Are Nigeria's politicians making impact in the life of the citizenry?

Written by Blessed Adjekpagbon

Impacting positively on people's standards of living is the reason a lot of countries in the world have been embracing democracy from the beginning of the deaths of feudalism, totalitarianism, "militocracy" and monarchical systems of governance for centuries.

In the case of Nigeria, after several years of military rules occasioned by the regimes of former Generals; Olusegun Obasanjo; Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Badamasi Bangida, Sani Abacha and Abdulkarim Abubakar, before the re -enthronement of democracy in 1999 that brought Chief Olusegun Obasanjo back to power as the first retired Military - General that became a Civilian President, Nigerians were full of hope that civil administration would bring positive development in terms of respect for human right and improvement of the people's economic, educational and social standard of living. 

During a recent sampling of some Nigerians opinion, many said politicians have generally failed in impacting the life styles of the people in a positive way. Some cited that the only period a particular politician impacted Nigerians life was in the South West region in the days of yore. Who could that person be? It was no other person but late Chief Obafemi Awolowo that promoted free education in the South West and in the old Mid - Western regions. Other regions politicians were busy satisfying their personal interests. 

Another notable politician that impacted Nigerians standard of living with mass educational and housing policies style was late Chief Lateef Jakande alias Baba Kekere in Lagos State. He built a lot of schools and housing estates that are still being enjoyed especially by Nigerians living in Lagos for over a period of more than three decades till date. 

Moreover, in recent past years, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, former Governor of Lagos State, and Mr. Godswill Akpabio, former Governor of Akwa - Ibom State were hailed by some Nigerians for improving the infrastructural, environmental and educational standards of the states they governed. There is no notable development by other states governors in the present dispensation. What has been used to occupy the folks ears are reports of fantastic corruption and cross - carpeting of politicians from one party to another, from time to time.

Aside the few aforementioned politicians that put a glow in the faces of the people in some places, Nigerians have been waking from one nightmare to another since democracy was fully restored from 1999 till date.

From the views of Mr. Matthias Pantaleon, a poet, playwright  published author and member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), one can clearly grasp the general opinion shared by some other Nigerians about the glaring non-positive impact of politicians on the populace.

Matthias offers that; "Impact is far from the people. I think the reverse is the case. Nigerian politicians are actually making life unbearable for the average citizens. The executives are busy enforcing draconian laws, the legislative arm is now a pay-as-you-go arm of government. Back in the days, we used to say 'Judiciary is the last hope of the common man,' nowadays we say 'Judiciary is the worst thing to happen to the common man.' The way and manner politicians are toying with the lives of Nigerians is heartbreaking. 

"There is untold hardship in the country. As if that is not enough they failed to call SARS operatives to order or checkmate their excesses which eventually birthed the #EndSars protest. Politicians can deny all they want, but we know the truth and it stares at us in the face like life and death; a reminder of our own mortality."

He further points that, "Politicians should know that people are listening to what they are not saying, people are talking to families that have lost their loved ones to bad governance and some days to come, people will actually act. It is left to them to do right and heal the nation or be prepared for the inevitable."

Nonetheless, going down memory lane, one could recall a similar maltreatment of the people by a previous civilian administration. For instance, Obasanjo's civilian rule was characterized by blatant disregard for human rights in the Niger Delta where he ordered soldiers to wipe out two communities known as Choba and Odi due to a fracas some Niger Delta "resources control" agitators had with some soldiers there. Yearly increase in fuel pump price was another bitter hallmark of Obasanjo's civilian tenure.

 ln addition, blatant display of corruption  by many politicians was the order of the day during Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's administration. It was as if you are a fool if you were honest during his administration. He also unwittingly increased fuel pump price on January 1, 2012 after he had previously promised Nigerians a better standard of living during the twilight months of 2011. That singular deceit and blunder of increment of fuel pump price was what the opposition party (the APC) politicians capitalized on, to rubbish his administration and campaigned vigorously for a change of government. The citizenry swallowed it hook, line and sinker. The rest is now history.

Since the advent of the current administration led by Buhari / Osinbajo from 2015 till date, Nigerians have tasted real hell like never before in the country's democracy's history. Hardship has become phenomenal with the majority of the people turned into walking skeletons with emaciated bones.

However, as rightly pinpointed above by a respondent, Police brutality courtesy of the now proscribed Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) went unabated against folks especially living in the Southern region of the country. This culminated to the now popular #EndSars protest that led to the massacre of some Nigerians at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.

By and large, one can say Nigeria's politicians have not impacted the folks in any commendable ways except for the few trickles of examples by Awolowo, Jakande, Fashola and Akpabio earlier mentioned. The rest have been tales of "suffering and smiling" as aptly sang many years ago by Nigeria's late Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo of blessed memories.

