Traffic rules with reckless abandon without considering the interest of other roads users, that is when LASTMA could have become a kind of revenue generation imposing fines and LASTMA should not even impose fines arbitrarily , it has to be based on laid down principles that will be agreeable to a cross-section of Lagos motorist. It is preposterous for the government of Lagos State to increase the revenue expectation/ target by LASTMA that is supposed to be a provider of Social Service for Lagosians. Even when they tow vehicles the cost of towing that vehicle should not be above what the going rate in the market of towing vans and because it should be a way of easing the burden of an average Lagos motorist not to add to it. Everybody knows what the economic looks like in Lagos today, many motorists are just managing to run their vehicles.
This is because government has not lift up to its expectation to provide public transportation for the average Lagos commuters. The urban buses/ transit buses that are supposed to be servicing Lagosians are not readily available and they has are not comfortable as expected to be. Hitherto when BRT was been introduced to Lagos State metropolis, the promise was that there will be a bus at each of the bus-stop by every 15 minutes but this is not to be, recently people have to queue unending at the bus-stops long queues, they have to stay in the sunshine, in the rainfall for so long. This is what force an average Lagosians to come out with their cars even if the cars are not as heavy as it should be they are forced to come with their cars and couples with the banned on tricycles and motorcycles, it makes traffic situations more chaotic when you have to go out during rush hours. Lagos should be more compassionate, they should be circumspect too, they should look at the situation of an average Lagosians before they impose taxes tariff on them. It is thoughtful on the part of government to make LASTMA a revenue generation in the first place not to talk of increasing their target revenue from above #600,000 to about #1.5billion, that’s unthinkable, that’s unacceptable to people like us.
Well I wouldn’t know but we will make attempt to resist it because it is an unjust law, it is not equitable, it does not put into consideration that Lagos State has not done much to alleviate the poverty of an average Lagosians, they do not provide enabling environment for small and medium scale businesses to strive, they do not fix their road to even make it easy for people to run their own vehicles, they do not do the needful to ensure that alternative means of transportation are convenient for people even the very services have not been serving people diligently. The train services has not been serving people diligently, the lite rail project that ought to have been delivered since 2013 is still under construction as we speak so why should LASTMA now become a revenue generating agency. It is unfair, LASTMA should remain a social service agency for Lagosians and that will be better appreciated.
