The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso gave the hint that the total ban on okada is among options being considered as a last resort in taming the megacity’s gridlock. Since the news became public, both the residents and okada operators have been apprehensive. The reaction was spontaneous and the cacophony of voices for and against the ban is getting louder and louder by the day.
First, the government’s tolerance for the unruly behaviour, traffic disobedience and penchant for larceny has been stretched beyond limit despite incessant advocacy by the state government for attitudinal change and absolute compliance with traffic regulations and other extant laws regarding okada operation in Lagos State. In times past, several stakeholders’ meetings with the Union of Okada Owners’ & Transport Workers’ Associations by successive administrations in Lagos State were futile.
Sanwo-olu took oath of office on 29 May, 2019 as the incumbent Governor of Lagos State with the promise of a “Greater Lagos” as his mantra and a set of development agenda code-named T.H.E.M.E.S. The acronym stands for the six pillars for developing Lagos. The full translation is Traffic Management and Transportation; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos a 21st-century state; Security and Governance.
Abiodun, urban planner/planning advocate, wrote from Segun Olusemo Crescent, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.