[By PETERCLAVER EGBOCHUE]Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has condemned in strong terms the anti-poor policies, pro-capitalist tendencies and the tyrannical government Babatunde Fashola in Lagos State. This came on the heel of the ban on the use of tricycles on the major roads in the state. Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, at a press briefing last week, said the state government has banned the tricycles popularly called Keke Napep from plying major roads in the state, saying their operations constitute nuisance on the state roads.

Reacting to the news of the ban, Executive Chairman of the Coalition, Debo Adeniran condemned the anti-poor policies of the government and ‘I-don’t-care’ attitude of Governor Fashola to the plights of Lagosians. In a release made available to newsmen, Adeniran said: “It is very unfortunate that the Lagos State government is totally detached from its citizens. This government is proving day in day out that it does not care about the plight of the mass of Lagosians. Why ban tricycles from the major roads while nothing is put in place to ameliorate the effect of the earlier ban on motorcycles?

“The okada ban is still having adverse effect on many Lagosians, now the Keke Napep ban. Where are the 200cc bikes promised by the Fashola government to replace the banned okada? If the government should import the 200cc bikes today, how many Lagosians can muster enough economic strength to procure them? A lot of people suffer long distance trek because of the thoughtlessness of this government. What is the essence of making a city mega when government policies are devoid of human face? Is the so-called ‘meganess’ about the city or the people in the city? There are many places the regular buses and taxis cannot get to.

The harrowing experiences most Lagosians go through on the major and ancillary roads in the state are unthinkable. “Many roads are in deplorable conditions that the commuters have to depend on motorcycles and tricycles to ply them. And now that those means of transportation have been phased out, many are subjected to trekking. The ban on tricycles is like creating more problems for the burdened commuters, especially during this rainy season.” The human rights activist also censured the road construction projects going on in the state, describing them as mere propaganda.

“The road construction going on in some parts of the state is nothing but propaganda. Why should the government wait till when the rain was about coming before it started its construction works? Why should they wait till now to get busy with road maintenance and drainage dredging? By now, they ought to have completed their road projects and must not have started new construction works.”