Time for BRF to call his boys to order

PAUL ARHEWE

It is baffling that it is only in countries like ours that policies are implemented without recourse to setting up standby measures to alleviate the suffering of those to be affected in the adopted action-plan.

On many occasions, one sees market shanties destroyed, roadside traders chased around, houses demolished, in cosmopolitan cities in the name of modernising and attaining a mega metropolitan status. The poor and hapless downtrodden in society are most times affected by some of these government policies. What complicates issues is when no alternative is readily provided before implementing those action plans. A scenario I witnessed at Leventis bus stop in Marina, Lagos state last week makes me to ponder, and I asked myself “Why are the already traumatised people in our society sometimes at the receiving end of government’s browbeating in the name of policy implementation?”

Last week, on my way to office, I saw some men and women scampering recklessly into the ever-busy CMS express road with their wares in their hands. Wondering what must have prompted this dangerous action, I curiously walked closer and saw officials of the Central Business District (CBD) of Lagos state and LASTMA running after traders confiscating their wares. Some of those whose wares were seized gazed, looking miserable, most of them shedding tears. One could see the anxiety and hapless situation these young men are relegated to; as if the whole world has suddenly crumbled on them.

Amid a high unemployment rate and harsh economy situation in the country, I don’t think taking away the livelihood of these young men is the best Lagos state government can do. Most frustrated ones among them may end up becoming armed robbers and engage in criminal activities. Lest we forget, the on-going revolution in the Arab world was triggered in Tunisia because state officials were in the habit of extorting money from a young university graduate, Mohamed Bouazizi, who shunned crime but chose to engage in menial work by selling vegetables on the roadside. The guy who out of frustration set himself ablaze had complained to public officers who paid deaf ears to all his entreaties. The same situation is what we are witnessing in this part of the country.

Again, this same CBD and LASTMA officials on Tuesday went to raid shop owners along Broad Street confiscating their goods packed in front of their shops. They started fighting some members of National Mirror staff who were watching them, threatening to descend on them heavily if they take any picture of their illegal operations. I believe Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola should call these guys, acting like touts in the name of working for the state government, to order.

When the likes of CBD, KAI, and LASTMA officials enjoy confiscating goods of traders and not provide alternative affordable market stall where these traders can trade in their wares, those frustrated after losing all their capitals may be forced to embarked on criminal activities. I wonder why can’t law enforcement agents be visibly stationed in fixed spots in streets to wade off potential offenders, instead of waiting till state laws are broken? Chasing after street hawkers and roadside traders in busy roads constitutes public nuisance and usually endanger the lives of these traders and even passersby.

Has anyone asked who takes custody of those confiscated goods? It won’t be far from the truth if one posits that these state’s officials are very more concerned with the volume of goods seized than keeping our streets free from these category of traders. By the manners in which they execute their task one would be forced to assume that Lagos state government have created jobs for these ‘voracious boys’, where bounties gotten from their supposedly official duties are shared among them. The same practice applies to state and federal officers on our highways, the like of LASTMA, police, Federal Road Safety Corps. These officers are of the habit of hiding in concealed spot away from unsuspecting motorists, but usually jump on them when they least expect.

Must public officers wait till someone break the law before they act? I believe those laws that created these government agencies should greatly emphasised, if it has not done so, that officers foremost duty is to prevent offenders from breaking these laws than arresting them and confiscating their wares or personal properties. Arresting offenders usually create a quick means of extorting money from them, and seized goods end up in their official personal usage. This shouldn’t be so.