The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives, Bismarck Rewane and former Group Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Atedo Peterside, have expressed misgivings over the Lagos State Government’s decision to ban commercial motorcycles and tricycles in 15 LGAs and LCDAs across the state.
Speaking to CNBC Africa, Rewane stated that although the move to rid Lagos of commercial motorcycles and tricycles is a good one, the implementation is rather controversial. This is because the ban is causing a lot of confusion, he said.
He then went further to add that the Lagos urban transit system is not mature enough to cater to everyone. And this is true.
Ever since the ban took effect on February 1st, there have been reported cases of long queues at major bus stops and people sometimes having to trek long distances.
In his own reaction, the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf, said the ban is not sustainable law.
“This policy or this law is not a sustainable law. Given all the gaps and given the demand for transportation, and given all the lapses we have in the general planning of the city, given the welfare effect, the economic effect, the social effect… and the employment effect…”
For Atedo Peterside, banning the bike hailing companies should not have been included in the ban because of the huge investment involved.
According to him, it would have been a better option to regulate them than to ban them out rightly.
In the meantime, the Lagos State Government does not seem to care about these logical criticisms. In the same vein, the government certainly does not seem swayed to backtrack based on the outrage expressed by Lagosians.
Instead, it is insisting that this is the way forward, as okada and keke ban is intended to help curtail road accidents, crime, and other vices.
The government has, however, acknowledged the negative effects the ban has had on Lagosians, even as it has outlined plans aimed at addressing these challenges.
