Commercial motorcycle also known as Okada is a major topic of discussion right now in Jos, Plateau and the country at large simply because it was banned and outlawed in Jos/ Bukuru metropolis. I have heard all sorts of arguments for and against the move instituted by the State Government.

Commercial motorcycle also known as Okada is a major topic of discussion right now in Jos, Plateau and the country at large simply because it was banned and outlawed in Jos/ Bukuru metropolis. I have heard all sorts of arguments for and against the move instituted by the State Government.

Looking at it critically starting with the merits made me to understand why the outcry. Commercial motorcycle provides livelihood for people and so it has being embraced to support people and families. It also provides employment and services for people who depend on it for mode of transportation. The demerits of commercial motorcycles operation includes, lawlessness on our roads exhibited by the operators, engagement in criminal vices, cover up by troublemakers who use it to unleash violence, operators creating an authority for themselves, the environmental pollution aspect and are prone to serious highway accidents.

I will dwell more on the demerits because it surpasses the merits and has being a great source of concern to majority of the populace. Motorcycle operators have been known to attack any motorist that gets involved in an accident with them at some instances it has been reported that they gang up and torch cars and(or) stab the driver. They take the law in their hands and sometimes challenge constituted authority using their numbers by showing solidarity. It has even been confirmed that some of them have got knives and other weapons concealed on them as they ply the roads. Sometimes criminals parade themselves as commercial motorcycle operators thereby going to banks, business premises and people’s homes to rob them of their hard earned possessions. I have heard of someone who lost his gratuity to armed robbers who posed as motorcycle operators. They take advantage of the manoeuvring ability of the motorcycle to achieve this aim.

It is a known fact that Jos and Bukuru metropolis has been bedevilled by crisis since 1994 till date without abating but rather getting complex. The crisis which started with knives, sticks, bow and arrows later advanced to dane guns and ended up with automatic firearms and bombs. The complex nature of the crisis can be attributed to some motorcycle operators who are actually spies in disguise. Someone once took a bike from terminus and told the motorcycle operator that he was going to Secretariat junction but the motorcycle operator did not know where Secretariat Junction was and ended up getting directions from the passenger. It clearly shows that the operator was new in Jos and will use the opportunity to know where Secretariat Junction is located and know the composition of people who live there. The former Governor of Kaduna state Alhaji Muhammed Makarfi once threaten to ban motorcycle in Kaduna because they peddled rumour that people were killed by the security forces and buried in the cemetery at midnight. It almost degenerated in a religious crisis but for swift military intervention.

 The rate at which accidents involving motorcycles happen is alarming. Someone once told me that there is a ward dedicated to motorcycle victims in one of the hospital in Jos. You hear of people with broken limbs after a crash and people who become paralysed, bedridden or incapacitated permanently. The accidents are usually fatal because the passenger and operator have got no covering to reduce the impact of the accident. Most of the accidents are caused by the operators who have not passed a driving test but head to the road whenever they lay their hands on a motorcycle.

The motorcycle operators form unions, collect dues and don’t remit all to Government while some of them go to neighbouring states to register their motorcycles thereby denying the state some revenue. Some of the operators are brought into the state by wealthy individuals who give them motorcycles on hire purchase and also use them as foot soldiers whenever there is a crisis. Most of the motorcycle operators are not law abiding as can be seen when the State Government outlawed them. They came out, attacked the security operatives and engaged in violence and anti-social behaviours on the highways leading to loss of lives and properties. The motorcycle operators attempted to burn the Gbong Gwom’s Jos (Paramount ruler of Jos) palace and some places of worship during the previous ban enforcement by the state Government but were unsuccessful because of the intervention of the security operatives.

As someone with interest in the environment support the ban because of the noise pollution associated with it and the air pollution as a result of the fumes from the motorcycle. Some of the operators put additives in the petrol for the motorcycle simply because they derive pleasure in seeing the exhaust letting off stream of fumes while some remove the silencer to make loud noise to attract attention. They also use the horns recklessly to frighten other road users.

I remembered the state Government sent a bill to the house of assembly which was passed into law and gazetted so why will some people disobey the law. It is also surprising that a law that was passed for all operators has been hijacked by enemies of the state who say it is a target on an ethnic or religious group. I have heard some critics saying that the Government should provide alternatives or palliatives but it was not the Government that bought the motorcycles for the operators in the first instance. The operators had enough time from when the law was passed to its final enforcement to dispose of their motorcycles for tricycles or other services/businesses but most of them boasted that the state Government could not outlaw them. They threaten to make the state ungovernable whenever the ban was to be enforced rather than appreciating the Government for giving them enough time (about 2 years) to get alternatives. To prove a point, more motorcycles were bought and people brought in from neighbouring states to ride the bikes so as to show the Government and peace loving people of the state that they were lawless and chose to remain so.

We should look in-depth for other avenues of business and services. Wealthy individuals, unions, groups and banks should step in and provide tricycles to ease the transportation problems. I hope the introduced tricycles would only be allowed to ply side roads and streets and not allowed on major roads/routes that will be plied by taxis and buses so as not to later become a nuisance to road users.

Jos now looks cleaner and better and we hope it remains so for a long time. We should support the state Government in this laudable effort and encourage it as it embarks on the Greater Jos Master plan. It won’t be easy on the citizenry but we should persevere and Plateau shall be better. Remember the Government will succeed when the citizenry supports it.

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Comercial motorcycle (okada) and its ban in Jos