Says the law protects them
….Affecting achieving Mega city status
The menace of commercial bus drivers under the umbrella of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) is a cross Lagos State government has to carry with its transportation policies.
This according to Deputy governor Obafemi Hamzat is because the body in spite of its imperfections is a body recognised by law.
The operations of the body, it will be recalled is getting worse day by day with the obstruction caused on the roads that majorly contribute to traffic jams in the state.
With this, it will be difficult for the Lagos State Government to achieve its yearnings to become a mega city.
It is important to even know that if the government fails to tackle this menace, it will only achieve its mega city status on papers, but the realization will just be a dream.
Sometime ago, the Deputy Governor of the state, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat said, “We cannot ban ‘Agberos’ because they are our cousins and brothers.”
Agberos in Lagos are notorious for charging levies that are not remitted to the state government and they continue to terrorize the residents.
Hamzat, while speaking with journalists to commemorate his 56th birthday, said that the NURTW had the same legitimacy and backing of the law as the Nigerian Medical Association.
He said, “We have all agreed that we live by the constitution and laws. The National Union of Road Transport Workers is actually a union recognised by law. I know some people say ban them, but the government must also be careful.
“When you just say arbitrarily ban them, what stops you from saying I want to ban the Nigerian Medical Association? Do you understand? There are times the government and NMA have issues; does that mean they should be banned? They are expressing their opinion.
“They might be wrong or right but they have the right to express those opinions. And then remember these people (NURTW) are Nigerians; they are our brothers and cousins.
“So, one of the things we have been telling them is that if you are the chairman in Ajeromi and we see that there are all sorts of contraventions in Ajeromi, we will remove you as a chairman. We are not banning your union but it means you are incompetent.
“So, that is the outcome of one of the meetings we had with them, that if there’s an infraction in any of the areas due to the executive in that area, then it should be dissolved. And then you know we complain about our society, why people fight on the road; we have all gone around the world and it is only here we see people fighting on the road and tearing clothes off themselves, why? That has to change, but changing that does not mean banning them.”
The menace of “agberos” on Lagos roads is a serious headache for passengers. They stop buses abruptly to harass and collect money with force. Any failure by the drivers to give them money leads to fight or the Agberos would remove parts of the vehicle as punishment for the drivers.
This affects passengers because it leads to waste of time and leads to increment in transport fares.
The amazing issue here is that the government has no control over the “agberos.”
An unconfirmed source said that the NURTW gives return to the government from the money Agberos collect from commercial bus drivers.
Now it is crystal clear that NURTW cannot be banned, Lagosians must learn to live with them and its megacity status will also be on hold pending the time the government who will control their excesses will do the needful.
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Part of the problems caused by these agberos and commercial bus drivers include traffic jams on major roads, illegal fees and harassment of people on the roads.
When Upshot visited place like Agege, Iyana-Ipaja, Oshodi, Palm-Grove Onipanu, Ikeja along to mention a few, it was observed that commercial buses are the major contributors to traffic jams in Lagos State.
For instance, Agege major road near the flyover that is under construction has become a park. Some of these yellow buses don’t have where they can park their vehicles to pick passengers.
A commercial bus driver, who did not want his name published lamented that the NURTW should buy lands and turn them into car parks.
According to him, NURTW only gets money from commercial bus drivers on a daily basis via ‘agberos’ who are agents of NURTW but they don’t spend the money judiciously. What they know how to do is to build and buy hotels for themselves.
It is necessary for the NURTW to establish car parks and get approval from the state government because the Transport Reform Law 2018 (amendment) says “It shall be unlawful for any person or group of persons to establish a park without obtaining permit from the authority. Whoever that contravenes the provisions shall be liable to a fine of two million naira.”
However, recently, the Lagos State House of Assembly commenced the amendment of the state traffic law to ensure strict enforcement of the law. But the question here is who will executive, enforce or ensure strict compliance to the law?
The acting House Committee Chairman on Transportation in the Assembly, Hon. Temitope Adewale said recently during a recent r etreat that the Assembly has commenced move to harmonise all transport laws, and removes grey areas.
Adewale explained that the need to amend the transport law of the state became necessary due to the growing population of the state and so a harmonised law would ensure effective practice among agencies in Lagos.
He added “The bill has passed first, second readings and we have held public hearing on it but we saw the need for us to come together to iron out the little issues that arose from the public hearing and issues that came from the MDAs”.
Adewale stated that there was need to improve and amend the existing traffic laws to further ease the use of the roads and water ways, adding ” that the amendment captures articulated vehicles, use and covering of number plate, use of tinted window, rider’s card permit and other transport facilities.”
In the same vein, the state’s Commissioner For Transportation, Dr Fredrick Oladehinde, said that it had been noticed that there were certain sections of the extant law that were ambiguous and needed to be clarified for the understanding of the common man.
Oladehinde said the harmonisation of the law would help to fully implement the transport law, adding that it would also help the citizens to know and understand what actions are transport offences.
It is expected that after harmonizing the law, the agencies in charge of enforcing the law will do their jobs to ensure that commercial bus drivers comply with the rules and regulations of transportation laws.
Looking at some sections of the law that provide for the regulation of traffic on all highways, roads and streets in Lagos State, it was stated clearly that any traffic offender should be arrested and made to pay fine for not complying with the laws.
The only issue is that the law never mentioned anything as regards “agberos” or even how to regulate them.
Lagosians hope that one day the menace of “agberos” and that of commercial bus drivers will be checked and the government will put them to where they belong. Danger lies ahead if the activities of “agberos” are not quickly checked or regulated.
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