It will be stupid of us if Lagos isn’t part of Amotekun —Hamzat

Lagos State deputy governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, recently featured on a Channel Television interview programme where he spoke on the South-West security outfit, Amotekun, ban on commercial motorcyclists and plans to ease traffic gridlock on Lagos roads, among other issues. BOLA BADMUS brings the excerpts:

IS Lagos on board of the South-West security outfit, Amotekun; what is the implementation like and is the state domesticating the law?

We don’t need to domesticate the law. As a matter of fact, Lagos State has Lagos Neighbourhood Watch where we have about 5,000 men and women, who provide intelligence to the police and so on and so forth. They work across the state; they are local people living within their communities; so they understand Lagos. So, Amotekun is the same thing. It is a framework that allows all the states in the South-West to share information. Remember about three years ago, when our kids were kidnapped, they ended up in Ondo State. So, we will be stupid if we don’t relate with ourselves. Amotekun is a framework that allows us to relate and Lagos State, of course, is in support of it. We are sharing information. It is a sharing information template across the South-West.

A lot of people think that the first thing your administration did in Lagos State was to come up with a law to restrict or ban motorcycle and tricycle riders. Is this the truth or a false misconception?

It is a misconception. The truth of the matter is that it is a law that has been in existence since 2012. It was revised by the past administration in 2018. So, it is a law that has been there for like nine to 10 years. What it states clearly is that on certain roads, all the bridges and major highways, motorcycles (okada) and tricycles (Keke NAPEP) are restricted from plying them. But we all know that it was not implemented. So, what we are doing is to implement the law that the state House of Assembly passed. Remember that the process of passing a law takes days. It was not that we just woke up and just ban them; it is about security of lives. We have 27 general hospitals in Lagos and close to 3,000 private hospitals. But let us look at just the general hospitals: on a monthly basis on the average, 28 deaths are related to motorcycles. So, we cannot, as a government, overlook that. Is it that people lives don’t matter? And then on issue of crime, we found out that motorcycles and tricycles are now vehicles for transporting drugs, even to our schools. So, the security of lives and the prosperity of our children cannot just be ignored.

Is that the intelligence report and information you got from security agencies?

Exactly. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is a federal agency, not Lagos State government agency. The report is clear and we cannot, as a state government, see that and say it is not important. The essence, first of all, is to make sure that everybody, who resides in Lagos, is secured. And then we said: how can we do this in a manageable way? The essence is not to punish anybody. The essence is not to restrict people from doing any job, but you have to be alive before you can make money. The reality is that people are dying; the reality is that the security of our children is being compromised. So, government must act and that is exactly what we did in the interest of the people.

There was an incident, last August, where a truckload of motorcycles and about 300 people were apprehended in Lagos and the police at that moment arrested and interrogated them and, at that time, there were rumours that there was an influx of Boko Haram or some terrorist elements into Lagos. Could there be an iota of truth in the speculation current action of government is related to reducing or chasing out terrorists out of the state?

The truth of the matter is that this mode of transportation is becoming an avenue to perpetrate crime and we cannot wait until a major disaster happens. We knew what happened in Kano State some years back, when the Emir of Kano was attacked through this mode of transportation. So, is it that our lives are not important? Our lives are important and therefore that particular incident that you mentioned, yes it is true. What the then commissioner of police did was to let us know who these people are and where they are coming from. There were some people that had knives and some people that had guns. So, if you are interested in riding a motorcycle, why do you need a gun? Why do you need knife? Not every one of them; but those people that had were arrested and would be prosecuted.

So, the restriction was majorly about issue of security?

It is mainly about security and safety. It is becoming a problem in our major cities. Even at times, we get calls at our emergency control centre that people going to work through motorcycles are being harassed and attacked. The data was overwhelming for us. So, we must act and that is exactly what we did to protect the people of Lagos State. Like I said, you must be alive to do anything. People are saying what about business? It is when you are alive that you can do your business.

And we also said that it has greater impact even on our economy. The truth of the matter today is that we don’t have artisans anymore in Nigeria. If you want to lay tiles, people are coming from neighbouring countries. So, is that the future that we want to portray? Lagos, for example, has 17 skill acquisition centres and five technical schools and you will be lucky to get people to attend. We are partnering with organisations such as Elizade Motors to teach people on how to do mechanical work. The reality is that we must cater for our children. It is not everybody that will go to university; we know that but let us train our children, so that they can really earn good work, using their hands.

People have resorted to going by foot to their destinations. What are the alternatives and what have you provided to alleviate the suffering?

You will notice that immediately after the restriction, about 65 buses were pushed out.  Lagos State government just pushed out another 14 ferries; so we must also use our waterways. The truth of the matter is that Lagos State occupies only 0.4 per cent of the landmass of Nigeria, but we have 10 per cent of the population. So the density is high; that is a statement of geography. And 30 per cent of that landmass that is so small is water. That is what God has given us, we can’t change it. But, the reality is that we must now see what the best way is. For example, we are doing BRT from Bolade to Katangowa; it is about almost 14 to 15 kilometres. That would be completed very soon. All the channels, terminals and the rest are being built but we are hoping that, by April, we will be able to finish that. So, the essence is to be able to move people in a safe and secured way.

What is so interesting is that Nigerians are very innovative and very smart. Where I live, there used to be motorcycles and tricycles, but today, what I see are mini buses. So, whenever there is a change, it is natural for us to criticise; we don’t want change because we get comfortable. But sometimes change is very good and I am sure that this is a change that is actually very good because it is important to save lives. The ban is just about three weeks old; the data from general hospitals across the state is now just seven from 28. So, if we save 21 lives, who can tell me that is not important?

There are areas that are referred to as only okada routes in Lagos State but hardly will you see commercial buses take you through those areas. What are you doing in respect of those special routes?

Like everything else in life, there is no solution that solves all the problems. But you look at what is good for the common people. If you are able to solve eight out of 10 problems by a solution, then that is adjudged to be equally good. One of the things we are doing is to take this advantage. We are bringing in 2,000 new taxis. But it is also not to just bring in vehicles, it is also to say, can we actually assemble those vehicles here so that people will get jobs. It is easy to create jobs for people outside the country, but what about our own people here. So, we are looking at that and very soon, it will start to materialise.

What is government doing about the growing concern over traffic in Lagos?

One of the things you can see is that when you solve a problem, you might create another one. If you look at Ajah, the first and second roundabouts as well as Abraham Adesanya, we are removing the roundabouts. We are signalising them and expanding the road. We are doing the same thing at Allen Avenue, Ijegun, Iyana Ipaja and the rest. It is spreading across and that will defeat traffic. The question is: should we do it sequentially, wait and spread the pain or do we just do it one time? We agreed that we just do it so that we can be free. We need to maintain the bridge linking Bonny Camp for example, but we said ‘let us wait so that we don’t compound the traffic problem, but the bridge must be maintained’. So, it is chicken and egg issue. Some of these infrastructures, you need to renew and rebuild them. We are doing several road constructions now and that will lead to traffic, but it is better to do it now.