Edo State Transport Management Agency As Hypocritical Copy Cats of LASTMA By Ifeoma Okoronkwo

Lagos State, since the inception of civilian rule in 1999, has arguably demonstrated the best example in the application of thinking to governance. This is why many other State governments are copying many government policies of Lagos State.  However, as is characteristic of imitation, these States disingenuously copy the good, the bad and the worst from Lagos. This is clearly exhibited by the operatives of Edo State Transport Management Agency (ESTMA), which is a third-rate copycat of its Lagos counterpart, LASTMA. The vice of imitation has made ESTMA the source of traffic problems in Benin City. ESTMA is now a vehicle for the intimidation, harassment and extortion of innocent drivers on the streets of Benin. I recount here two true incidents that can be taken as a general reflection of the operation of ESTMA in Benin.

The first incident occurred on the 9th of August 2012 at OSUNPEC Filling Station along Lagos Expressway, Ugbowo, Benin.  For several years before the creation of ESTMA, drivers after refueling at OSUNPEC would drive obliquely for about ten metres, across the dual carriageway through the U-Turn between the concrete road dividers to the other side of the road, where Precious Royal Palm Hotel is situated. Up to the time of writing this piece, no traffic sign or ESTMA official is posted in front of the Filling Station advising drivers to desist from this normal route. However, in August this year, and in a typical display of a poor quality imitation of LASTMA, ESTMA officials started laying ambush in some filthy bushes around OSUNPEC.

The idea was to arrest innocent drivers coming to buy fuel. Their tactics were to lie in wait for drivers coming out of the filling station and impound their cars just at the exit of the station. Three victims, who narrated their ordeals at the hands of these ESTMA copy cats, said that at least five thousand naira was extorted from them by the leader of the group known as ‘Old Police.’ This portly and aging character was the only one with the official uniform of ESTMA among the group that harassed drivers that day. Other members of the group were in shabby mufti attire and one wondered whether they were bona fide ESTMA officials. Soldiers, who regularly buy fuel from OSUNPEC, effectively stopped this organized witch-hunt for drivers. When the cars of a number of soldiers were impounded the soldiers reacted by chasing the ESTMA officials away from their mucky ambush position near the filling station.

The second incident occurred at a service lane opposite CONOIL near the main gate of UNIBEN, Ugbowo campus. This service lane is taking forever to construct. There is no traffic sign or any ESTMA official to tell drivers that traffic on the lane is only in one direction. On the 23rd of September 2012, a driver coming from the UBTH end of the road to UNIBEN stopped on this service lane because her car was over-heating. After thoughtful consideration, she reversed into CONOIL Filling Station, which is just beside the yet-to-be constructed service lane, in order to attend to her car. As she was getting a gallon of water from the boot of the car, three ESTMA officials, who had been ominously lurking in a worthless scrap of a toll van, parked a few metres away on the service lane, jumped out and accosted the innocent lady for driving against traffic. The road at this time was deserted.

This was a no-nonsense lady and a hot argument ensued between her and the ESTMA officials, again of whom only one was in his official uniform. The rest were dressed like thugs. This was a clear instance of devilry by ESTMA because this service lane is still under construction and the driver only reversed in the opposite direction so that she could easily get off the road and into CONOIL Filling Station, where she could attend to her car. She tried to explain but the malevolent ESTMA guys, who were hell bent on hijacking her car, refused to listen to reason. The car was hauled to the junkyard called ESTMA office opposite Adolor Junction on Ugbowo road.

These two instances are typical of many of the iniquitous ways ESTMA is copying the mischief of LASTMA. Several people have similar stories of harassment and intimidation by functionally illiterate ESTMA officials who go by such illiterate names as ‘Old Police’, and ‘Ecomog 247’. The originators of ESTMA should have been careful about the bad press of LASTMA while enlisting officers for ESTMA. What is worse is that many of them come across as being cerebrally challenged in the application of common sense to the discharge of their duties. Their crude tactics of not wearing the official uniform is simply a deceptive and criminal imitation of LASTMA. Again, the mindset that any imagined or real traffic offence deserves to be punished by hauling the victim’s car to ESTMA’s decrepit office is borne of ill will and animosity towards Benin City drivers.

Moreover, the interpretation of traffic rules by many of these officials is suspect. This is not surprising because of their cerebral challenge. This is even made worse by the fact that Benin is now one huge road construction site. Road dividers and U-turns are whimsically closed and opened at any time of the day. There is no evident attempt to inform drivers and pedestrians alike about what constitutes a traffic offence in the face of the abnormalities engendered by the never-ending road construction. It is this confusion arising from the lack of traffic information that fuels the present display of malice by ESTMA. LASTMA in Lagos has a very bad image. Does ESTMA also want to copy the same bad image in Benin City? I don’t think so. It is morning yet in the activities of ESTMA. They can improve on their activities by simply being honest and friendly in their interactions with Benin City drivers.
 
Ifeoma Okoronkwo
Department of Philosophy and Religions, University of Benin,  Ugbowo Campus, Benin City