For the first time, I took a motor train from Lateef Jakande station Agbado in Lagos to Obafemi Awolowo station Moniya in Ibadan.
The first thing I noticed was the technology that worked optimally. The waiting room is also as good as anyone you will find in Europe or the US including the service men and women.
The motor-train itself, albeit Chinese second or third hand, visibly an old model performed very well.
In contrast to the above experience, I also traveled to a village in the outskirts of Okeodan along Ota-Idiroko road penultimate 17th August 2024. I needed to fix a hand pump in a farming village being sponsored by Igbimo Agbagba Yoruba in diaspora.
I took some pipes and other equipment in my car and due to the length of the six pipes, it had to extend to my car’s dash board.
Along the way, I was stopped at Ajilete by the men of Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). After checking my vehicle particulars, I was asked to open the boot for them to see the extra tyre and fire extinguisher. All were in good condition.
it was at that point that I was told that I will be booked for carrying the pipes which was laying on my car’s dashboard.
One of them approached me and told me to go and give N10,000 Naira to another person who is not in uniform.
I refused and told him that I have not committed any offence. He told me I will be booked and if I proof stubborn, it will not only be for protruding load in excess (PLE) but for other things.
I told him point blank that I will not pay bribe.
In anger the officer leading the team rushed into their vehicle took the form and booked me on the charge of ‘Protruding Load in Excess (PLM).
I insisted that the pipes were not protruding because I was able to close my car boot. However, I took the ticket.
Later on, I checked through the paper form and its back and found that the offence in question carries only N3,000-naira penalty.
On getting back to Ota, I went to the Toll-gate office of the FRSC and reported the matter. There I learned that the team was attached to Badagry.
However, l was advised to take a picture or video of the incident next time. But for the time being, l had to pay the N3,000 at any bank and take the receipt back to Idiroko to collect my documents.
The following day, I made my way to Idiroko and to my chagrin, I noticed the numbers of check points along the road and ‘naked’ manners with which they were collecting bribes and extortion.
On my way back, I decided to count the number of the so-called check points. I charged my co-traveler to do a diligent count and we came up with seventy-two (72) numbers between Idiroko and Winners Chapel in Ota.
This number includes Nigeria Custom Services, Road Safety (FRSC), Police, 3 Nigeria Army posts, Immigration Service, Quarantine (Ministry of Agriculture) and even Nigerian Civil Defense Service.
I have since traveled the road and diligently observed that there is almost zero revenue collection but more so on extortion using guns and Iron spikes. Every commercial vehicle, irrespective of what they carry and the notorious ‘Tokunboh Cars’ and Trucks must pay pre-negotiated fees.
This is a direct assault on small businesses and very damaging to the good image the government is struggling to create.
Perception is critical in building a great brand.
When former President Buhari was first elected, a great fear fell on Civil Servants across the length and breath of Nigeria. The fear of arrest and jail-term fell over most people until he became very ill and relief came for them to continue business as usual.
When President Bola Tinubu was sworn into the office of the President of Nigeria in 2023, the opposite was the case up until today. This is despite the fact that part of his campaign pledge to the voters was to fight corruption to stand still.
What is the impact of the illicit tax charged in virtually every of these 72 check points and many others throughout Nigeria?
Price increases and delay to market!
In so far as a trader sells what he or she buys, the purchase price, the transport price and extortion fees are added together to determine what the end users pay.
Pejoratively, price gouging occurs. This is so because we delude ourselves on the idea of ‘free market economy’-a parlance the Western governments used to hold us down in poverty perpetually.
In other words, a private cartel of red oil sellers agree to increase the price of their goods or commodities to a higher level which can be considered grossly unreasonable. They often reason and in most cases wrongly; that a percentage of what ever is extorted from them finds its way to the very top, meaning the presidency. Furthermore ,they reason that since the “permission to extort ” comes from “above” even if the prices of goods and services are arbitrarily fixed, there will never be checks or controls on them.
Meanwhile and for example, in Abidjan, Co’d’Ivoire, government calibrates prices of goods and announces every week approved prices. Also, traders must use officially approved weight and measure apparatus to sell goods from meat, fish to grains and other essentials.
Going down the memory lane, I still remember that there was a department in the Western Region government that has the weight and measure inspectors going around to make sure that scales and measurement bowls are not tampered with and if a citizen find out, he or she can make a report to their offices.
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‘In your face corruption’ at the grass root level is a skunk affecting everything and everybody. These incessant bribery and direct extortion at the grassroot level doesn’t have EFCC or ICPC to check it.
It is all over the place, everywhere and every time by all government agencies, government offices, security forces on our roads. As l said earlier, it is creating deep and very damaging images of the governments in the mind of the people. To the extent that this ‘in-your-face corruption’ is rapidly spreading and growing or developing and affecting a large number of people in all shades of the society makes it epidemic.
Therefore, whatever effort that the government is making in reversing our already damaged economy is blurred by this disorder.
The prism by which the people at the grassroot see politicians and civil servants is nasty and acridly pungent. Its like mixing sulfur with smoke.
Meanwhile, the experience I narrated in the beginning about Nigeria Railway Corporation’s motor train service from Ebute Metta Lagos through Abeokuta to Ibadan shows that hope is not lost.
I recorded that the service is timely. We left Ladoke Akintola station, Oomi Adio Ibadan at 4:20pm and got to Wole Soyinka station, Laderin, Abeokuta at exactly 4:56pm. We proceeded to Funmilayo Ransom Kuti station Papalanto and got there at precisely 5:24pm and to Agbado station at 5:53pm. The 3 minutes stop at every station was precise and on time. To fend off corruption, payment, boarding, seating arrangements were technology driven.
Image is everything. According to a Yoruba gainsay, ‘Amukun eru e wo, ewo isale (if your load looks wobbled at the top, check the base).
President Tinubu should do something about this ‘In your face corruption’ at the grassroot level.
It is a skunk affecting everyone, everything and it must be dealt with very fast.
That way, the people will listen to government more, respect the way policies are being implemented, have patience and the trust deficit will reduce.
