Lagosians  applauded Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola and the commissioner of Transport for the wonderful initiative. Amid these praises, there are still some reservations as to the possibilities of ensuring that these laws are implemented without fear or favour.

Some said going by the statistics, there is a high rate of accidents in Lagos roads  as a result of violating traffic laws especially, by commercial drivers and motorcyclists. They argued that to ensure that progress is recorded, there should not be any sacred cow as violators should be treated as the law stipulates. ANOZIE EGOLE went to town to sample the opinion of Lagosians on the new traffic law regime. Excerpts:

It is the proper thing to do —Okhue Boi

I have long expected this law from Lagos State government. There is high rate of traffic offenders in this state. There is no way a normal human being can be driving and  making calls or eating at the same time.

Okhue Iboi, Chijike Jiakponna and Kunle Ipadeola

It is improper. The law should be upheld, I am strongly in support of that. But let there be no sentiments in implementing the penalty to offenders.

Many have died as a result of traffic violation in this state and some, lamed. If you visit some orthopaedic homes, they are conjested with accident victims. Sometimes when I do go to places like Ikotun area, you will find out that in the evening, if you are driving from Cele to Ikotun, at Kpako, there are much traffic offenders to the extent that LASTMA instead of arresting them, now directs them on how to ply one-way. I wonder how possible the implementation of the law would be.

Even if the law will be obeyed, who will enforce it?—Chijike Jiakponna

Yes, it is a wonderful law indeed but the problem now is, how to enforce it. Laws are made for  people but that depends largely on how people obey it. You don’t make laws that its efficacy will not be immediate. That will be in arrears. We should also have in mind that, any law made and not obeyed is useless and it will destroy other laws that were in existence.

The traffic laws will be hard to be implemented considering the level of corruption in the state.  It will be hard to tell or stop the ordinary man who has been eating or drinking while driving not to do so while on wheels. Some commercial bus drivers do not have time to eat.

The only time they have to eat is on the wheel. To these set of people, such laws cannot hold. Even if the law will be obeyed, the question now is, who will enforce it? Will they import foreigners to come and enforce the law or are they not these same people here who are going to enforce it?

Are they not going to use all these touts  in uniform, (LASTMA) to enforce the law? They will use the new law to extort money from motorists thereby, gingering corruption, a disease we have been trying to eradicate in the society.

Take for instance, the tenancy law, where the state government said that landlords should collect a year rent in the beginning and 6months subsequent year. Now, both the landlords and the tenants are not obeying the law. The legislators have not deemed it fit to investigate if the landlords are complying.

That is why we have advocated that more lawyers should be drafted into the law making process so that the system will not be abused .

The issue of removing miscreants known as agbero   off the streets and making stringent laws for the okada riders will induce more corruption unless the government will industrialize the country and create jobs. If not that necessity is the mother of invention, these people denied their means of livelihood will become creative and their creativity will induce more crime in the society which will make rubbish of the government’s desire to curb crime.

The government made a good decision, but I do not think this is the right time—Kunle Ipadeola

After considering the ways we tend to react to some decisions made by the government, the question I keep asking myself is, do we want a change? The devastation caused by the  traffic in Lagos has yielded no satisfactory result as government keeps trying to eradicate the malaise by using different methods and strategies.

The enactment of this law as signed by the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola is the real issue.  In the actual fact, traffic in Lagos has not been at its best and setting aside some contributing factors like, bad road management, incompetent traffic control and high population, road users have been the primary contributors to the poor road traffic in Lagos State.

Perhaps, this is why most of the enacted laws seem to be against them. But I still encourage the government to go ahead with the law.