Amid avoidable killings occasioned by reckless Lagos drivers, especially the commercial drivers, the Lagos State Government has recently introduced a new trafic law to see that the ?madness? on Lagos roads comes to an end. George Okojie writes.
Having been gazetted, it is no longer a question of if it would be enforced, but when full enforcement on the safety-motivated Lagos Traffic Law would commence in the state. The state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola said in Lagos that the law had become operational since he signed it on August 2, 2012.
Though a legal process, there are sweaty palms and hushed conversations taking place in the corridors of power in Lagos State and beyond, on how to navigate the route of implementation without militarising the process.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY is aware that the gazetted copies of the new law have been distributed to various arms of government; the judiciary, the state House of Assembly, government parastatals, courts, among others, to ensure adequate circulation of the copies.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, has also publicly thrown his weight behind the enforcement of the Lagos Road Traffic Law, while giving a one-month ultimatum to the Lagos State police authorities to organise dialogue as well as enlightenment campaigns with road users, especially road transport unions, after which there would be aggressive enforcement.
He also warned policemen to obey the law, saying that ?law is no respecter of anybody, irrespective of class, job, status, religion, among others. Any policeman who is caught flouting the law should face the music.
?Without the rules, you cannot drive or ride on the road. I want to see how many people (offenders) would be prosecuted after one month of sensitisation,? he said.
Even at that, the law has started generating negative reactions, as the alleged killing by police of Mr. Jimoh Fasasi, 56, a driver with the Lagos State Ambulance Services (LASAMBUS), has been recorded as the first casualty of the new state traffic law.
Fasasi was allegedly brutalised by some policemen attached to the Surulere Police Station at the Barracks Bus-stop, Surulere, Lagos. He was reportedly arrested while plying the bridge on his motorcycle.
This episode, as played out in Surulere, is what the people in the state fear would be recorded when full implementation of the state?s traffic law commences.
The killing, which takes its place in history as the first casualty of the ban on okada operations on major highways in Lagos State, was said to have occurred when Jimoh closed from work and was heading to his Mushin residence, on his private motorcycle and in his LASAMBUS driver?s uniform.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered that he was accosted around the Barracks Bus-stop by some policemen and an argument ensued between them. Jimoh was said to have managed to put through a call to the chief pilot of LASAMBUS, Lateef, at about 6.50 p.m.
?The only message our chief pilot could get was ?a policeman is beating me at Surulere area. He threatens to take me to police station?,? a staff of LASAMBUS, who preferred to be anonymous, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY.
In the process of alleged severe drilling, Jimoh slumped and started foaming in the mouth and ear, while the policeman placed the phone with which he made the call on his chest after he had collapsed and died on the spot.
His corpse was later removed and taken to the morgue at the Lagos General Hospital, Lagos Island, while his motor-bike was taken to Iyun Police Station, Surulere, Lagos.
But the Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, denied that the cop hit Jimoh with the butt of his gun, saying that he was a traffic officer who does not carry gun.
Amid apprehension about the law, it has come to the point that no matter how hard Governor Fashola and his team try to be modest over the new Lagos Road Traffic Law, there is a large crowd out there that think the administration has tasted blood and won?t stop until the meal is done.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY observed when it went around Lagos metropolis to feel the people?s pulse that this view is quite popular among motorists, who are beginning to see themselves as the victims of a predatory government that is determined to generate revenue through various means.
In as much as the law remains a bad news to many drivers and motorists that believe that some measure of madness was required to survive Lagos roads, experts say allowing the trend to continue could be counter-productive.
The regime of arrogance, aggression and ego, often compounded by chaotic traffic situation in the state always bring about rage on the roads with the teeming motorists, including well-educated ones, engaging in war of words and even actual fisticuffs at the least provocation.
Some motorists and observers have also linked the recent crushing of some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to the desperation of some motorists, caught pant down violating traffic laws, to escape the wrath of the law.
According to Paul Ugo, the chairman of Motorcycle Transport Union of Nigeria (MTUN): ?We are aware of the law. We have been trying to sensitise our people about the law, but my members said they can no longer operate in the state under this law. They are appealing to the state government to give them time to make some money to be able to relocate their families from Lagos State.?
