Despite restrictions on their operations on major roads of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), commercial motorcycle operators popularly known as okada, like their counterparts, who operate commercial tricycle known as Keke NAPEP, are gradually making a comeback into the city centre with the attendant chaos, while the FCTA Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRST) mandated to checkmate their activities appears to be helpless. Writes PAUL OKAH.
Residents of the FCT were witnesses of the culture of impunity and outright disregard for road traffic rules and the law by commercial motorcycle operators also known as okada leading to the introduction of the ban on okada as a means of public transportation by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in Abuja on October 1, 2006.
Following the ban and restriction of the okada to the suburbs and satellite towns, the commercial tricycles, also known as Keke NAPEP, were expected to be an improvement over the okada. However, years down the line, there appears not to be much difference between the modes of transportation patronised mostly by low-income earners in the suburbs, as the keke operators have continued on the same path of reckless driving, involvement in crimes like armed robbery and kidnapping, which led to the ban on okada.
Blueprint Weekend checks indicate that the FCTA Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRST), which is mandated to checkmate their activities, appears to be overwhelmed and helpless.
Criminal’s quick getaway
Investigations by Blueprint Weekend revealed that, before the ban of okada in Abuja and major cities across the country motorbikes were most preferred means of quick getaway by criminals involved in robbery at banks and residents, snatching of bags and mobile phones, among others.
Further checks revealed that, whether in Abuja, Lagos, Calabar, Anambra, Port Harcourt, Enugu or other major cities across the country, robbery gangs would get close to a target, snatch a mobile phone being used by an unsuspecting victim at the bus stop or any other public place.
Similarly, handbags are snatched by robbers on moving motorcycles in a split second, leaving the person mouth agape bemoaning the sudden loss of personal belongings.
Also, insurgents deployed the use of motorcycles at the peak of the Boko Haram attacks in the North-east and other parts of the country to detonate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and make a quick getaway leaving on their trail of blood, tears and sorrow.
Ban on okada
It did not come as a surprise when the Malam Nasir El-Rufai-led FCT administration in October 2006 banned the operation of commercial motorcycles within the city centre thereby restricting their activities to the satellite towns as part of security and safety measures.
According to the administration, the ban which was announced by the Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Information and Strategy, Hajiya Amina Sahilu, was “to ensure proper monitoring and also check the excesses of the commercial motorcycle riders, who are responsible for a number of road accidents in the city and even attacks on unsuspecting road users.”
It was subsequently backed by Section 42 (1) of the Road Traffic Act of the FCT, even as most capital cities across the country followed suit by restricting the operations of okada to certain parts of the cities, as well as to specific time.
Return of okada
Interestingly, barely a decade after, operators of commercial motorcycles began to abuse the waiver to operate in designated areas as they are seen alongside their counterparts, keke riders, extending their operations beyond their designated routes.
Following the ineffective enforcement of the ban, the operators gradually sneaked back into town, at first in the early hours of the day and late in the night when the enforcers are believed to have closed for the day, and afterwards then gaining confidence to ride with impunity on the highways.
It is now common sight to see commercial motorcyclists and tricycles riding on inner roads and major highways in the FCT and some states.
They can be sighted around the popular AYA Roundabout, Utako, Area 1/Area 3 Roundabouts, Wuye/ Jahi Junctions, Kubwa/ Gwarinpa Expressways. Highbrow areas like Maitama and Asokoro are not spared as daring Okada riders are regularly seen plying these areas against existing ban.
Fast, affordable transportation
In separate interviews with Blueprint Weekend, many FCT residents expressed divergent views on the operations of okada riders within the city centre. While some residents were pessimistic that the trend cannot be curbed, others were not in support of the ban insisting that it provided means of livelihood for residents and should be encouraged.
According to Julius Oko, a civil servant, “Okada is a means of livelihood to many, a reliable and affordable means of transportation that should be maintained, especially for low income earners trying to eke out a living in the FCT,” even as he argued that the advantages of their operation far outweigh the disadvantages.
“No matter what, the advantages of having commercial motorcycles in the FCT are many. I do not have a car so I have to use okada, as it is easy and affordable. I know that okada riders are here to stay, because there are areas one cannot access except with cabs; which are usually very expensive. Commercial motorcycles are able to meander through heavy traffic and drop you at your destination on time and at relatively low cost,” he said.
For Abigail Adebayo, totally scrapping okada from the FCT portends doom for low income earners who cannot afford the exorbitant prices charged by cabs. She made case the riders to be trained in order to provide better services.
