LONG before the hammer fell on commercial motorcyclists, better known as Okada riders,  effectively proscribing their operation in three of the 18 local government areas of Edo State, the governor, Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, resisted every pressure brought on him to put a stop to their operation.

For him, the argument that the motorcycle or okada had become the most handy vehicle for crime was not good enough for a ban. Indeed, he is known to have argued severally that motorbike is not the only vehicle employed by criminals.

For him, therefore, if the ban is premised only on the fact that dubious characters find it very handy in executing their nefarious undertakings, it may as well be extended to buses, cars and SUVs also known to have been employed severally by criminal elements in their operations.

But on Tuesday, June 11, 2013, his resistance gave way when security experts presented him with more convincing evidence during one of the regular state security council meetings.

Thus, against his erstwhile conviction, the Comrade-Governor agreed that indeed, it was time to do the needful, hence he did not hesitate in declaring that okada will no longer be tolerated in at least three local government areas of Oredo, Ikpoba Okha and Egor. Oluku and Ekosodin in Ovia North East and Aduwawa in Uhunmwonde local government areas were later added to the number, bringing the total to five. Notably, all affected areas are within the precinct of Benin City, the state capital.

But just as observers were almost settled in the belief that the next step will be the replacement of okada with tricycle as a more viable alternative, the Governor added a clincher by emphatically declaring that Keke Napep, as the tricycle is popularly called, would not be allowed anywhere near any of the major roads within the state capital.

Instead, he reeled out palliatives, including loans, being worked out up by the state government, in collaboration with some banks, lined up for genuine operators and others in allied businesses affected by the ban.

In his words: “We have a duty to provide for people who have been here doing okada business without undermining security…For those ones I believe we can partner and work out some doable alternatives. If they have interest in transportation we have set up a committee already, which is being chaired by the chairman of our economic team to work out various schemes, including procuring vehicles, so that rather than ride on two wheels, we have four wheels.”

For many observers, the ban on commercial motor bikes is long overdue. It did not matter that the Governor has, until now, managed to fend off the pressure on him to put it into effect. In particular, it is, in many quarters, an inevitability given that available facts proved that the sector has remained a major conduit for undermining security generally.

That is in addition to being the harbinger of avoidable road carnage that has resulted in the irreparable damage to the limbs of many people and death to a lot more, responsible for over 80 per cent of accident recorded in the state.

Yet, for many more people, the sector is the quick-fix medium for ritual bandits who have successfully scurried unsuspecting victims to their gruesomely hideous ends. So it did not altogether, come as a complete surprise.

While the wait for the ban in Edo lasted, a huge number of operators, sent packing from other states, including Delta and far away Nasarawa, found their way into the state.

With most of them never tutored on the need to obey traffic regulations, their presence, almost literally, added fuel to the existing confusion, with records in hospitals across the state capital proving that they are responsible for the rise in deadly but avoidable carnages on roads across the state capital.

Whether by happenstance or design, security statistics indicted motor bike operators as being mainly responsible for upping the ante in criminal activities in the state.

Certainly, no leader worth his name would ignore the possibility that allowing sector to continue portends grave dangers and watch the trend continue.

Thus, it became incumbent that against his erstwhile position, the Comrade-Governor did not hesitate in his decision to issue the ban order, if only for the long term benefit it will have for both the operators, the state and its people generally.

For the operators in particular, the ban may have come as a rude shock. However, there is hardly any doubt that on the long run, they, like everyone else, will be happier for it. The reason is that banning the sector is a lot better for everyone as the other alternative is the reign of terror with the possibility of all becoming victims of the sector’s many sinister realities at one point or the other.

Therefore, rather than see it as a policy for further pauperizing the poor or raising the state’s unemployment profile as some have argued, they should regard it as a tough but necessary policy decision meant to safeguard the collective interests of the state and its every resident.

The Comrade-Governor put it very succinctly when he said: “I am convinced that we cannot continue to allow this situation to continue. While I am very concerned about the fact of the level of unemployment in the country, and in Edo State we have our own fair share of unemployment, I am convinced that the long term interest of job creation requires that you attract investors and investment to the state.

It is a settled issue that investors will not be in a hurry to go to any state that the level of crime has risen beyond acceptable level.”

Reports have shown how many unsuspecting passengers have ended as victims of armed robbery or worse still, of ritual bandits for taking advantage of a supposedly quick and easy ride home at late hours. Indeed, while many luckier passengers ended up with broken limbs (sometime irreparably) due to the recklessness of many riders, available records show that a lot more ended up dead for opting to take a quick ride over some seemingly difficult traffic gridlocks.

Before now, the figures kept rising alongside those with serious and often time, permanent disability. There is the likelihood that more victims may be primed for the same fate if it is allowed to continue.

Therefore, no matter how tempting it is to see the ban as unfavorable, it should be seen as a necessary action against the sector’s unbridled propensity for being a high security risk. Sooner than later, everyone will appreciate it for what it is-an attempt by somebody to tell the truth and make someone cry instead of telling lies and creating a false sense of comfort.

In the end, he that is made to smile under false pretense is most likely to end up a sad man while he that cries initially for being told the truth will end up being a happy man on the long run. After all, he who smiles last, smiles best.

Rather than criticism, the concern should be about how to make the palliative measures planned by the state government serve best the interest of those genuinely affected by the ban. Secondly, it should not be reduced to the level of making it a jaundiced partisan political debate. Certainly, this is not too much to ask as the issue at stake is one that involves the safety of everyone in the state.

It must be treated dispassionately. As Peter Adoroh, president of motorcycle union rightly puts it; “We have leant from you (the governor) not to lament but to face the challenges as they unfold. We saw the security challenge and we tried to do our little best. But try as we may we found that the challenges were growing and growing and this was due to migration from other states, not necessary job migration, criminally minded ones were coming in with all intent and purpose.”

Ernest Omoarelojie writes from Benin City