The enactment of a new traffic law in the state appeared to have drawn the flaks of commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as Okada riders, who have since dragged the Lagos State Government to court to challenge the legality of the Lagos State Road Traffic Law, No 4 of 2012.
In a Suit No ID/713M/2012, fiiled at the Ikeja High Court against the state government, the Attorney General of Lagos State and Lagos State House of Assembly, and filed by Mr. Bamidele Aturu, solicitors to Incorporated Trustees of All Nigerians Auto-bike Commercial Owners and Workers Association, the complainants affirmed that the state government erred in law by arrogating the powers to ban their operations in the state.
Alex Adegbenro, a driver to a new generation bank, said though one does not need to be mad to drive on Lagos roads, but it helps.
According to him: ?The new law is good. I can tell you though that madness on the road is not too good, but some measure of it is presently required to drive successfully in Lagos State. This is not a state for people that are not ?sharp?. You need to be raw sometimes, even in driving, or else, you will be frustrated to keep your car at home, even if you manage to raise money to buy one.?
Surprisingly, the views of Dr. Kemi Emejo, a medical doctor, tilted in the same direction when she said: ?Lets see whether the law will work or not. But for me, I won?t employ any driver that is gentle to drive me on Lagos roads. The only way to be a successful driver in Lagos is to match other driver?s madness for madness.?
Interestingly, it is this attitude of matching madness for madness that informed the decision of the Babatunde Fashola-led administration to legislate the new law to guide activities of residents in the state, which is fast acquiring the status of Africa?s modern mega-city.
Although majority of Lagosians are still unaware of the new law, its provisions stipulate the following:
? Driving in a direction prohibited by the road traffic law (that is, driving against traffic, popularly known as ?one-way? driving) now attracts a three-year jail term, while a first offender gets one-year term, and the vehicle could be forfeited to the state government;
? Bullion vans are not exempted from the law, as any bullion van driven in a direction prohibited by the road traffic law will be forfeited, while abandoned vehicles on highways will be fined N50,000 or three years imprisonment, or both fine and imprisonment;
? Riding a motorcycle against traffic and riding on the kerb, median or road setbacks will attract N20,000 for first time offenders, while subsequent offenders will get N30,000 fine or the rider?s motorcycle will be impounded;
? Riding motorcycle without crash helmet for rider and passenger, N20,000 or three years imprisonment or both;
? Smoking while driving will attract N20,000 fine;
? Failure to give way to traffic on the left at a roundabout, N20,000;
? Disobeying traffic control, N20,000;
? Violation of route by commercial vehicles, N20,000;
? Prohibits under-aged persons (under 18-year-old) from riding a motorcycle, N20,000;
? Operating a motorcycle in a restricted area or prohibited route, N20,000 or the motorcycle will be impounded; and
? Any person driving without a valid driving licence will have his or her vehicle impounded. Learner drivers without permit will attract a fine of N20,000; while driving with fake number plate will attract N20,000 for a first offender and six-month imprisonment or both for subsequent infractions; among several other offences.
Barring his mind on the new law, the Chairman of the Taxi Drivers? Association, Egbeda, Salami Taiwo, said the law he described as ?emergency law? could throw many Lagosians behind bars if enforced.
He said: ?The law is to oppress the people, especially transporters. We all know that the drivers and Okada riders are so stubborn and reckless, but there is nothing the bus owners can do about it. To impound a vehicle because its driver violated traffic rules is injustice to the bus owners.?
Gboyega Aboluwade, a Lagos resident who gave the state government kudos for having the courage to introduce such measures, thinks differently.
He said the only reservation he has is about the three-year imprisonment penalty prescribed for those who drive on one-way.
Aboluwade said the law would go a long way in deterring reckless driver who he said had sent many people to their early graves in their bid to beat traffic, and, in the end, escaped the wrath of the law.
