Issues
Road Traffic Problem In PH
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike
Port Harcourt is a city
affected by the menace of serious road traffic congestion. A lot of man hour loss, stress and other health challenges weighing on those living in the city and its environ and those who come to do business in the city, arising from this menace is enormous and unbearable. Many factors give rise to this problem. Some of the factors are:-
Indiscipline of motorists, inadequate road design, absence of efficient traffic distribution, use of unhealthy vehicles on the road, absence of functional digital traffic control lights and inappropriate location of corporate institutions and establishments.
Nigerians are people in a hurry. Impatience is one of our trade marks. Very many persons on the road are in a hurry and want to beat other road users to get to their destinations. Where that is not possible all will struggle to go through available space at the same time. Things do not work that way. We do not all go to bed at the same time and we do not all wake up from sleep at the same time.
So when on the road, why do we want to reach our destinations at the same time? Why do we behave as if we do not know that God made the dusk and the dawn to control the affairs of humanity, as to fit our plans into nature’s programme? Why do we abhor queueing and taking our own turns? Why do we prefer to and have more pleasure in jumping the than taking our turn in the traffic? If we curb the practice of jumping the queue while in the traffic, the traffic will flow easily. No matter how long the traffic is, everyone will go, where there is orderliness. So we must be civil and disciplined in the art of road use. We must learn to respect other road users to curb traffic congestion and hold-up on our roads. Pedestrians must be cautioned to cross at the designated points.
It is important to note that improper use of the highway contributes to traffic holdup and congestion. Highways are divided into high or fast speed lane, middle lane and slow speed lane. Many motorists do not know this and so do not observe the difference while driving. The high/fast speed lane is on the left side of the highway as the country maintains right wheel drive system, while slow lane is on the right side in a dual carriage way road. Most of our roads are single carriage way and do not have these features quite pronounced and our drivers are used to driving on single carriage way roads. Dual carriage ways normally have three lanes. There is middle lane which separates the high/fast speed lane and the slow speed lane. If a slow moving vehicle is on the fast lane, it is wrong and the vehicle could cause an accident.
Likewise, a fast moving vehicle must not go on the slow lane to avoid causing an accident. The middle lane in a three lanes road/highway could be used when the driver is contemplating to go fast or slow. When a motorist wants to pull or go out of the road it must be done from the slow lane. Wrong use of the road by the motorists and pedestrians is a major cause of accidents which contributes to traffic congestion/hold up on our roads.
All our roads have required service features but lack kerb for buses and taxis and lay byes for other motorists. The absence of kerb and lay byes make taxis and other motorists to convert pedestrian walkways into parks thus exposing pedestrians who are forced to use vehicle lanes to accidents. Apart from accidents, the use of vehicle lane by pedestrians and motorists cause holdup and traffic congestions because the motorists are forced to slow down to save lives.
Where the taxis and buses spare the pedestrian walkways, they convert part of the road lane to parks thus reducing the road space for traffic. This cause traffic holdup and congestion. Therefore, there must be provision of kerb and lay byes in our road designs to ensure efficient traffic flow on our road.
In order to reduce the number of vehicles on the major roads within Port Harcourt city and its environs, the commercial passenger vehicles should be zoned and restricted for operation within the zones they choose. The zone terminals can be linked to make interconnectivity possible for passengers wishing to continue their journey from one zone to another. The link of a zone to another will enable them feed each other. The zones are to have identifiable numbers and operators registered according to their options. The zone number must be ascribed on the vehicles operating within the zone and operators will limit their regular daily operation within their registered zone. Penalty such as fines could be imposed on vehicle operating outside their registered zone of operation. This step will reduce vehicles plying the major roads of the city and its environs.
There is need also to re-introduce bus routes within the city. This will checkmate the carefree use of all roads of the city by buses thus causing infringement of free traffic flow. The bus routes and bus stops should be clearly designated and visibly marked for easy identification. Traffic congestion within Port Harcourt city and environs will considerably reduce by redistribution of the traffic.
