The power bikers and public perception

IT is now a public knowledge that Mr. Yusuf Buhari, the son of President Muhammadu Buhari, was involved in a power bike road traffic accident in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja a couple of days ago and that he is currently receiving medical/surgical attention for limb fracture and head injury in Germany after being stabilised in a Nigerian hospital, reportedly. I wish to join many other Nigerians to sincerely wish Mr. Yusuf Buhari a perfect and quick recovery and also encourage Mr. President and his entire family and friends not to falter or be weary in taking the best care possible of one their own, whatever their worries and misgivings may be. The incident has however opened a new vista in our national discourse as it has given an auspicious opportunity to appraise or reappraise some important issues in the minds of many people in Nigeria with respect to the pedigree of the users of power bikes on our roads; the legality of the use of power bikes on our roads; the approved level of training required of a person to use a power bike on our roads; the standardization of our roads for power bikes; the differentiation in the ordinary and sport use of power bikes in our society; licensing of power bikers; the traffic laws applicable to the users of power bikes on our roads, among others.

As remotely connected as all these may be to our immediate developmental goals as a people and as a nation, it has become pertinent to draw the connecting lines not only for the purpose of reducing the avoidable carnage that are attributable to power bike accidents but also to exonerate and exculpate persons and authorities that may vicariously share some portions of reprehension and blame in the individual judgments that reside in the minds of the people. In the first place and generally speaking, power bikers are often seen by many Nigerians as people who are on or who are capable of being on illicit (hard) drugs and intoxicants. As subjective as this perception may be, it is well-rooted in the sub-consciousness of many people; and this is sometimes reinforced by the conduct and the appearance of some of the power bikers. The degree of irritability, petulance and temperament of some power bikers on our roads is such as to keep other members of the society in a permanent wandering state as to the possibility of such attitudes without the influence of drugs.

In the second place, many Nigerians are strongly of the opinion that power bikers are extravagant, profligate and wasteful. This perception is rooted in the fact that the members of the public are aware that power bikes are expensive, sometimes outrageously. And that an average person who is still contending with the common and day-to-day problems of feeding, housing, clothing and paying health bills may not be able to contemplate such expenditure in opulence in the name of power bike. In some quarters, it is widely believed that power bikes are a luxury on which looted funds or ill-gotten wealth are expended. Thirdly, power bikers are adjudged by some Nigerians as oppressors and arrogant individuals who usually have an undisclosed or even a disclosed disdain and contempt for other people who are not power bikers. As questionable as this may be, many ordinary members of our society are firmly of the opinion that power bikers are out there to repress and subjugate them; at least by daylight or nocturnal display of expensive power bikes as a toy to play with whilst they struggle day and night for peasant meals. Confidence, which is often given to power bikers in riders’ instruction classes, sometimes, too quickly changes to pride and arrogance when they come in contact with other members of the public, including other road users.

Fourthly, many people believe that power bikers are a specie of Nigerians that are above the law, at least the traffic laws. This particular believe cuts across ordinary Nigerians as well as the members of the law enforcement agencies. And since most of the power bikers are thought of as affluent and influential, they are often left unchallenged whenever they break the laws. It is not uncommon to see power bikers drive against the traffic, follow one-way, overtake from the wrong side or even ignore traffic lights in many parts of the country. Up till today, it remains unclear to the vast majority of Nigerians if power bikers are expected to obey the same rules and laws that are applicable to normal motorcycle ‘Okada’ riders in Nigeria. We have all been left alone by the government to resolve that puzzle individually using our personal whims and caprices.

Furthermore, power bikers are seen by many members of the public as careless, reckless and dangerous while riding their power bikes. The speed, the noise, the crisscrossing, the maneuvering, the manipulations and the acrobatic displays with which many power bikers move on our roads are sometimes so crazy and scary that many other road users and passers-by are intimidated to the point of wanting to vacate the roads for the power bikers. In fact, many Nigerians have it registered somewhere in their minds that power bikers are either on a suicidal or murderous mission, or both, whenever they are sighted on the road. Many have concluded that most power bikers are poorly trained children of wealthy people. Consequent upon this, majority of Nigerians are often very reluctant to be sympathetic towards power bikers that are involved in road accidents while riding their bikes. Given all the aforementioned attributes of power bikers and the attendant public perceptions and opinions, it goes without saying that a lot more work, in terms of researches, laws, regulations, trainings, orientation, enforcement and public education are still required in Nigeria with respect to the use of power bikes in our country.

Sometimes, but unfortunately so, it requires a major incidence like this to pay attention to minor societal issues that should have been done statutorily by the relevant agencies of the government, before the right things are done. I wish Mr. Yusuf Buhari a perfect and quick recovery from his injuries, and I hope that he will not come back from Germany to meet the unregulated power bike usage system that might have led to his injuries due to our lackadaisical and laissez-faire attitudes to doing what is right, true and just in all the sectors in our dear country, Nigeria.

• Dr. Daini writes in from Kuje, Abuja.