Alert: Okada Power

Call it Okada and you would not be wrong with your description of the new but dangerous feature of the roads in Accra.

The private airline in Nigeria, Okada Air - one of the early ones in the oil-rich country - is the source of the name given to the commercial motorbike commuters crisscrossing the roads in the nation’s capital.

They look ordinary but the nuisance they cause is not enough to cause their outright ban, a law outlawing them notwithstanding. That is Okada power.

There is a latent law banning their operations and when the then ACP – now DCOP Awuni Angwubutoge – in-charge of the MTTU, descended upon them, he stepped on many toes, some with formidable connections in high places. He persevered as much as the stakeholders in the industry did.

Overwhelmed by the force which met his resolve, he subtly withdrew as more and more of the motorbikes were acquired, flourishing in Accra as though it was bereft of dangers.

An MP, Afotey Agbo, close to an election, spoke against the law he took part in passing in parliament when he sought the support of the operators in his political campaign effort.

It was a sad political commentary, speaking volumes about how politicians in their quest for power can ignore morals, the implications of these notwithstanding.

A few years after Awuni’s subtle withdrawal, an audacious attempt was mounted by the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Christian Yohunu, and his personnel to rid the city of rickety and unregistered motorbikes.

It was an exercise which prompted sighs of relief in both motorists and pedestrians. For the former the nuisance caused by the okada riders can be both worrisome and dangerous. Sometimes in their crisscrossing modes they compel motorists to undertake life-threatening manoeuvres which sometimes end up endangering the lives of other motorists and even pedestrians on adjoining pavements.

For pedestrians, the Okadas sometimes leave the main roads and take to the pavements meant for them (pedestrians). They do so with reckless impunity as though covered by some hidden hands in officialdom.

Those who have witnessed the motorbike related accidents would rather a certain degree of regulation is enforced in the operations of the Okadas. For now purchasing or acquiring the motorbikes is all one needs to begin the okada business.

Limbs and lives have been lost through Okadas but for those who depend on them as their hope for their deadline appointments, any attempt at enforcing the law on them is nothing but an outrageous action.

With a law outlawing Okadas in the statute books perhaps including an enforceable clause regulating their operations would be in order.

Otherwise we would live with the shame of having a law that does not work, even as avoidable accidents characterise the operations of Okadas.