Changing the narrative of LASTMA

Unarguably, one of the major challenges residents of Lagos are faced with is traffic congestion. And as the Yuletide approaches with an increase in vehicular movements, fears of commuters and road travellers have heightened as they dread the torture and agony of long travel time on Lagos roads coupled with the ongoing massive road repairs, maintenance and rehabilitation. The upgrade of some railway tracks in Lagos has also led to increased road travels. Therefore, traffic managers and controllers in Lagos have more to do now than before to ensure free flow of traffic always. However, the recent addition of a thousand new traffic officers to the state traffic operating system is enough to make Lagosians heave a sigh of relief in the days ahead as more non-signalised and unmanned roads and junctions are expected to be covered by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officers.

Apart from the indiscriminate dropping and picking up of passengers at undesignated bus stops being one of the causes of traffic congestion, the spate of lawlessness among commercial tricycle and motorcycle riders in Lagos appears to have taken a different dimension with their rising gut and total disregard for traffic laws and officers manning the roads. Majority of commercial motorcycle and bike operators in Lagos are reckless, lawless and unruly. One may be tempted to conclude that they are exempted from obeying traffic laws the way they run red lights and speed past traffic controllers when other vehicles are waiting for instructions from traffic lights, junctions or LASTMA officers on duty who manually control traffic .

The deployment of technology in monitoring traffic flow and apprehending offenders via the installation of traffic cameras at major road junctions is being looked into by LASTMA as one of the ways to effectively tackle traffic congestion. The continuous training and re-training of LASTMA officers will no doubt massively improve the operational efficiencies of the agency .

The time has come for the Lagos state traffic agency to beam its searchlight on traffic offenders by expediting action on the full enforcement of the existing traffic laws in the state. Traffic law violators should not only be made to face the full wrath of the law, their names, offences committed and the penalty given must be made available to the public via electronic and print media to serve as a deterrent to other would-be offenders .

Not only will sanity return to Lagos roads if commercial tricycle operators become orderly and law-abiding, but traffic congestion will ease to a large extent. It is also high time the union leaders and heads of transport workers’ associations at the different levels devised means to tame and regulate the activities of their men by punishing erring members .

Our human nature is usually attracted to the familiar way of doing things. So we resist change in the process. Getting stuck to this familiar way of living indirectly makes progress elude us in the process. When certain traffic laws are made to guide or keep us in check as road users, we find it difficult to obey by embracing the change quickly. We resist and sometimes attack these traffic law enforcers because we assume they are mean and wicked .

I urge the Lagos State government as a matter of urgency to deploy arms -carrying security personnel (not traffic police officers who do not bear arms) to every junction or road intersection where LASTMA officers are found. These armed officers can tactically and professionally disarm or out-muscle anyone or group that attempts to harm unarmed traffic controllers on duty .

Kayode Ojewale writes in via [email protected]