Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation, has said he can understand why Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu banned commercial motorcycles known locally as Okada and three-wheeled motorized rickshaws called kekes, from the city.
Amaechi who was governor of Rivers State from 2007 to 2015 said he confronted a similar problem during his reign.
Speaking during a Channels TV breakfast programme, Amaechi said: “Speaking as a former governor, when I was in Rivers State, they were using motorcycles to rob and kidnap people; and the police could never get them because they were using cars; so I banned motorcycles and we had peace. The number of accidents was also high – the orthopaedic hospital was full every day,”.
Pockets of protests erupted on Monday in Lagos over the ban as thousands of persons retorted to trekking due to the ban.
Amaechi, however, said that the Lagos governor still has a lot of work to do with regards to mitigating the social impact of the ban.
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“I don’t know the reason why the governor of Lagos state banned it; only he can tell you. I am sure he made his decision based on the interests of a majority of Lagosians. But he has a problem to face, which is unemployment and an increase in crime,” he said.
The minister also said the federal government cannot interfere in the Lagos ban.
“Implementation of transport policy is essentially a state affair. So you can’t be telling a state whether they want ‘Okada’ or tricycles or not. That’s not our responsibility. It is for the state government to decide what to do,” Amaechi added.
