The Executive Assistant to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Security, CP Sunday Odukoya (rtd) has disclosed that the influx of commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as ‘Okada’ riders was not only peculiar to the state, adding that no one should be displaced of his livelihood without first creating another source of livelihood for them.
This was just as he said: “If you do, you have definitely tried to create another insurgency in the state,” noting that: “A lot of graduates are among this Okada riders, so if you know you don’t have anything for them to do, why displace them of their livelihood.”
The governor’s aide, gave the clarification during a chat with Vanguard yesterday in his office on the hight rate of kidnapping in the state in recent time.
He said further: “All we need to do is called identity management, we can zone them, give them code numbers and colours. Capture their identity, name, age, phone number, next of kin, telephone number, vehicle registration number and all other necessary things to zone them.”
“Any man moving from Agodi down to Alakia for instance will be identified because of their colour and code number, it will be easy for them to be tracked, in case of any issue.”
“For me personally, it is not by banning them that would solve the problem, in Oyo State, thank God for the method applied in progress,they are capturing their progress, they are doing it gradually and we are progressing on it.”
“If we want to be sincere with ourselves, we can see that crime rates in Oyo State is the lowest in Nigeria compered to other states.”
“The governor has invested so much on security, just of recent, he had meetings with rank and files in the police, even his corporal, constable down to his commissioner, he had meetings with them.”
“He asked them for their needs, and gave all the area commanders vehicles, and he is still planning to get more for the division.”
“I served in Agodi 2014 and I know what was on place on ground then, a corporal cannot walk in the governor’s office anytime, but the governor’s office is open and he goes on patrol at night asking what they need, and see them.”
“I would just advice that we appreciate the good governance that is in the place and politics should be aside. There are streets light around and security men on patrol can see far compared to when there was none and security men put their lives in danger by not seeing afar.”
“The narrative has changed and people are praising the governor because they have not had it so smooth like this before.”
“And they should set politics aside and think outside the box and set the track moving on what is called good governance,” Odukoya posited.
Meanwhile, a lawmaker in the state’s House of Assembly, Babatunde Kazeem, had earlier raised an alarm over the increasing rate of ‘Okada’ riders in the state, as he said their unchecked influx has been threatening the security of residents.
The lawmaker, representing Oyo East/West State Constituency, noted that there was the need to for the operators, riders, and others including private owners to duly register with relevant authorities with designated identification numbers that will help government and security agencies improve on the security architecture of the state.
Kazeem, an All Progressives Congress, APC member in the assembly, maintained that the stiff regulation in neighboring Lagos State in many areas has pushed criminal elements illegitimate riders downside into the state with the increased presence of motorcycle riders on all roads within the state thereby, constituting major security threat to residents.
The lawmaker, however, said, despite the economic advantage and the easy access it provides for commuters, it also portends great security threat to the state, adding that crime perpetrated using motorcycles over the years ranged from insurgent attacks, kidnapping, armed robbery reckless riding leading to avoidable deaths, among others.
