The emergence of Lagos State as Nigeria’s commercial hub had a lot to do with its transport sector. Is it about daily commuting to work or the movement of goods from one part of the state to the other? There is hardly a sector in Lagos State or Nigeria as a whole that does not rely on the transportation industry for its productivity.
According to the Lagos State Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Survey 2010 Report prepared by the Lagos Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, the state’s road transportation sub sector was estimated atN3.20 trillion, and thus contributed 26.47 percent to the state’s GDP.
That was before the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) covered many areas in the state, meaning that the contribution of the transport sub sector to Lagos State’s GDP now could not have been less than what it was in 2010.
Read Also: BRT goes cashless from February 1, says LAMATA
In addition to the thousands of jobs the sector has created, Lagos State’s transport sub sector generated N12.14 billion into the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state through road taxes, which was more than the total IGR generated by twelve states in Nigeria in 2020, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
It is very clear that LASTMA and the Lagos State Task Force are working towards sending more people into the labour market as well as exacerbating the poverty in the land
Another report by the International Centre for Investigative Journalism (ICRJ) estimated that the Lagos State’s transport sub sector generated much more IGR than what was reported, but due to the structure of the industry, the excess above what was reported ended up in the pockets of non-state actors. With the above, the importance of the sub sector in Lagos State cannot be overemphasised.
However, in the last few years, developments in this important segment of the state have attracted attention for the wrong reasons. If it was not agbero-passenger conflict, it was about the state’s law enforcement agencies having frequent unresolved issues with stakeholders in the transport sub sector to such an extent that transportation activities would be grounded, or the associated melee could result in the loss of lives.
In August 2021, commercial drivers in Ikotun and Igando suburb of Lagos protested the killing of a driver and a conductor by the Lagos Task Force. Still in the same month, along the ever-busy Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, activities were grounded in the last week of August when commercial drivers protested against extortion by security agents in Lagos.
On a number of occasions, commercial bus drivers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the high-handedness of LASTMA and Lagos Task Force especially those that ply Ojuelegba, Palmgroove, Fadeyi, Obanikoro and environs. In most cases, if these drivers try to insist on their right, doing that will make the situation even worse for them because whatever the agent of the state says will be admitted against these drivers. Drivers are not given any opportunity to prove their innocence.
Based on the foregoing, it is very clear that LASTMA and the Lagos State Task Force are working towards sending more people into the labour market as well as exacerbating the poverty in the land.
Going forward, the modus operandi of LASTMA and the state task force must be refined. It is crude and brutish for a metropolitan city like Lagos. One of the areas that must be addressed is what actually constitutes an offence. While the state spells them out, the state officials have special boundaries when they consider an offence to have been committed.
Meanwhile, the state laws on traffic offenses only recognise the state traffic monitoring officials. The commercial driver is not considered as a major player in the scheme of things. This explains why whenever an offence is committed or a vehicle is brought into their office, the state officials are always right and no one has ever been set free without having to pay exorbitant charges which most times do not go into state coffers.
Evidence abounds on the recklessness of LASTMA and Lagos Task Force. A recently concluded undercover work by the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) and others have really shown how state officials could manipulate the laws to reap off the helpless commercial drivers on Lagos roads.
By and large, it is high time the Lagos State Government called LASTMA and Task Force to order. This is necessary to stop the impoverishment of Lagosians and to dissuade the minds of the citizens from the impression that the traffic laws were created for the state to make money at all cost.