?On so many occasions, I have personally witnessed such avoidable accidents that have sent law-abiding people to their early graves. All because they want to beat traffic. A young man in his 30s was last year knocked down at Olusosun Bus-stop along Kudirat Abiola Way (Oregun) by a commercial bus driver. The man died on the spot.
?Not long ago, I also witnessed the killing of three school children. They were crushed by the same notorious drivers, driving against traffic. In both incidences, the drivers fled the scene with the vehicles.?
For Moses Eze, a pharmacist, the people cannot continue to live lawlessly and without the government regulating their activities. He said people should not wait till it gets to their turn and be knocked down on the pedestrian walkway.
He said: ?For me, the state government is taking a right step in the right direction, but the law appears not potent enough. I would have suggested that traffic rule offenders of this nature should be liable to lifetime imprisonment with their vehicles impounded as well.?
A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Goddy Okpamen, who maintained a balanced position on the law, said since it is a law that affects the government, it could be challenged in the law courts if it is becoming draconian.
For a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, recently renamed Moshood Abiola University Lagos, Dr. Dayo Ayoade, the law seems to be an over-reaction and against public interest in a democratic setting.
Ayoade noted that the traffic offences in Lagos had always been problematic in view of the nature of its roads, high population and chaotic environment.
The versatile university don affirmed that, ?one might argue that the law does not meet the criteria for good law. The traffic law does not seem equitable, generally accepted or in accordance with the rights of Lagosians.
?Arguably, the law will not pass the constitutionality test in any civilised nation, as it unduly encroaches on the liberty of citizens.
Despite the good intention of the Lagos State Government, the design and outcomes of the law are fatally flawed, and perhaps not in the public interest. The penal sanctions, heavy fines (up to N50,000) and outright forfeiture of vehicles seem unnecessarily draconian and out of step with democratic norms.?
To make enforcement swift and effective, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Charles Akpabio, said the FRSC is 100 per cent behind the implementation of the new law.
Akpabio, who assured the governor that the command would contribute its quota to ensure full implementation of the law to the letter, added that the command has already started sensitisation campaign to educate motorists on the law.
He urged motorists to comply with the new law, rather than waiting for law enforcement officials to apprehend them.
According to him: ?It?s not meant to punish anybody, but to bring back sanity to the road. Lagos is very much important to Nigeria, and is home to a lot of tourists. The new law has come at the right time and we are prepared to partner with the state in that regard.?
The man at the centre of the controversy, Governor Babatunde Fashola, has said that the state?s new traffic law is aimed at achieving compliance by Lagosians, rather than arresting and sending anybody to jail.
He said the law was all about the safety of Lagosians, as it was not meant to send anybody to jail, adding that, a jail sentence would be the very extreme.
According to him: ?Unlike the provision under the old traffic law, the new law has made provisions for not only payment of fines, but for convicted offenders to engage in community service, such as controlling traffic for a specified period.
?The objective of the new law is to get people to comply, rather than getting them arrested or apprehended. There is nothing spectacular about the provisions in a new law that is not applicable in distant locations.?
Now that the law has come into existence, its effective implementation will determine whether it would sanitise the state currently regarded as Africa?s modern mega-city.
The law also caught the attention of the Nigerian Youth Council (NYC), which commended the government and people of Lagos State for recording another feat in the drive towards inculcating a positive driving culture into the consciousness of Nigerians through the enactment of the new traffic law.
Its leader, Comrade Peter Olawale, said: ?We have watched for a long time, the deterioration in the habit of Nigerian road-users, which has been exacerbated by the general indiscipline ravaging the land, and have looked forward to the birth of the political will to tackle this monster which has claimed lives in great, and in avoidable numbers, and are pleased that the new traffic law is a step in the right direction to restore sanity on our roads.?
Poised to enforce the law, the State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that the law is to ensure safety and security of the people, while urging them to comply.
According to him, 15,000 road signs have been installed in addition to the existing 10,000 traffic signs currently adorning major roads and highways in the state to guide motorists.
Opeifa explained that massive installation of these signs would enable road-users to be more conversant with the signs and their significance. He added that the signs would also assist road-users to know the various restricted routes for motorcycles and tricycles, designated bus stops, among others.
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