Okada Ban: Who belongs in Sanwo-Olu's "Greater Lagos"?

Delivering on your promises can be easier if, say, you're God, or a god.

But Babajide Sanwo-Olu is no god. He's only the executive governor of Lagos State who'd prefer to not be addressed as "Your Excellency" because it signifies a "demi-god mystique".

Sanwo-Olu's campaign to become the governor of Nigeria's most populous city was filled with more fluff than substance.

More people were fascinated with the instant virality of his emergence as a candidate than with his six pillars of development named THEMES.

The 54-year-old spent a chunk of his campaign battling allegations that he was merely a figure-head for the establishment of the state's chapter of the All Progressives' Congress (APC) headed by the party's national leader, Bola Tinubu, a former Lagos governor.

These allegations didn't go away when Sanwo-Olu shockingly beat incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to the party's ticket before he went on to win an election marred by violence in some parts of the state.

Underneath all of the rancour that erupted over whether Sanwo-Olu's true allegiance would be to the people or his political godfathers, his most consistent message remained that he would run an inclusive Lagos for the benefit of everyone.

As can be expected, this is the kind of message any candidate would push until the real work begins when they get into office, like Sanwo-Olu has done. And now, he has shown his real face.

The Lagos State government announced last week that commercial motorcyles, popularly called okada, as well as tricycles, popularly called keke, are now completely banned from operating in six local government areas and nine local council development areas, and restricted from 40 highways and bridges across the state.

While the government has thrown out a lot of reasons for the ban, the most prominent ones have been security and, to a lesser degree, safety of the vehicles in question. The government has wasted no time in rolling out data (difficult to substantiate) to spotlight the crime rate and accident rates that are as a result of the operations of okadas and kekes in Lagos State.

The Sanwo-Olu government has accused riders of being reckless in conducting themselves on Lagos roads and being generally unsafe for the state's residents.

"Some of the reasons we found is they've caused us so much pain. There have been several deaths, accidents, and crime committed by them," the governor said days after the announcement of the ban.

Sanwo-Olu's okada problem

There are a lot of genuine conversations to be had about the operations of kekes and, more pressingly, okadas on Lagos roads.

Indeed, they can be utterly reckless, degree of which depends on who you're asking; they routinely violate traffic laws; and are very effective for the commission of petty crimes.

These are undeniable side effects to the ease of access that these vehicles provide in the navigation of the chaos of Lagos roads, and it's hard to fault the government on that.

However, there appears to be a great level of dishonesty on the part of Sanwo-Olu's government to sell this decision to Lagosians.

And more importantly, his government appears to have settled for the policy that required minimal thought and absent proactive planning.

It's simply easier to ban okadas and kekes than to implement well-thought-out reformative policies that will effectively curb the menace and enforce better operational conduct on Lagos roads, and Sanwo-Olu has opted for the easy way out here.

One of the most pressing concerns that have trailed the ban is how Sanwo-Olu's government has very suddenly rendered thousands upon thousands of operators jobless and clueless as to the way forward. Many have even touted that this could be a precursor to a surge in crime as idle hands are sometimes wont to do.

The ban has also inevitably left many Lagosians stranded with thousands forced to trek short and long distances because there are not near enough vehicles on the road to move around since the ban kicked into effect on February 1, 2020.

Residents plying inner city roads in LGAs and LCDAs that have complete bans have felt the brunt of this, especially as there are routes that are unattractive to or inaccessible by buses, leaving Lagosians with no alternatives but to trek.

A lot of people will agree that okadas and kekes constitute a certain level of menace that genuinely deserve to be reined in by a government that cares, but not enough will agree with how Sanwo-Olu's government has rolled out its policy, a rehash of laws made by previous administrations.

A striking point of the outrage against the ban has been the apparent lack of thought put into providing alternatives for Lagosians to combat the mess that the ban has inevitably caused.

The government's cluelessness to solving this has been evident in its rhetoric in defence of the ban.

