THE TRICYCLE MENACE
Adewale Kupoluyi writes that tricycle riders should be trained and licensed
It is common knowledge and real-time experience that commercial motorcyclists have become source of worry in our society. When some states across the country clamped down on motorcycle, popularly called Okada, for a number of unpleasant reasons such as overloading, recklessness, robbery, kidnapping, over-speeding and dangerous riding, many people had thought that there would be sanity on our roads. Alas, they were dead wrong! The ban of commercial motorcycles from major roads in the country had encouraged the patronage of tricycles as the alternative mode of transport for the common man. Apart from the structural similarity and functionality to motorcycles, tricycles are not expensive to buy, use and maintain. They easily maneouver very busy roads, especially, during serious hold-ups and when many people are eager to get to their destinations at the same time. This causes great commotion. It is common to see a cross-section of people that falls within the working class riding on commercial motorcycles whenever they needed to keep up important and urgent appointments.
Massive importation of tricycles encouraged more people to take to that line of self-employment by earning a living and boosting the economic life of many cities across the country. Before now, the common means of public transportation in the major cities involved the use of taxi cabs with commercial buses joining as the nation’s population shot up. Tricycles, which are popularly called Keke Marwa, until the name was changed to Keke NAPEP, became prominent during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, which implemented the National Agency for Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), made it possible for the importation of large quantities of tricycles into the country, mainly for jobless youths and young school leavers.
The rationale behind banning commercial motorcycles (Okada) in many state municipals had to do with the negative consequences associated with the fast-growing mode of transportation in the country as well as other developing nations. It is cheaper to purchase, manage and ride, unlike cars or vehicles that require more attention and effort, to maintain or move from one place to another. The lawlessness that has been associated with Okada brought about patronage of tricycles, as a sort of alternative, but appears to be causing more problem than the relief it was meant to bring. This unfortunate development has fuelled agitations for the proscription of tricycles from our roads. Many people also feel that tricycles should not be proscribed in the sense that they remain viable alternative and the cheaper mode of transportation.
Today, Keke has regrettably turned into nightmare for road users. They have equally become prime sources of trauma to commuters and other motorists. They are now terror on the roads through reckless overspeeding, disobeying traffic rules and dangerously meandering through every available space between vehicles on serious traffic situations. I have seen on several occasions whereby tricycle riders struggle with vehicle owners while plying the roads. I kept wondering what makes the Keke operators feel special or important or have that kind of blind audacity to struggle with cab drivers.
The truth is that there is a thin line of difference between motorcycles and tricycles. In actual sense, what most motorcyclists did after their ban
was to dispose of their motorcycles and purchase tricycles in order to be in business. What it means is that nothing has really changed when we look at the so-called migration. It is the same personalities behind both the banned motorcycles and the new tricycles that are still carrying excess luggage, overloading, over-speeding and committing other crimes and attacking commuters. It is simply like an old wine in a new bottle; no matter how much the wine is packaged or represented, it remains same.
It is for these reasons that a better approach should be put in place to tame this monster. It remains a social problem because of the lives and property of the people that are involved and vulnerable to the untold and ugly experiences being suffered in the hands of the operators. To start with, the purchase and riding of tricycles for commercial purposes should be revisited. It should be well regulated so as to prevent people of questionable character from becoming commercial tricyclists overnight. Furthermore, indiscriminate importation of tricycles into the country should be closely monitored, as many of them are not roadworthy at all. The country appears to be a dumping ground for imported equipment and machines.
Government personnel plying for roads safety should stop looking elsewhere and rather beam their searchlight on only cars and buses at the neglect of motorcycles and tricycles. Stiffer penalties such as fines should be imposed, to punish anyone that violates traffic rules and regulations. Law enforcement agents should be supportive in restoring sanity on our roads. More mobile courts should be put in place to summarily try traffic offenders. They should not compromise their status by setting free offenders. This often happens when reckless offenders plead with law enforcement agents to set them free and never be punished. This gives some of them the courage to misbehave and feel on top of the world when they evade deserved punishment.
Recently, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) alleged that the influx of tricycles into city roads was an indication of failure of intra-city bus systems. The FRSC Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem had decried the dominance of tricycles on busy roads, saying that it would have not been so, if intra-city bus systems were effective. Kazeem said that part of the corps’ strategies to address the menace was to ensure that riders were properly trained and licensed. It is only hoped that the commission would walk the talk.
Laws are meant to be enforced. When law enforcement agents come to the rescue of offenders with ease, they encourage corruption, indiscipline, impunity and lawlessness. They become accomplice and partaker in committing traffic offence. This has been the major problem facing transport management because offenders are not always appended, tried and convicted. The installation of electronic speed-breakers on the Keke itself would also go a long way in ensuring compliance to road regulations. Educational awareness, public enlightenment and sensitisation of the people on what to do and not to do, would go a long way in getting our riders to behave properly. We should always and remember to keep our roads free and safe.
Kupoluyi wrote from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta
THE LAWLESSNESS THAT HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH OKADA BROUGHT ABOUT PATRONAGE OF TRICYCLES, AS A SORT OF ALTERNATIVE, BUT APPEARS TO BE CAUSING MORE PROBLEM THAN THE RELIEF IT WAS MEANT TO BRING