“There is no way we can totally do away with the services of okada because many of us do not earn as much and can’t afford the cabs. They have come to stay, whether we like it or not. Though I am against acts of lawlessness by commercial motorcyclists wealthy people do not care how we survive because they ride in big cars. So, let them leave okada for us.
“However, these okada riders should be trained; in order for them to operate according to rules. FCTA should not phase them out because they don’t want them. What is the FCTA and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government doing to give jobs to these youths, some of whom are even graduates? Please, they should consider the people who cannot afford another source of transportation,” she said.
Ride to hell
For Mr Ahmed Yusuf, despite the arguable advantages of having commercial motorcycles operating within the cities, “a ride in an Okada is a ride to death as many of them engage in reckless driving and would not use crash helmets; thereby putting their passengers and other road users at risk despite efforts to sensitise them.
He said: “If you don’t know, more than 90 per cent of the okada riders are suicide-prone. It’s just the plain truth. They throw caution to the wind and seem to be in a hurry to get to hell. My company has organised seminars for them on several occasions in collaboration with the Local Okada Riders Association. On several occasions, free crash helmets were handed over to them, but check them a few days after and you won’t see them wearing the helmets. Isn’t that strange?
“They prefer death to taking precautions. Go to most hospitals and you will see a lot of okada accident victims in their so-called okada wards. The way the guys ride their bikes makes one to wonder if they are sane. Just imagine an Okada riding in front of your car at a certain speed and all of a sudden makes a U-turn to the other side of the road, because a passenger had beckoned on him. I know that car drivers do the same, but the Okada riders are more exposed to risk than the car drivers.”
Ban still in force-Police
The Commissioner of Police in charge of the FCT and Chairman, Ministerial Joint Task Force (MJTF), CP Bala Ciroma, during a meeting with the leadership of National Tricycle and Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association (NATOMORAS) and the Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), on October 23, 2018, in Abuja, restated the ban on okada and keke in some areas was still in force.
According to him, keke and okada operators, who were breaching the restriction were given three days to comply with the ban and stick to operating in the satellite towns.
He said: “It has become necessary to remind the associations, because the order on the commercial transportation remained under enforcement.”
Ciroma told the groups to see beyond the commercial benefits of their business and contribute their quota to making the capital city of Nigeria worthy of emulation, even as he warned that the MJTF would, in the next three days, make any defaulter face the full wrath of the law.
“My brothers, the aim of this meeting is for us to give ourselves another opportunity to listen to each other and advise ourselves on how to cooperate with each other. As the head of this team, I would like us to stick to those areas earlier designated for operations. This has, however, become necessary, because we are beginning to witness some of your members flaunt the law,” he said.
… FCDA too
Also, speaking at the meeting with the leadership of okada and keke operators, the FCTA, Director of Security, Mohammed Maikasuwa, stated that keke and okada, remained banned from operating in the Abuja city centre.
He said tricycles will only operate in designated areas like estates and other districts, while commercial motorcycles should stay completely off the roads in the FCT.
Maikasuwa said Abuja’s master plan did not make provision for Okada and Keke to ply in the city centre, adding that the FCTA will ensure this law is not flouted, even as he warned commercial motorcycle operators, who insist on constituting nuisance along the major highways in the FCT, especially the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua expressway, to stay off the road or be made to face severe consequences.
Enforcing ban
Also, in a publication in 2018, Abuja Inquirer lamented the nefarious activities of Okada and Keke operators within the nation’s capital and stopped short at calling the FCTA a toothless bulldog in enforcing the restrictions ban on Okada and Keke operations.
“Although the FCT administration has demonstrated some level of strictness against this fragrant abuse of law with the clampdown and seizure of their motorcycles by various task forces, there is still the need to step up this raid; as the commercial riders seem to have been emboldened by its laxity.
“The Administration must find other ways of sanitising the activities of the operators; as is the case in other parts of the country. The FCT DRTS, as the regulators of vehicular operations in the FCT, should come up with a more agreeable arrangement to integrate these people and then regulate them. The DRTS should zone their operations; based on the needs of commuters in the FCT,” the paper said.
Checking operations of okada
In articles published by The Guardian on November 21, 2018, and The Punch on December 13, 2018, respectively, titled “FCT: Enforcing the ban on Okada and Keke operations,” a resident of Durumi II, Gudu District, Abuja, Mr Danladi Akilu, gave many reasons why the activities of okada and keke riders would continue to thrive and how they can be checkmated.
He said: “Tricycle and motorcycle operators represent a very important economic bloc in the FCT today that provides needed services for the population. A good look at the transportation value chain will reveal that tricycle and motorcycle are the most critical point, either in the process of initiating a journey, from point of take off to where people will board a vehicle or plane.
