Grace Amolu was grunting as she stood under the scorching sun in Ogba bus stop en route Ikeja.
The frown on her face told the story of suffering. Right where she stood is where tricycle operators once made their parks.
Some three weeks ago, Grace got transportation with ease. When the reporter approached to ask her questions on what she thought should be done now that commuters are left stranded, she almost dismissed the reporter.
“This ban is not well thought out. They did not think of the suffering masses before implementing the ban,” Grace blurted out almost absent-mindedly.
According to her, the man-hour that is lost in waiting for vehicles to convey people to their respective places of work and business would have been channelled to more productive purposes.
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Emmanuel Ometan, another commuter in Ikeja lamented the time he has spent catching up with an interview appointment.
“I have an interview scheduled for 10: am this morning,” he said as he wipes sweats off his brow.
“It is now past mid-day and I am still here, stranded. My interviewers would think I am not serious, but the truth is that I would have been there maximum 9:30 am,” he lamented.
Ometan said if people calculated the man-hour lost on the road alongside traffic, the cost would be humongous.
“What is the sense in the ban?” He asked.
Across many bus stops in Lagos is an army of commuters waiting for transportation to/or from work – and none of them has a smile on their faces.
The ban has also thrown up another challenge for the state. Private car owners have rolled out their cars into roads making brisk businesses.
They now constitute traffic gridlock as they park indiscriminately to pick passenger in undesignated bus stops.
The high cost of transportation by these emergency transport operators have raised the standard of living in the state, alongside with the stress of commuting.
“It is a terrible mistake by the state, Ifeanyi Ude, a social media users said when asked what he thought of the ban one month after.
“It is now one month, there is no intervention by the state to cushion the devastating effect of the ban,” Ude said via a Facebook chat.
According to Ude, the first thing a state with the size of the population like Lagos would have done is to roll out mass transit that would cover major routes in the state.
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“By the time you roll out long buses, the tricycles and Okada would naturally disappear. Who would think of entering Okada or tricycle when you have comfortable buses plying your routes,” Ude stressed.
Economic analysts are divided on the gains and loss of the ban. To some, the only gain accruable is that Lagos is more secure, to others; the state is losing billions of man-hour, which in turn translates to economic loss.
Pabina Yinkere, an economic analyst and an asset manager stressed that no country moves forward with its workforce not being able to get to work early and in a cozy style.
Yinkere said the loss of man-hour and the high cost of transportation is raising the standard of living.
“The ban has raised inflation, the standard of living is now high. You budget thrice for transport than before,” he said.
He said while he cannot outrightly condemn the ban, he would suggest that the government tweaks its methodology.
“For instance, the inner roads in Ikeja and environs could be left because that where the bulk of the people live and work in,” he said.
Investigation by our reporter shows that even though the ban is in force, the Okada operators are defiant and have returned to the banned routes tripling their fare.
For instance, a trip from Ogba to Allen in Ikeja that usually costs N100 is now N350 to N400 – or more when there is traffic.
Jasper, an Okada operator in Ikeja told our reporter that he makes close to N8,000 daily as against N5,000 he used to make before the ban.
“We are very cautious because when they apprehend you, that is the end,” he said.
Lagos State government has continuously mouthed intervention in the transport sector since the ban on Okada and tricycle came into effect this month but has done nothing to alleviate the hardship brought about by the ban.
It is estimated that there are over one billion dollars locked in the transport industry in Nigeria with Lagos having the largest chunk. Experts believe it would take creativity and progressive thinking to unlock it.