At this point, it is imperative to ask that, "What are the indices for measuring positive impact?"  It is measured by what has been done by politicians towards rapid economic, educational, infrastructural and social development. How many tourists have been visiting the country and how many foreign investors have invested in Nigeria since 2015 till date?  Many indigenous and foreign companies have folded up, which caused serious massive unemployment nationwide. More graduates have taken up menial works such as bus conductors and bike riders to survive. These are jobs hitherto done by school drop outs and illiterates. There could have been better roads all over Nigeria, constant electric power supply and adequate security of lives and property if politicians had the interest of the citizenry at heart. There may still be some rumblings if the aforementioned basic amenities were made available, and people might still be hopeful and believe that things will get better. But the current state of things in Nigeria is that of total despair everywhere. People are suffering and have no hope or belief in the government anymore.

 

An Okada Rider

 

Written by Blessed Adjekpagbon

There are three different categories of motorbike riders in Nigeria. They are "Okada" riders, Dispatch riders and Power bike riders. The brand and quality of the bike determines the type of service it is usually used for according to government regulations. 

Among the three categories, an Okada rider is the most popular because a lot of folks in the city patronize him as a commercial motorcyclist. He can navigate to rugged nooks and crannies where commercial cabs and buses cannot access. Therefore, Okada is a local word used among Nigerians to identify a commercial motorcyclist.

Different factors distinguish an Okada rider from both the dispatch or power bike riders. Firstly, it is an individual commercial motorcycling business for transporting folks and goods to different places within a suburb or from one suburb to another.

Unlike an okada rider, a dispatch rider works for a particular courier company. He delivers small parcels to clients on behalf of the company he works for. In most cases, a delivery box is usually mounted on the position of the bike's back seat. However, a power bike rider is a private individual that uses his highly superior machine for his personal movement at a fast pace to wherever he likes.

Both the dispatch and power bikes' riders are usually well kitted with safety helmets to protect their skulls from cracking in case they get involved in an accident. But most or nearly all okada riders in Nigeria don’t wear safety helmets despite government rules and regulations that ordered them to do so.

The second difference is that an average okada rider belongs to a special union of "Okada Riders Welfare Association of the National Union of Road Transport Workers" in the country. He operates in any branch of the association he chooses to ply especially in Lagos. He pays tax daily to the association, unlike a dispatch or power bike rider. This makes him always eager to make as much money as he could to cover his daily expenditures on tax, fuel and maintenance of his bike. The back seat of the bike that is meant for carrying one passenger at a time is sometimes used to carry two or more passengers to make extra money. He is fond of meandering sometimes dangerously between many cars or vehicles whenever he runs into traffic jam. He does so like a snake running between trees in an orchard, to get to his destination as fast as possible. This is one of the reasons a lot of folks patronize him.

Despite their appreciable contributions towards making some Nigerians overcome the delays caused by traffic jams, many okada riders are not professionally trained. Although there are a lot of graduates practicing okada riding in various places in the country, the majorities of the riders are illiterates and disobey traffic laws. This has caused a lot of avoidable accidents on the roads.

Prior to the advent of commercial motorcycling business in Nigeria's major cities such as Lagos, Kano, Warri and Port Harcourt to mention a few, the informal act of using motorbike as a means of transporting people from place to place was commonplace mostly in underdeveloped or rural environments of the country. 

As time went by, as the population of the country began to increase astronomically, it caused serious rural - urban drift. For instance, as people keep trooping from rural areas into the city of Lagos to look for greener pastures in the face of continuous yearly increase in the production of graduates by Nigeria's higher institutions on one hand, and lack of employment opportunities to accommodate them on the other, many took to "Okada riding" as a source of making a living.

Nonetheless, to be a successful okada rider in a vast commercial city like Lagos, one should have a great knowledge of the roads networks. Whether an okada rider is operating within the streets in a suburb or plying the major expressways, he has to be able to appropriately calculate how much fuel he will burn to cover a distance to and fro. This will enables him to charge the right amount of money from any passenger that solicits his service. If he is not good at calculating the cost of fuel required for transporting passengers or goods to and fro any given destination, he may run into a loss.

In conclusion, the business of a commercial motorcyclist is very dangerous as an average ckada rider in Nigeria is always in a haste to make money, and disobeys traffic laws most times. Several accidents have been recorded between some reckless drivers and okada riders in Lagos. Some vehicles’ drivers see an average commercial motorcyclist as a rival contesting speed with them on the expressways. Therefore, an okada rider operating on any expressway is usually exposed to getting knocked down either due to the recklessness of some vehicles drivers or due to negligence of traffic rules and regulations by commercial motorcyclists.