No Going Back On Traffic Law —Lagos House

The Lagos State House of Assembly has declared that it will not repeal the Road Traffic Law it passed a few months ago.

Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, Commerce and Industry, Bisi Yusuf, disclosed this at a meeting with the Motorcycle Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MOWAN) held at the Assembly complex .

Yusuf noted that before the Assembly passed the traffic law, there was a public hearing where all stakeholders in transportation were present and their opinions and those of other residents taken.

According to him, “the law simply restricted the movement of okada riders in some designated areas in the state. They are not banned outrightly.”

The lawmaker reminded the association that many people had lost their lives while riding on okada on highways, adding that any responsible government would not fold its hands and watch its people killed by reckless okada riders.

“As we speak now despite the law in place, there are some okada riders riding against the traffic on highways,” he dislcosed. He appealed to the association to come up with specific design of means of transportation that would not kill the people.

Contributing, a member of the Committee, Yinka Ogundimu, urged the association to educate okada riders to stop vandalising government property in their attempt to force government repeal the law, adding that anybody caught would be dealt with according to the law.

Earlier, the Chairman of the association, Mr. Oladipo Adedeji, had commended the state government for its vision to restrict the operation of commercial motorxcycles on 475 roads out of the 9,000 roads in the state.

Mr. Adedeji said: “in as much as we support the policies of the state, we are pleading with you to make good use of your office for a review of the number of roads where Okada riders are restricted.”

He added that the restriction was hurting the economy  and the interests of motorcycle manufacturers and distributors who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the economy and have generated employment for thousands of school leavers.

—Eromosele Ehbomele