committee had been inundated with calls and reports of influx of the banned commercial motorcyclists into some neighbouring towns, maintaining that the state would be pleased to accommodate the displaced riders to ply their trade.

He express the readiness to take advantage of the ban and increase the internally generated revenue of the state. He added that since the enforcement of the ban, commercial motorcyclists had thronged neighbouring communities and towns in Ogun such as Akute, Alagbole, Ajuwon, Ojudu-Berger, Mowe, Ibafo, Ogijo, Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode, noting the influx would increase commercial activities in the state.

He appealed to residents to accommodate the displaced Okada riders and promised that the state would create enabling environment for the incoming motorcyclists to operate.

He, however, cautioned that similar restriction could be placed by the state on the commercial motorcyclists, if “they allow agents of darkness among them display their talents in Ogun. We, as a responsible and responsive government, have been inundated with calls from the general public and we have also listened to the mass media concerning the position of Lagos State on the ban on Okada in Lagos metropolis, consequent upon which commercial motorcyclists have left their place of trade from Lagos down to the neighbouring towns which happened to be in Ogun state.

“The most concerned areas are Alagbole, Akute, Ajuwon, Ojodu Berger, Mowe, Ibafo and Ogijo axis. We have noticed the influx of these Okada, even to Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode, Ota, Sango and other areas. We plead with our people to be law-abiding and very accommodating. We are all going to that Promised Land, but we need to tread with caution concerning this influx of the okada riders. We know that it is going to be a means where government will generate revenue from the people, especially the okada riders because they would pay their dues to the government.

“At the same time, we need to let these people understand, that is the okada riders, who are just coming in, that it would be in very bad taste if they are resisted. For this would be not in consonant with freedom of movement as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“This movement as has been restricted in Lagos State could also be restricted in Ogun State, if the agents of darkness amongst them display their talents in Ogun State. Ogun State, as we know, is the Gateway State to the nation and we have our own standards and we don’t want any Okada riders to take laws into their owns hands or to use this opportunity to be committing crimes.

“We appeal to all of them to work harmoniously with those people they have met on ground and make sure that they work within the ambit of the law. And whosoever crosses his bounds will definitely face the wrath of the law. We don’t want anybody not to say that we have not been warned.

“We are all obedient citizens, but there are some which we don’t know that we are going to tame to size. We have a peaceful Ogun State and we don’t want any influx of vagabonds and layabouts to take advantage of this influx of people down to Ogun State.”

But in what appeared as a swift U-turn by government, Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Communication, Remmy Hazzan, countered Adeniyi’s position and burst the bubble of the displaced commercial motorcyclists. He said the state was only seeking genuine investors and not banned Okada riders.

He claimed nobody was authorised to speak on the issue on behalf of government, noting that Okada operation was fraught with many challenges, including insecurity, which was the reason their operations had either been totally banned or restricted in many parts of the country.

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He said the state lacked the capacity to cope with the menace and security challenges the influx of the Okada operators from Lagos and other neighbouring states would pose. He disclosed that deploying motorcycles for commercial operation is not in the schedule of the National Transportation Policy, adding that government was already looking into the issue with a view to coming out with a clear policy direction.

Hazzan noted that although, doors of the state are open, but only for genuine businessmen and foreign investors to take advantage of the proximity of the Gateway State to the nation’s commercial and biggest market – Lagos:

“As the state with the largest industrial base, Ogun State will continue to welcome more investors. The present administration, in its determination to further enhance the status of the state as the most industrialised, has put in place policies that would attract more businesses home and abroad.

“Governor Dapo Abiodun has been meeting with potential investors in the country and even travelled abroad in his efforts to attract more investors into the state.” He stated that the present administration is desirous of providing gainful employment for her teeming citizens, but with emphasis on agriculture.

Meanwhile, residents expressed concerns over what they pointed out as “security implications” of the relocation of the teeming banned Okada riders to Ogun. According to them, hoodlums and criminals often collude with commercial motorcycle riders to perpetrate crimes.

A resident of Abeokuta, Yussuf Sodimu, said the influx of Okada riders would increase crime rates. He posited that motorcycles are often use as a getaway by criminals, noting commercial motorcycles should not be allowed to operate in the metropolis but in the inner parts of the state. He urged government to follow the step of Lagos and restrict operations of commercial motorcyclists to some areas of the state.

For Azeez Adeoye, total ban on the use of motorcycles as a means of transportation should be enacted in the whole country: “Apart from the security implications, many lives have been lost while many people have sustained life-threatening injuries as a result of Okada crashes.”

Adeniyi Muritala berated the Lagos State Government for kicking our Okada riders. He argued that many Nigerians, especially youth, who were unable to get jobs took to commercial motorcycling. He urged Ogun State government to create enabling environment for them to settle down to business in Ogun.

State chairman of the Amalgamated and Commercial Motorcycles Riders, Repairs Association of Nigeria (ACOMORRAN), Kayode Showunmi, allayed the fear of residents over the influx of the motorcyclists. He said his association has been working with the police and other security agencies to ensure hoodlums and criminals do not infiltrate members to perpetrate crimes.

He added that members have been sensitised on the need to be vigilant and report any suspicious or clandestine moves capable of causing crisis. He, however, said the union would not condone any criminal acts from members, noting that ACOMORRAN would always support government in its bid to ensure crime-free society.

The state police command said it has put measures and strategies in place to check the security fallout of the influx of the banned commercial motorcyclists. Its spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the command has anticipated and prepared for the security challenges the displaced Okada riders could pose:

“Since the announcement of the ban by the Lagos State Government, we knew that the next port of call for the Okada riders is Ogun. This is why we quickly put measures and strategies in place to check the influx of these people into our state. One of the things we did was to organise a sensitisation meetings with the leadership of commercial motorcycle unions, where we told them to peel their eyes and monitor closely, activities of their members.

“We particularly told them to do thorough background checking on any new members joining their unions, especially from Lagos. Apart from that, we had series of meetings with leaders of CDAs and CDCs in the affected communities, where we charged them to increase their watch on Okada riders in the various communities.

“We went a step further by increasing physical policing of the border towns with Lagos, while officers and men from our intelligence department have been deployed to these areas.

“Therefore, we want to allay the fear of the people over this influx that the police is monitoring the concerned communities; no commercial motorcyclists will be allowed to cause activities capable of breaking down law and order anywhere in the state.”