The Unending Perseverance Of Nigerians And How It’s Slowly Killing Us
Today I took a more scenic route to work. This led to me being stuck in traffic somewhere along Agege. Don’t ask.
It was an unfamiliar area, so I wasn’t sure what a normal morning on that road looked like, but the large number of people I saw walking caught my attention.
My initial thought was that this must be a very residential area to have people trooping and trickling on foot by 7 am to their various destinations.
I guess some extra subconscious thinking brought the actual reason for the large exodus to mind. The okada/keke ban.
The saddest part of the new situation with transport in Lagos is that as it usually happens, in spite of the quiet grumbles against another hardship caused by the government, everyone will wake up and trudge on with their existence. We’ll accept it, we’ll wake up earlier to make up for the time spent trekking, we’ll buy dust masks for our long walk, we‘ll manage some more, we’ll adjust, we’ll be beaten down and we will continue to justify why we should suffer.
The Lagos state government banned the public use of okadas and kekes on several major roads for reasons best known to them and failed to provide alternatives.
Alternatives for the okada and keke riders that rely on the business for sustenance. An alternative for you and I, that need these vehicles to move around on our daily business. The government has just acted without recourse to how exactly this action will affect the everyday person.
Lagos is a metropolis of about 16 million people. A highly commercial city, it naturally sees heavy traffic jams. This is where okadas and kekes come in. They provide a fast and easy means of weaving through traffic and getting to your destination stat.
The high rise in demand for these convenient means of transport led to an overpopulation of okadas and kekes and an increase in safety and security issues. weaving in
What should have been the solution to that problem? Definitely not creating a new and even bigger problem.
Are there no means of regulating the movement of okadas and kekes and implementing safety regulations with strict punishments if breached?
In place of these okadas and kekes, the government provided a few buses. It is ridiculous to think that these busses will fill the void created by the loss of okadas and kekes.
Speed, convenience, and ease were all the things that the kekes and okadas provided. They reduced the need to jostle for the very few busses available to convey passengers to their destination.
We need leaders in this country. And for the avoidance of confusion, I mean those that think deeply about the repercussions of their policies, actions and inactions. People that consider a matter from all angles, are aware of the downside and are ready to protect their people from the fallout of their decisions. People that are ready to take responsibility for their action whatever possible outcomes.
Leaders that are empathetic, that are surrounded by fair critics, leaders whose eyes are not too far from the streets and can see how people’s lives are affected. Those who have their ears open, not only to praises of sycophants but also to the blunt truth of their people.
Will enough ever be enough in Nigeria? Will anyone ever set themselves on fire as a violent protest against the effects of a failed system? In Tunisia in 2010, a street vendor set himself ablaze in the market streets. Why? It was in protest. Against corruption, injustice, lawlessness. That action by that one man, set in motion a series of reactions that led to a shift in Tunisia’s political system.
The very thing that keeps us going as a nation, is also the bane of our existence. At what point will we break under the weight of our oppression? When will enough really be enough? Because it is only when we get to the breaking point when our backs are finally against the wall, can we revolt. Can we fight back. Can any change really happen.
