The most recent irritation to road users is the number of tariffs they have to pay just to use the roads. It’s amazing how different groups waylay drivers and collect all kinds of amounts of money from them as payment for one thing or the other. The worst part is the mode of payment. We all know tax laws are slack in this country but that doesn’t give every union and corporative the excuse to become hoodlums and terrorists.
Take Abuja for example (I live here so I should know), road workers are made to pay for tickets everyday or they will be penalized with a higher sum than they owed. A few months ago, a taxi driver I know went to Mararaba, the first town in Nasarawa State coming from Abuja and was fined for not having a receipt that carries the Nasarawa State emblem even though he had one with the FCTs’. You have to note that the only demarcation between Mararaba and Abuja is a pillar and the same buses run through the two towns.
A friend of mine was travelling and in the middle of nowhere was stopped by plain clothes men who asked for a receipt showing that her car was a company’s and the relevant dues had been paid. Of course she did not have the receipt and they finned her as usual asking for a ridiculous amount of money a traveler will only carry for the sake of emergencies. After much ado they collected what she could give. My friend had two questions and these questions I ask as well;
1. How do we know these men are genuine and not hoodlums looking to make some money?
2. How do you tell an armed robber from a genuine unionist, when they are in the middle of the road on a high way wearing plain clothes?
I see no safety percussions here. Does the government know this is happening? Do they realize what security risk lies in allowing any and everyone fine and collect fines anywhere they like?
I know some will say that people will get away without paying their dues if they are not caught unexpectedly, but should the collection of dues be left to plain cloth men with fake identities or none at all. Is this a risk we would like to take?
Recently, I stopped a keke na pep and before I could get in, two angry looking guys who obviously were high on something life threatening seized the keke na pep and insisted on him paying N500 for parking illegally. I was totally enraged, I couldn’t believe it. Are these the people who should monitor the roads to guard against accidents, or vagabonds who take pleasure in terrifying the easily intimidated? I moved back a distance to avoid their violent manifestations and the foul smell that accompanied them and watched. The poor boy driving the keke na pep was helpless against them and I went and began to beseech them to leave him alone. At first, they were surprised and ignored me completely but after a while, they saw I was relentless and began to shout obscenities at me but I stood my ground. After about ten minutes they allowed us go. Needless to say, I was horrified! Why hoodlums should be given the authority to harass people is beyond me. I agree that he may have parked at the wrong place but to fine him N500 for doing that is outrageous. I understand ticketing and or putting signs that say “no parking” but I refuse to pay fines to plain clothed men. As far as I’m concerned, law enforcement agencies are identified by their uniforms and badges not angry looks and Indian hemp.
Last week, a friend was driving me home and we saw a man carry a rifle and moving around the junction where we waited for the traffic lights to change. The most astonishing thing was that no one seemed perturbed by this man and as we crossed the lights we noticed he wore military boots. And I screamed, so what?! Any guy interested enough can get military boots easily. Why should a military man be walking around a public place with his rifle drawn? How unconcerned have we become with what happens in this nation that we are not even cautious about staying close to a man waving a gun.
There was a story recently in the dailies and on the news about a trigger happy security man who shot a pregnant woman in a taxi all because the driver decided to do a turn in front of the bank he was guarding.
How lax are things going to get before we realize our lives are in the hands of men gone wild. What really is the difference between a guy in military boots waving a gun around and a plain clothed guy practicing road safety? They are both danger prone and time bombs waiting to explode. People do not know who to trust generally because our laws in this country are slack we believe in “every man for himself, God for us all”. However, I strongly hold that people would rather put their lives and safety in the hands of uniformed men who may have received trainings for their responsibilities. I applaud the endeavour to employ jobless people and engage the “agberos” but if we must use them for safety purposes we must first make sure they are not dangers to themselves and pumped up on adrenaline. We must ensure that they receive the needed trainings and not just a neon jacket and a stick. It is important to let them know that controlling traffic or ensuring free flow of traffic is just that; free flow! They can’t stop cars right in the middle of the road because the crime was committed there. A lot of traffic jams and hold ups are caused by these law enforcement people stopping road user’s right n the middle of traffic especially on the high way. I am not suggesting that everyone should do as they liked on the road but I’m saying that punishment or random checks should be done off the roads and please not on the express way.
Keeping with the law is of extreme importance but the presence of the law only makes sinners of us all because without the law, crime will not be identified. On the other hand, the offender is aware there is a punishment for him. Therefore, let the criminal or offender suffer his punishment alone while the rest of us try to keep whatever laws we can.
As for the matter of dues and tickets, there has to be another way other than roadblocks and traffic harassment. Companies should be fined for their cars and not the workers and just like it is with paying tickets, individuals should be registered to pay their dues and tickets and if they do not they can be subpoenaed.
Let us feel safe again to use our roads without fear of hoodlums, fines and harassments.
p.s
With the kind of driving done on Abuja roads, I think the law enforcers should be more concerned with bad driving than making a buck and pilling cars like queues during fuel scarcity on the roads searching for God knows what.
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