By Anthony Akinola
President Goodluck Jonathan reacted to the crisis generated by the removal of the subsidy on oil by flooding Abuja roads with buses.
While this may not be a bad idea, a coherent policy on public transportation is what one has been advocating over the years. This article reminds our policy makers of what this writer thinks should be the approach to improving our public transportation culture. The following paragraphs are extracts from a previously published article.
Not least because of its overwhelming importance to our lives and economy, the public transportation system is one area in which the administration of Goodluck Jonathan as well as the state governments must be prepared to make an impact of transformational significance. A European friend of mine once saw on television the state of public transportation in a Nigerian city and wondered aloud how our people were able to cope in such a chaotic situation. He had probably never seen a situation where vehicles “fight” for control of the lanes and drivers scramble for passengers! How, for instance, can our universities attain world-class status when because of factors like the public transportation culture, foreign scholars are scared of living in our country?
The advantages of an efficient and orderly transportation system that eliminates the nuisance of touts and the extortionist practices of middlemen and the police, cannot be over-emphasised. Sometime in 2003, I sent a memorandum to the Minister of Transport suggesting that the time had come for public transportation in our cities to be managed by companies rather than by individuals. This is one hard decision which the federal and state governments must now make, even when one is under no illusions that the task of persuading those who engage in the business of public transportation would not be an easy one.
The erstwhile transporters and those who would want to invest in the business of public transportation can organise themselves into companies or co-operatives, as is the case in modern nations of the world.
The advantages of an organised transportation culture cannot be over-emphasised. The first advantage is the financial resources that would be available to companies, not least because of the bargaining power they would have with the banks. This would mean that “safe” and decent vehicles can replace the museum-inviting assemblages that currently terrorise our roads.
The second advantage is that governments would be able to implement transportation policies and regulations more effectively than in the current situation. Finally, governments will have access to the profits of these companies and tax them appropriately. Such taxes will contribute immensely to the funds needed for the maintenance of public roads as well as opening up new ones.
In addition to the advantages outlined above, an organised public transportation culture will provide job opportunities. First and foremost, we are talking of drivers who are now company employees and are entitled to holidays and benefits. They would work on a shift basis; one cause of accidents on our roads is because drivers are overworked by transporters.
Because we are now talking of companies rather than individuals, the involvement of company lawyers and accountants becomes inevitable. While the former help the various companies to redress legal issues, the latter take charge of remunerations accruing to shareholders as well as determining how much tax is paid to the government. Of course companies also provide jobs for administrative staff, mechanical engineers and cleaners. The mechanical engineers in particular will ensure that only vehicles in good working condition can be on the roads.
The “okada” culture, a culture of transporting humans and goods on motorcycles, does not belong in the future. A transformational government must find alternative jobs for these “commercial” motorcyclists. The Jonathan administration would have qualified as a transformational one if the suggestion re-stated here is accommodated in the larger agenda of improving public transportation in our society. Suffice it to say it requires imagination, boldness and determination to transform a public transportation culture that is as chaotic as ours. Transform, of course, we must!
Akinola wrote from Oxford, UK