“There are those who also represent the last point of the journey, when somebody has finished and terminates at his destination. Without tricycle and motorcycles, the substantial population of the FCT and other parts of the country would have been deprived of this very important aspect of human activity, which is mobility.
“Due to the unique position that this group occupies in the FCT, there have been a lot of communication and relations between the riders association and the relevant secretariats of the FCT Administration. There have also been various agreements and communiqué to ensure that the operations of commercial tricycles and motorcycles are restricted to designated areas, most notably the estates and suburbs.”
Continuing, he said, “But as it is well known, Abuja is a magnet and everybody is just coming in. Sometimes, people come in and they don’t appreciate the agreements already entered between the associations and the FCTA. Ordinarily, the Abuja master plan did not make provisions for okada and keke to operate in the capital city. Section 42(1) of the road traffic Act of the FCT is very clear about the operation of keke NAPEP.
“It says permit should not be granted for them to operate. However, because of the magnanimity of government, it gave waivers for the group to operate in the estates and suburbs. This is because government does not want to prevent anybody from doing his work or looking for food in the FCT. Government understands that all of us in Abuja, including the FCT minister, are in the capital city to look for food.
“Today, if there is no food in Abuja, all of us will go back to our villages. But this should not be an excuse to do things in a manner that is capable of distorting peace and order in the FCT. A situation where all manner of persons ride okada and keke on the highway, endangering other road users, is highly condemnable.”
Furthermore, Mr Akilu said, “From the records, the FCT Administration has introduced deliberate policies to cushion the hardships being faced by okada and keke riders and other groups in the FCT, so that they don’t exceed their boundaries. For those of them who happen to be IDPs, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, magnanimously agreed and approved two designated hospitals, Asokoro and Wuse District Hospitals for them to get medication free of charge and this has been going on for the last three years.
“Also, in the area of school enrolment, over 2,000 children in the various IDP locations have been enrolled in public schools in the FCT and provided with uniforms and books for them to be comfortable, which is some the reasons given by this group for coming to the FCT.
“This is why it is disheartening to now see this group turn around and do things that are capable of destroying this security and comfort that attracted them to Abuja in the first place. No explanation is good enough for okada and keke operators to take advantage of government’s magnanimity to drive against traffic, ride on highways, and endanger the lives of other road users.”
He further added that, “Although the FCT Administration has shown over the years that it has zero tolerance for the fragrant abuse of law and order by this group, with the clampdown and seizure of their vehicles by various task forces in the past, there is however need to find other ways of sanitizing the activities of this group, as is the case in other parts of the country.
“The FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS), as regulators of vehicular operations in the FCT, should come up with a more agreeable arrangement to integrate these people and then regulate them. The DRTS should zone their operations based on the needs of commuters in the FCT. Similarly, proper census needs to also be taken of commercial tricycle and motorcycle operators in the FCT to register them and integrate them into the ever expanding transportation landscape.
“Their biometric data should be collected, after which they should be allocated to the areas agreed with their unions where they will only operate. In the event an area becomes fully occupied, they should be directed to go to the next estate. If somebody comes to transgress and enter their territory, they will know that this person doesn’t belong to them and take necessary action.
“Those who have been to Lagos and other parts of the country will tell you that Abuja is the most beautiful city in Nigeria today and we must do everything necessary to promote sanity in the capital city.”
FCT DRTS overwhelmed
On June 23, 2019, Abuja Digest, a weekly publication by the FCTA, said that the DRTS had vowed heavy clampdown on okada and keke operators in the FCT for violating traffic rules in Kubwa axis of the FCT and other areas. However, the DRTS appeared to be overwhelmed, especially with the influx of more residents.
Speaking to Blueprint Weekend on the back channel return of okada to the city centres, DRTS spokesperson, Mr. Kalu Emetu, said the recklessness of okada and keke riders, “is not peculiar to the Kubwa axis, but a situation that cuts across the entire territory, which prompted the setting up of a joint Ministerial Task Force by the immediate past FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello.”
Emetu said “the problem is further compounded by the insecurity situation being experienced in some parts of the country as well as the ban on the operation of commercial motorcycles in some states, which has brought a massive influx of people into the FCT.”
While calling on relevant stakeholders to partner with the FCT DRTS to restorer sanity to Abuja roads, he said: “The directorate is operating within the provisions of the law to tackle this problem, even as the commercial motorcycle operators fight back, a situation which led to the burning down of our office in Idu.
“The Directorate believes that enforcement is not the only way to ensure compliance. We are constantly engaged in dialogue and sensitization campaigns with, not only commercial motorcycle operators, but all commercial transport operators in the FCT on the need to comply with traffic rules.”
