Chinedum Emeana, Port Harcourt

RIVERS STATE: PROMOYING POVERTY VIA KEKE NAPEP BAN?


IN the year 2000, the United Nations decided that for humanity to survive
there has to be certain benchmarks which all nations must attain in variousspheres and codified this initiative to what is now popularly known as theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The key motive of MDGs is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger
across the world come 2015.

From the set milestone, the world has six years to 2015 when gains of the
MDGs are supposed to be made manifest.

Mr. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN recently observed that efforts
aimed at scaling down poverty and hunger across the world have begun to slow
down.

Ki Moon who spoke at the March16, 2010 General Assembly of the UN maintained
that something must be done urgently by government at various levels to meet
these set goals of eradicating poverty and hunger.

In 2007, when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was sworn-in, he came up with
the 7-point agenda initiative. Item no three on Yar’Adua’s development
agenda is wealth creation aimed at alleviating poverty.

All over the country, responsible governments are seeking for creative
avenues to empower Nigerians to “catch their own fish” and one of the
established and successful channels has been through encouraging the
purchase of three wheelers (tricycles) which are deployed for transportation
goods and passengers in the inner cities.

The tricycles was first introduced into the nation’s transportation mix by
last military governor of Lagos state Buba Marwa, and fondly called Keke
Marwa (note that keke in Yoruba stands for bicycle).

For its success in throwing up another option for the perennial challenge of
moving people from point to point, and serving as a authentic source of
wealth creation for those who operate them, the federal government keyed
into the idea in its bid to create sources of work and income for the large
army of employed people, young and not too young.

This was the basis on which the National Poverty Eradication Programme
(Napep) used it as a catalyst of it poverty eradication thrust. Napep
initially purchased about four thousand of these tricycles for beneficiaries
who now have a source of livelihood at the same time contributing to
solving, even though in small measure, the transportation question.

Aside from making the operators economically relevant to the society,
tricycles opened up a whole new network of allied industry, such as
mechanics to handle repairs and maintenance and dealers in its spare-parts,
to mention just the obvious.

They are also contributing of government revenue because they pay various
forms of taxes to the government, and a proven area of profitable funding
for banks, especially the Micro Finance Banks.

There are indications that Keke Napep introduction has gone beyond
instrument for “give us this day our daily bread”, to a formidable medium
for wealth creation.

It therefore beats the imagination why the Rivers state government will just
decide to prohibit the operation of tricycles in parts of the state, even
though by their nature they are already self restricted in terms of areas of
operation – they never ply the expressway.

You wonder whether this state government, despite posturing to the contrary,
is not out to ensure that poverty remains entrenched in these parts. May

Well, may be the government has reasons for its actions. However, the only
reason coming from the Rivers State ministry of transport is that the
operators of these tricycles are likely to become a public nuisance like the
banned commercial motorcycles. You wonder what that means.

Some of the reasons proffered for the banning of commercial motorcycles
operation include issues of security since bandits deploys it for get-away,
the plying of highways, and the devil-may-care approach of some of the
riders, which often led to accidents.

But these reasons are not applicable to keke Napep. They cannot be used for
robbery, while their operations are restricted to suburbs.

Moreover, keke Napep do not have the hideous statistics of accidents, either
in Rivers State or anywhere else in the country, associated with commercial
motorcycles.

It appears that the ministry of transport did not properly think this
decision through. Or is it a small thing for them to, in one fell swoop,
remove the source of income of thousands of people without batting an
eyelid?

Did they do any Environmental Impact Assessment? Did they consider how much
will be removed from the economy of the Rivers State? The number young men
and women who automatically become unemployed? How it will affect the market
women, commuters and the families and extended families? Did they reason
along these lines? I guess not!

Did anybody consider that most of these tricycles were purchased by the
operators through loans from MFBs, or most case on hire-purchase arrangement
and that abruptly prohibiting their operation would adversely affect the
economics of these Nigerian citizen, who by whatever design are resident in
Rivers State?

The popular advert payoff line of Toyota says “good thinking, good product”.
This obviously ignominious and awful decision is not the product of
first-rate thinking, and it definitely will not yield good results.

All men and women of goodwill within and outside the state should intervene
to help the hapless less privileged people of Rivers state that the ministry
of transport is determined to strap down below the poverty line. It is the
height of executive thoughtlessness. And yet people wonder why youths are
restive!

Despite the global gloomy picture in the attainment of the MGDs, the UN
scribe still insists that: “evidence shows that the Goals can be achieved,
even in the poorest countries, when good policies and projects are backed by
adequate resources.”

But on the evidence of this law to outlaw the operations of Keke Napep,
signed on February 19, 2010 to take effect April 1, 2010, Rivers is rather
determined to promote the proliferation of poverty in this treasure base of
the nation.

The position of the Institute of Human Right and Humanitarian Law (IHRHL) is
reflected in a letter to the Rivers State Transport Commissioner in which it
pointed out to him that “the owners and drivers of the commercial tricycles
have rights to their economic, social and cultural development. The
operation of tricycles is one of the avenues of achieving this right.
Moreso, these tricycles are a source of income to lots of families, and a
source of employment to many youths and homes”.

The correspondence added: “Now sir that the ministry of transport has put a
ban on the operations of these commercial tricycles, what shall become of
the thousands of youths and homes that have lost their primary source of
income? The implications are apparent and clear; many children may drop out
of school, many homes would go without food, families may even lose their
homes, and the rate of nuisance and crime occasioned by the increase of
unemployed men and youths would increase phenomenally.”

Like Ali Baba, the acclaimed godfather of modern stand-up comedy in Nigeria
colourfully asks in his giant billboard along the Marina (is it still
there?) in Lagos: Need I Say More?

Governor Rotimi Amaechi should prevail on Rivers state ministry of transport
to immediately proscribe that law banning the operations of tricycles, as it
appears they have lost the plot. The governor is responsible for the actions
of all his aides.

It is never too late to retrace one’s steps from a wrong direction. ENDS