The Lagos State government says the situation of okadas and kekes was so dire it couldn't wait to provide viable alternatives before wielding the hammer [LASG] Pulse Nigeria

In response to calls about how it hopes to solve the mess it has made, the government has offered the introduction of more buses and the launching of a handful of boats as palliatives.

While speaking during an interview days after the ban, the state's commissioner for transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde, also added that the rail lines, proposed as another alternative, will be ready in "18 to 24 months", a full two years for Lagosians to wander around on foot or in frustration.

Sanwo-Olu's Greater Lagos masterplan

Despite the platform upon which Sanwo-Olu has built his decision for banning the operations of okadas and kekes in Lagos, it has become clear that there's more to it than meets the eye.

The ban's inclusion of bike-hailing services, like O'Ride, Gokada and Max, who happen to be more coordinated and accountable than the regular okadas, has raised questions that have forced the government to admit that it just doesn't have okadas and kekes in its vision for the state.

"The truth is that okada, no matter what fanciful name it's called, is not part of the Greater Lagos journey on which we have embarked," the government has said, stating a preference for youths to return to prestigious vocations like tailoring, bricklaying and printing.

The Lagos State government sees no future for okadas in the state [LASG] Pulse Nigeria

Dr Oladeinde reiterated this in his interview when he noted that Sanwo-Olu's smart city concept for Lagos does not include okadas or kekes.

"The concept looks at an integrated approach to moving people around; so we're looking at rail, we're looking at developing our water transport, and we're looking to reform our bus network.

"We are trying to reintegrate the whole city in such a way that people can move seamlessly from one point to the other," he said.

Not much has escaped Sanwo-Olu's lips regarding the ban, but piecing together the rhetoric from his surrogates, one can conclude that half the plan is to banish the kind of "alien" crowd that the okada trade attracts.

In August 2019, the Lagos State Environment Sanitation and Special Offenses Taskforce intercepted a truck transporting 48 motorcycles and 123 men into Lagos from the northern state of Jigawa.

The interception was as a result of a tip-off from members of the public, the task force claimed, who raised security concerns about the manner with which the occupants of the truck conducted themselves.

The arrest and detention of the men sparked outrage at the time, with many questioning the government's motive for targeting the travellers from a region of the country where terrorism remains a legitimate concern.

However, it was only one in a long line of "invader" sentiments that have been associated with the okada business in Lagos, an uncontrollable influx of "outsiders", both local and foreign, that has worried successive Lagos governments.

And now, Sanwo-Olu is putting on his big boy pants to arrest the situation.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu will have to define his vision clearly for the state for Lagosians to know their place in his "Greater Lagos journey" [LASG] Pulse Nigeria

One of the highlights of the commissioner for transport's interview is that the current government is wary of Lagos becoming the dumping ground that absorbs everything from Nigeria.

"It's not sustainable so we have to make it difficult for people to come into Lagos because the people that we want to come are people that will contribute to the economy, abide by our laws, and improve the quality of life. We have put certain measures in place to ensure that we protect that," he said.

Sanwo-Olu's pretence of an inclusive Lagos is no doubt a delusion that has been punctured with his recent executive decision; and now, okada and keke riders, as well as everyone else up and down that value chain, know that they do not belong in the governor's Greater Lagos journey, or Tinubu's decades-old masterplan that Ambode was sacrificed for.

Sanwo-Olu may not love to be addressed as "Your Excellency", for whatever inane reason, but he's the man who makes decisions that will have great impact on the lives of millions of Lagosians, for better or for worse.

The governor has failed to convince Lagosians that he has an effective plan to combat whatever "little discomfort" (as his government describes it) that his decision will cause in the short and long term.

Sanwo-Olu continues to struggle to sell his master plan to millions of Lagosians, and it remains unclear who belongs and who doesn't; but he's now shown that okadas and kekes and everyone the trade benefits are not a part of it.

Everyone else (except maybe tailors, bricklayers, and printers) will have to wait and find their place in the governor's Greater Lagos.