By Umar Ismaeel

It is no more a news that commercial motorcycle popularly known as “okada” has been proscribed on campus due to reasons stated in the last meeting the VC had with the current student leaders on campus. I am very sure there would have been a time or two that bike men have served as a saviour and fortune saver to many a student on campus maybe not to the newbies. I am not totally saying the proscription of bike on campus is not good but I would like us to reason and look at the reasons for the proscription together, then you can now decide on which side to take.

Firstly, it was raised at the meeting that with commercial motorcycle on campus, there will be more threat to live and properties due to it being prone to accident and fatality with the non-usage of helmet by passengers. This to me is a very good reason and noteworthy, however there are ways of solving this. If we think commercial motorcycles are prone to accident mainly because of the lack of using helmet, then I think the solution is one of the simplest to find. The simple solution should have been to order all commercial motorcyclist on campus to have two helmets; one for them and the other for their passenger. This will just be made one of the basic requirements in registering bike men on campus and fine should be attached to any violator. This I think is not too much to ask from the commercial motorcyclists and will be an easy requirement to attain. It will at the same time reduce its prone to accident.

Additionally, if we look at the issue of accident mentioned, we will get to know that accidents on campus are few and not even caused by motorcyclist alone.

According to my record, one of the most fatal accident on campus was actually caused by a vehicle. The accident that led to injuries of many and caused the fractured leg of the former mayor of Sultan Bello hall, “Damzy” on their way from Awo hall during the campaign for the election that brought in Ojo Aderemi as the SU president.

Throughout my not too long stay on campus, I have only witnessed a single serious bike accident. So I think if accident is one of the reasons, then both motorcycles and vehicles are bound to be prohibited.

Secondly, it was also stated that there is a correlation between presence of commercial motorcycles on campus and prevalence of crimes such as rape, robberies, burglaries etc. This reason is actually tenable, only if the assertions are totally correct. I have not spent a lot of years on campus, but throughout my little stay as a campus journalist, I have never heard of a rape case and neither have I heard of a robbery case not to talk of that involving a commercial motorcyclist.

Before I continue, I will like us to understand that there is a difference between robbery and theft. There are a lot of reports as regards theft but I don’t think there has been that of robbery in the last few years. Though there are cases of burglaries which I am even a living testimony to that. These burglaries do happen mainly in the halls of residence and they are mostly done by students and cohabitants of Agbowo. To also note, most burglaries are done during the time motorcycles are not allowed to move. My last burglary experience could testify to that. My room was burgled in Sultan Bello hall and my phone was stolen between the hours of 2:30am and 4:30am, which nobody not to talk of bike is allowed to move.

Thirdly, it was also stated that the would-left vacuum after the prohibition of commercial motorcycles will not be felt since every point or place on campus is accessible by roads and could be reached by vehicle or tricycle. This is a very plain truth and an undiluted one as regards the road network. However, we should also consider the time factor and the economic effect it will have on students of the university.

There are some routes on campus that commercial vehicles don’t pass. To get to the routes with vehicle or tricycle, one will be left with either of these two options; One, to take vehicle or tricycle to the nearest bus top and trek to your destination, which could have been prevented with the presence of commercial motorcycle. Two, one will be left to pay for a drop which may not be convenient for every student due to the fees attached. The famous Jaja avenue which houses Jaja clinic, the known Tech Road, suburbs of the campus, a lot of residential apartments, the university’s ICC and a lot of other places are not visited by commercial vehicles unless it is a drop which everybody cannot afford.

In addition, there are barrage of time when students will forget important documents in their halls of residence during the exam and other periods in which commercial motorcycles do serve as saviours. They won’t have to wait for a second passenger, which makes them faster and saves more time. They could be found anywhere on campus, which is not applicable even to drops as most vehicles are assigned to a particular route. They are financially favourable to taking a drop, as a bike will cost 50 naira and a vehicle drop costs 150. Though we don’t know how much that of the incoming tricycle will cost.

Fourthly, the alternative been made with tricycle and hiring the current operators of “okada” as commercial drivers in my own opinion is not a symbiosis. The larger gain will be for the university at the detriment of these commercial motorcycle operators. The plan is that the tricycle will be bought by the university’s microfinance bank and will be given out to the current operators of commercial motorcycles which in turn will increase the institution’s revenue. This development will definitely decrease the income of the bike men compared to what they make when commercial motorcycles are not proscribed, which will add to the bad state of our economy.

I think in my humble opinion that these and other reasons raised for the proscription of commercial motorcycles can actually be addressed without the proscription as their importance to students and other cohabitants of the campus is immeasurable, though they have their negatives as every other thing on earth does. More importantly, this write up is not a rebuttal to the stance of the school administration, neither is it coming from a rude point of view rather it is only looking at the issue with another lens and from another angle. A lot respect is reserved for the administration by the writer.