HIGH RISE OF MOTOR PARKS IN LAGOS

HIGH RISE OF MOTOR PARKS IN LAGOS

THE history of modern transportation is as old as man itself. In contemporary terms, transport management has become a full discipline on its own and various courses are offered by tertiary institutions in Nigeria and abroad. The location and number of motor parks/garages are a function of several variables. There is no doubt that this has become more important in a cosmopolitan city like Lagos.

However, what gives cause for concern, particularly in Lagos, is the increase of motor parks and garages all over the state. Areas formally used as bus stops now have one form of garage or the other and it now seems as if orderliness has taken flight leaving room for chaos and the resultant traffic congestion. I have taken note of new garages/motor parks in areas such as Motorways House by 7-Up Bottling Company/Ojota, Alapere Estate (heading to Lagos Island), Ogudu (heading to Lagos Island).

In Ogudu's case you can hear the touts/conductors shouting 'Ibadan, Ibadan, Ibadan' and attracting potential passengers with a bell like the colonial headmasters. One garage is gradually being established at Iyana-Oworo. Ijora-Olopa heading to Costain by the bye-pass also has its own line of danfo buses that have formed a park of some sorts there under the noses of the police officers who have no care in the world other than the notorious N20.00 bribe collected from each driver. The list is endless.

The next question is: Why do these illegal motor parks and garages thrive? The reasons are not
far-fetched. To my mind, most of the garages are the creation of hungry local government officials. The other reason is the perceived influence of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), one of the umbrella bodies of the supposed stakeholders in the transport sector in Nigeria.

Most times, you will see their members in their notorious green and white uniforms extorting money from commercial drivers and pretending to give some order to the chaos and traffic
bottlenecks that their activities generate. The NURTW with the tactical assent of state and local government officials create these parks with a view to giving'shares' to their grand patrons.

These activities not only destroys the physical planning in the state, it also has its social implications chief of which is that motor parks and garages have been known to be havens of
petty criminals and violent flashpoints as various interest groups launch attacks aimed at wrestling power from one another. It is important to note that the establishment of motor parks and garages is desirable but there should be definite guidelines and procedures for their establishment.

Most of our politicians do visit foreign countries not only in the developed countries but even some countries in Africa and they should be able to emulate the orderliness in those societies in relation to motor parks and garages. Our Police also do not help matters. It is ironic that where you have a sizeable number of officers controlling traffic, the traffic remains heavy because the officers are busy looking the other way while commercial bus drivers pick passengers directly on the expressways rather than use available bus stops and service lanes. The authorities must do something about this because the man-hours spent in traffic should be regarded as one of the reasons for the country's low economic growth.

I also want to use this opportunity to commend the Lagos State government for its recent action against the petrol tanker drivers who park their vehicles on the bridges and urge them to put their mouth where their money is by taking immediate steps to ban the molue buses who use
the Carter Bridge as another motor park and garage and bridges.