A former chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in South Africa, Bola Babarinde, has urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to restore sanity on roads and public places.

Mr Babarinde, then-deputy director of Sanwo-Olu/Hamzat Campaign Council (Diaspora Directorate), in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos, decried the disregard for law and order by motorists.

“Enough of lawlessness and issues of area boys and the street urchins controlling the affairs on our roads. There are solutions to these menaces and we, APC in diaspora, are ready to partner with the administration of Babajide Sanwo Olu for a greater Lagos,” said Mr Babarinde. “Lagos roads, drainage, markets and other public places are worth to be declared a state of emergency both in maintenance and management.”

According to the APC stalwart, Lagos should be sanitised to be orderly and clean.

Mr Babarinde claimed that the influx of people from other regions due to the rural-urban migration “of the late eighties till now brought more negatives than blessings.”

“There are lots of recklessness, lack of respect for others, outright disregard to the law of the land and disrespect to indigenes are now orders of the day with visitors calling our once beautiful Lagos no man’s land,” the politician noted. 

Mr Babarinde added, “Really, is Lagos no man’s land? Yes, partly as laws are broken without corrective punitive measures, the yellow buses drivers never obey traffic lights and officers. They are laws unto themselves. Okada and Keke riders are the kings and queens of the roads, always ready to insult and assault anyone who dares to correct them to ply the roads rightly.”

The politician also lamented cart pushers for waste and water carriers who daily cause traffic obstructions. He pointed out that the ministries of transportation and environment had considerable progress in enforcement, “but a state of emergency would have to be declared in both ministries for sanity to prevail on Lagos roads and public places.”

Mr Babarinde complained that the road repairs in Lagos, in most cases, are “never enough to restore the acceptable riding qualities but just mere emergency potholes fillings with less emphasis on road surface quality,” suggesting the reconstruction of several roads in Lagos.

“Lagos needs innovative leadership, which Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu is bent on achieving in his second term with his listening ears and proactive leadership. The Lagos state Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Environment must work in tandem to bring sanity back to our lovely Lagos we grew up in,” stated the APC politician.

He added, “Our governor is a law-abiding man and an ardent believer in the rule of law. So, we (APC in diaspora) are ready to work with him to leave an indelible mark in Lagos for his name to be written in gold.” 

(NAN)