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By Francis Ewherido
I watched a news item on Channel Television last week. Squatters and illegal occupants have taken over the space meant for the proposed coastal road on the Lekki axis. A taskforce from the Lagos Government went there and gave them a week to move out.
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As I was watching, what continuously came to my mind is, why were they allowed to settle on the space for the proposed coastal road in the first place? The eviction is going to be very traumatic and disruptive for some of the squatters. I recall the eviction of residents of Maroko (the present Victoria Island extension) by the government of Raji Rasaki in the early 90s. It was not a pretty sight. But they were even lucky, they were provided an alternative accommodation, albeit subhuman.
In the case of these squatters, they are to find alternative accommodation within a week. With no money and time, they need a miracle to accomplish the impossible. I do not know why the government took the decision, although such illegal settlements are usually notorious for crimes, prostitution (including under-aged prostitutes), drugs-peddling and abuse; they are also dens of armed robbers and all kinds of vices. But this is also home to the poor and families without resources to get decent accommodation. If the government is not starting the construction of the coastal road immediately, it should give the squatters more time to get alternative accommodation.
And if the government is evicting them because of criminal elements, I beg the government to fish out the criminals and not “punish” the innocent amongst them. God was ready to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if there were just 10 good men; the Lagos State government should give the squatters more time because of those with families and the law-abiding (can we really call illegal squatters law-abiding?) ones among them.
Which brings me to a trend I have noticed since I grew up. I was born in Ughelli in Delta State and spent my early years there. While growing up, there was this market by the bridge and partly on the road. Since then, the road has been dualised. Now traders display their wares on the median and both sides of thismain road inside Ughelli. The last time I used the road, the vehicle crawled when we got to the market. Why should a market spill over into a major road with all the associated dangers? And it is a common occurrence in Nigeria.
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The market has been on the road for over 60 years (I grew up to meet it and my mother confirmed to me that it has been like that). It has grown taproot and I can imagine the bloody battle that will occur if the government dares to do anything to remove the traders from the road. This is what is getting me worried about certain developments in Lagos, like the menace of motorcycle and tricycle riders.
But still on Ughelli, unlike many urban areas in Nigeria, motorcycles have been the major means of transportation for decades. I do not know exactly when the trend started, but they were all over the place in the 70s. Motorcycle riders in Ughelli then were orderly.
They obeyed traffic rules and had value for life. That is not the case with motorcycle riders in Lagos. I cannot recall exactly when motorcycles became a major means of transportation in Lagos, but it was in the 90s. When I arrived Lagos in 1987, there were no motorcycles. You either had the money to take taxis or you took molue(midi-bus with a sitting capacity of about 44 which was very common until the Lagos State’s bus rapid transit, BRT, debuted). There were also no danfobuses, at least in the routes I used regularly.
From day one, motorcycles riders in Lagos were notorious; they were reckless and disobeyed traffic rules. Now the number of motorcycles has multiplied like rabbits over the past one year or two, and with the multiplication, notoriety. It is no longer a case of lawlessness. They are now law unto themselves. They have made major roads like Mile 2 in Apapa-Oshodi their parking lot. They are there in their 100s, if not 1000s.
They are on many other expressways; they ride against traffic even on major roads like Eko Bridge. Nowhere is sacred. At the slightest traffic, they take over walkways and convert them to motorcycle routes. Many pedestrians have been hit in the process. Any pedestrian, who struggles with them for right of way, risks being maimed or killed.
Motorists are not faring better with motorcycles. I advise motorists to be wary of motorcycle riders. They have no sense of what is right or wrong. For them, they have the numbers and that is power. They pounce on motorists who are involved in accidents with motorcycle riders. It does not matter if the motorcycle rider is wrong. Lagos is under siege. Motorcycle riders have taken over and are getting entrenched. They have developed a sense of entitlement and ownership.
As if that is not bad enough, tricycle riders have joined them in this Hobbesian behaviour. Some people say the tricycle riders are actually motorcycle riders who only upgraded their acts. Tricycles are the major means of transportation in India.
They call them auto. In India the riders are also very daring and reckless, but I do not remember seeing the lawlessness I currently see in Lagos during my stay there. The current state of affairs in Lagos is not good for human safety and the development of an orderly society. Danfo drivers have joined them in the madness and even private vehicle owners are enlisting in droves. I pray we do not have the case of Ughelli market, which has become entrenched, at hand here in Lagos. The government needs to move very fast and regulate the operations of motorcycle and tricycle riders, before they regulate us with their lawlessness.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Christmas is four days away. You know the reason for the season: Joy. Do not let anybody or situation snatch your joy from you. Rice and stew, new clothes and travels are not what make the season joyful, the commemoration of the birth of Christ and the hope it engenders do. If you cannot afford Christmas goodies this year, fine, another time dey come.
We’re lucky our struggle earned us cleanup – MOSOP
Shout out to all those putting food on the tables of the less privileged this season. The group that trips me most are those who cannot afford to give anything reasonable on their own, but they team up with others by contributing their N1000 and N500 into a common purse. Before you know it, the power of numbers has raised hundreds of thousands of Naira to put smiles on the faces of the less privileged this season. Kudos.
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