Chinelo Obogo
Mr. Seye Oladejo was recently appointed as the publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State and, here, he gives an insight into some government policies and issues confronting residents in the state.
He also speaks on the upheaval following the restriction of the commercial activities of motorcycle and tricycle operators in some local governments and gives an insight into why the state government had to enforce the traffic law, and other issues:
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently de-listed 74 political parties, bringing the number to only 18. Is this a step in the right direction or should the parties have been allowed to continue existing?
I wasn’t surprised that INEC decided to de-list the parties, because I felt that the number we had was large and there are requisite conditions for political parties to be regarded as national parties, they are expected to have presence in a number of states and have a good showing during elections. You will agree with me that virtually all the parties that were delisted didn’t really put up a show during the last election and you can hardly find their presence anywhere. It was also instructive that, during elections, most of the parties didn’t even have agents at the polling booths and that should speak volumes about their numerical strength and the need for us to look critically if they could be regarded as national parties.
If they can’t muster sufficient number to even have agents at the polling booths, you just start wondering if they have any business contesting elections in the first place. So, I think it is a move in the right direction and I believe that the number should be more controlled even though people have put up the argument that we should have as many parties as possible. People can as well clamour for independent candidature rather than having these parties occupy space on the ballot paper when in the real sense of it it doesn’t amount to much.
What do you think is the motive behind registering such political parties? Could it be because of the funds they used to receive, even though no one is sure if they still do?
It could be because INEC usually releases funds for parties and people would also want to take advantage of the fact that INEC opened up the space for as many parties as possible to come on board. The major determinant is, if, after testing the grounds, they have the requisite conditions to continue to exist as parties, vis-à-vis their performance during the elections. We should have not more than three parties and I believe that you should find your place of comfort in three parties.
There has been backlash against the Lagos State government over the restriction of commercial motorcycles and tricycles in six local governments. What’s your view?
There was a viral video where the governor was alleged to have said that he would not ban the activities of motorcycle and tricycle operators but I listened to the video several times and the operative word was regulation – he said he was going to regulate them and make sure that they do things properly. What the Lagos State government has done is to regulate and part of regulation is restriction to a number of local governments. It is not outright ban.
Also, remember that this law is not new, it has been in existence since 2012 and, a number of times, government tested the waters under former Governors Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode and government has been very considerate. Past governments relaxed the laws with the expectation that the operators would be reasonable enough to abide by it but that is not what has been happening. You cannot contest the lawlessness with which they operate and the accidents they cause because of their recklessness. The greatest promise is the social contract between the government and the people of Lagos and that contract is premised on security of life and property.
By the time a government comes out to say that the reason why they have taken a certain action is based on securing life and property, that statement is loaded. A government is in the business of ensuring that they do not create unnecessary panic in the state and when a governor says that he is doing something to ensure the lives of Lagosians are safe, it means that he is trying to manage the information available to him. We know that in the northern part of the country today, insecurity is a major issue and, just recently, at an event attended by Fashola, the Minister for Works and Housing, he said that, in 2013, an attempt was made to bomb Lagos and that it was nipped in the bud when they intercepted 78 suitcases of explosives.
At that time, I was part of his cabinet and the issue never came up at any of the executive meetings, which meant that he managed the information and didn’t want to create panic in the state by releasing the information. The situation we had then was not as bad as what we have now. We have okada riders invading Lagos in their thousands every day and the worst part is that most of the okada riders are not Nigerians. When you speak English, Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo to them, they don’t understand but when you speak French, they will respond. What does that suggest? Does it not show that they are not Nigerians?
The second point is that they have no fixed address; when they commit a crime, they just vanish into the air. In the evening, you find them under the bridges sleeping on their okada. When they wake up in the morning, part of their dressing includes a dagger and, at times, a shotgun. A few weeks ago, a group of okada riders invaded a local government and burnt it down. What does that suggest? Anarchy. As soon as the restriction on their activities started to take effect, many of them started leaving Lagos in trailers, which means that they have no stake in this state. If you really have a place of abode in Lagos and a family, if anything happens, would you start leaving within 24 hours?
There are unconfirmed reports that tech hailing start-ups like O’Pay, Gokada and Max paid some money to the state government to establish business in Lagos. There are concerns that, because these start-ups had lots of investors, there would be fear from future investors who want to come and set up companies in Lagos about the unpredictability of government policies.
We only restricted operations in some local governments and they are at liberty to operate in other densely-populated areas like Alimosho, Mushin, Ajeronmi-Ifelodun, Ifako-Ijaiye, Agege and others. Secondly, a good number of these investors have now realised the need to abide by the law. The 2012 traffic law was in place before they made these investments and every investor has a duty to do due diligence before committing money in any business. In every situation, there are opportunities to be taken advantage of. Some of these start-ups now want to bring in boats that would be transporting people and government is also trying to open up the waterways.
The fact that the government didn’t restrict operations in the entire state shows that it has empathy and to make sure that people can still feed their families. Some of the residents of areas like Ajao Estate that were not included in the restriction are now agitating that they be included because. They came to the Government House to protest against the activities of okada riders, which have devalued the properties in that area. Don’t forget that Ajao Estate is the gateway to Nigeria because of its proximity to the international airport
But many of the roads in Ajao Estate are in very bad…
(Cuts in) That is a different ball game altogether but you would agree with me that the state government has embarked on massive reconstruction of roads.
As a two-time local government chairman, do you support LG autonomy?
I do, with some measure of control. The policies of the local government should be in tandem with whatever operates at the state level. For instance, if the state government is embarking on construction of roads or drainages within your local government, whatever the council wants to do as regards that should be complimentary to such projects so that the two governments would not be working at cross purposes. What led to the taking away of the autonomy was because some local governments owed salaries and didn’t pay attention to the welfare of the people there.