Sanitization of Transportation in Rivers State and Night-Time Ban of Keke-NAPEP

A normal day it was. Heading home wasn't uneventful as has become the norm these days. I boarded one of the commercial tricycles popularly called Keke-NAPEP to take me home. The idea is always to get the next available vehicle heading home, just to escape the darkness of the night. 

       Parked Kekes defy 'No Parking by Police           Order' sign , Port Harcourt 

The Keke wasn't full, so I waited until the last person boarded. Then, out of nowhere, this lout starts asking the driver for the daily toll. The driver insists he had given another lout the money. I'm very quiet in the Keke until the lout starts struggling with the driver and tosses the vehicle here and there. Then I flare up because he's actually putting our lives in danger. The driver had already started the Keke and was moving as the scuffle continued. 

"You dey see say people dey inside this Keke abi? Wetin dey worry you?" I shouted at the guy. 

He stops struggling with the driver but has a firm grip of the handles of the Keke, preventing the driver from moving it. 

"Give me the money", the lout tells the driver again. 

Meanwhile, he had sparked something inside of me, touching the wrong nerve. I began to address him in a very angry tone. 

"Athink him don tell you say him don give money to your colleague. How many times una wan collect? Why una no go use una head do wetin una dey do. Person go dey hustle una work na to stand there collect money. Which work una dey do? How many times him go pay?" I continued. 

"Ehn! Madam no be you I dey talk to o. Make you face your own" he said to me. 

"How I go dey inside this Keke and you wan fall me down I no go talk anything? You wan fall all of us down abi wetin?", I replied him, not minding that the other passengers just kept mute. 

"If una dey give ticket this problem no go dey. All the money una dey make wetin una dey carry am do? Common ticket una no fit do", I added. 

"Madam I don tell you no be you I dey talk to o", he warned again. 

The driver got tired and parted with some more money. I was literally fuming and could have come down to confront him if I were an army personnel in plain clothes. Sometimes I just wish I was someone with superpowers or very influential. I'll just be addressing people's bad behaviour clandestinely. 

The ride home wasn't a nice one. I ranted for like five minutes, pouring out my annoyance about how bad Nigeria is, and how tired I am of all the abnormalities. The passengers kept looking at me without uttering a word. 

Hearing of the night-time ban placed on these Keke-NAPEPs last week, didn't bother me much, because my route cannot be described as a 'major road' or part of Port Harcourt metropolis where this ban is effective. The Chairmen of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt Councils had jointly announced the ban or restriction of Keke operations to be between 6am and 7pm. The ban or restriction of operation didn't make me budge. After all, the lawlessness on this side of the state is on another level entirely and should be the focus of my next post (you should look out for it).

By the way, some tricycle drivers plying the Artillery-Woji axis of Obio/Akpor have protested the night-time ban, demanding an extension of time for their operation.  Some of the protesting drivers said they pay a daily ticket of N600 (IMAGINE!!) and appealed that it should be reduced or slashed to N300 (quite logical I must say) to enable them have something to take home.

As a way of trying to address the security concerns raised by the Local Government Chairmen, Chairman of Tricycle Owners Association in the state claims the association will begin biometric capturing of tricycle operators soon, after the Local Government Chairmen of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City had alleged that these vehicles have been used for armed robberies and other criminal activities. The question is, would the louts also be captured and given some means of identification as well?

I mean the entire transportation system is a mess. Who regulates NURTW? That's how we heard some years back that commercial vehicles in the state were being registered. What came out of that? How many were successfully registered? Did anyone come out to give us figures or it was all a charade?