Ekiti State
Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum,
Mr Ayodele Fayose has described plan by the federal government to ban
commercial motorcycle, popularly known as Okada in the country as wicked,
saying;
“In Ekiti State,
we won’t ban Okada because it is a source of livelihood to a lot of families.
Why would anyone even contemplate such when government did not creat
alternative employments?”
He added;
“With this
economic recession that is biting so hard, it is sheer heartlessness for the
federal government to even think of sending Okada riders out of business
instead of putting machineries in motion to check their excesses.”
According to a
statement issued on Sunday, by his Special Assistant on Public Communications
and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose, who was addressing Okada riders
that accosted him in Ikere Ekiti, on his way from Abuja on Saturday, said “ban
on Okada will worsen the country’s security situation because it will remove
foods from the table of so many people.”
The governor,
who promised Okada riders in Ekiti State his continued support and assistance,
said;
“The federal
government has no power to ban Okada in my State and under my watch, no one
will prevent Okada Riders from operating as long as they do not go against the
laws.”
Governor
Fayose said;
“The hunger in
the land is killing and most of these Okada riders are graduates who have taken
to commercial motorcycling to survive because of unemployment. Many of them are
even those who lost their jobs within the 21 months of this All Progressives
Congress (APC) led federal government and government workers, whose salaries
are not being paid regularly. How does the federal government expect them to
feed if their means of livelihood is taken away?
“If commercial
motorcyclist is a major cause of fatal road traffic accidents across the
country, as posited by the federal government, should proposing their ban be an
option? “Should we also say motor vehicles, especially heavy duty vehicles
should be banned from plying our roads because they also cause accidents?
“Methinks the
federal government should be concerned with the rate of unemployment in the
country and the deplorable state of our roads, especially federal roads,
instead of seeking to deprive Nigerians, who have taken to riding Okada to save
themselves and their families from dying of hunger.”
0 Comments