Yesterday, while I was trying to get to Agege from Ojodu-Berger, I hopped on a bus and saw a kid who should be in school threatening to break the side mirror of the bus (Korope). I was so livid that I asked the bus driver why he was pleading with the young chap rather than slapping some sense into him. He laughed and said he would never do such a thing because he didn’t know what substance the kid was hooked on, which any slight touch could result in his death.
I reasoned with him and made my opinion known.
Successive governments in Lagos State are responsible for this menace. If your association or affiliation with these politicians will make you voluntarily or involuntarily imbecilic and unfortunate, please avoid this post.
While none of the political actors in Lagos across party lines can be excused, the AD/AC/ACN/APC government of the last 25 years is the worst culprit. What started as street miscreants, known as Area Boys, have become major stakeholders in governance in Lagos State.
Instances abound…
When these miscreants in Oshodi killed an airwoman in the 2000s and soldiers went berserk (not that I approve of it), in one week, Lagos was rid of these social menaces. Someone was the governor, and he went pleading with the military authorities. Well, the outcome says it all. It wasn’t for the military to allow justice to run its course, but for their “soldiers” to get back on the street.
We have recent instances…
MC Oluomo threatened a section of the population of Lagosians not to vote, and the police explained his statement to be a joke. When events during the elections proved it was a threat carried out, he was never invited or questioned.
An instance was when a commercial bus driver was allegedly burnt in his car by one of these guys at Oshodi under the guise of working with the State Task Force on traffic.
I witnessed one in Ketu where a tout pulled a conductor down from his bus to his death as he was crushed by a truck behind the bus, right in front of officers from Ketu Police Station.
We heard rumors, more like tales by moonlight, of how the late Saka Saula was dictating to the state government the terms of implementing the BRT scheme.
We see how the BRT scheme is inefficiently run to give the “union” a competitive edge in transportation across the state.
I witnessed last week Friday when the same task force came to the Lagos end of Kosoko Street in Berger. These touts were with police officers in large numbers in what I can call joint operations, wielding knives and other dangerous weapons to seize motorcycles in a bid to enforce the motorcycle ban in Lagos State.
Again, a court of competent jurisdiction gave a pronouncement declaring the Park Management Committee of Lagos State illegal. To date, the Lagos State Government has not obeyed the judgment because of their “star boy” MC Oluomo. It could be said the PMC was created for him when he lost out in the power tussle at play in the Lagos State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
We see these people at social events…
We see how they spend and “spray” money…
We see how they move around with police orderlies and escorts…
We see how they have unfettered access to people in government and Bourdillon…
We see how they flaunt wealth and invest in their immediate families, with their kids having foreign education…
We see how they are now constituted authorities across the state…
So tell me, how will that young boy see education and what we all know as a decent life to be a life he should adopt?
Tell me why he shouldn’t aspire to be a Kunle Poly, Tafa Sego, MC Oluomo, Koko Zaira, etc….
Why won’t he and many out there believe it’s just a function of time; state patronage will come?
Unless we want to remain delusional, Lagos is not safe. Lagos is sitting on a time bomb ticking away. Lagos is fast becoming a crime scene and will become the crime hub of Nigeria.
There are gangs all over Lagos… Gangs in Lagos…
Apparently, this is the Lagos “they” built.
Deyemi Saka