Many vehicles on our roads are not roadworthy. Allowing such vehicles to ply our city roads is dangerous to other road users. The Vehicles Inspection Officers (VIOs) should do their job of certifying vehicles’ roadworthiness. Commercial vehicles mostly fall short of roadworthiness. Very often they break down on sensitive and strategic parts of the roads, causing mayhem to other users of the roads, especially within the city.
This measure will help to reduce traffic problem in Port Harcourt and its environs.
The traffic lights help to enhance free traffic flow on the road within the city. It ensures more efficient traffic flow than traffic staff or officers who depend on their personal judgment in directing traffic movement. The necessity of traffic lights on our roads as a measure for the control of vehicle movements cannot be overemphasized. There is need to install digital traffic lights on every junction of the road within the city. Traffic wardens/officers should only be deployed to control the traffic on emergency situations on short term basis and to book drivers that beat the traffic light command for fines/prosecution. The unsuitability of traffic wardens in the control of the traffic is demonstrated in their frequent abandonment of the duty and chasing after perceived offenders and violators of their signals thus, leaving behind chaotic situation which arises from their absence at the material time. The traffic lights function for twenty-four hours when source of power is constant unlike traffic wardens/police who leave their beats often.
The traffic lights should not only be seen to be there at road junctions but should be functional all-round the hours. The functionality and availability of traffic lights will surely enhance orderly flow of traffic on our roads within the city and reduce traffic hold ups.
The lopsided distribution of sites or location of business establishments and institutions give rise to heavier vehicular movements to certain areas of the city than to other areas. The location of institutions and business establishments need to be considered as well as residential areas, with consideration of the traffic which the establishments will generate. This is the reason why urban and regional planners must cooperate with transport planners and transport managers when designing towns and cities.
The demand for movement to an area is determined by the type, number and nature of establishments and institutions located in the area. The anticipated volume of traffic will also determine the road network to service the area. The lopsided location of business institutions in Port Harcourt and its environs and unanticipated population explosion at present are also responsible for the current traffic congestion in the city.
Traffic problem in Port Harcourt poses serious challenges to the government and to the private sector. The solution calls for concerted effort. Some of the suggestions made above call for a traffic study of the city with a view to determining the zone, bus stops and routes. It also calls for public enlightenment on the use of roads and civility on the road. It calls for strict enforcement of traffic rules and order on the road by traffic enforcement and control officers. The police should stop checking vehicle particulars on the traffic. Vehicles should be made to pull out of the traffic when checks are necessary.
Obinna is a retired Permanent Secretary.
Chris Obinna
This is an open letter to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike.
Your Excellency,
Sir, ordinarily, I would not be writing an open letter to you, but like a wise man once said, “Silence would be Treason.” So I prefer to stay alive than face the consequences of silence in the face of crime. With each passing day, and as the socio-political tides continue to turn, it has become more pertinent that more people speak up in a concerted MANNER to prevent the death of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as we appear to be, in the words of W. B. Yeats, “turning and turning in the widening gyre” heading for an end where the falcon will no longer hear the falconer
It is unfortunate that since losing control of the Federal Government, with the loss of President Goodluck Jonathan at the poll in 2015, our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has continued on a downward spiral. It is much more painful, that where it is expected that leaders within the party should rise to the challenge and put an end to this decline of our great party, some have instead taken up roles as its undertaker.
It will be hypocritical to claim aloofness to what I believe is your grouse with the PDP and I am not a hypocrite. It will be uncharitable on my part to discountenance the role you have played in strengthening the PDP from 2015 up until the last Presidential primaries of the party. It is my belief that your grouse against certain members of the party who you perceived worked against the party and abandoned it in 2015 and then came around much later to take control of the party, is justified. Also know that your decision to remain in the Party and stifle its progress on the other hand, as a sort of payback, stands condemned. For a man of your pedigree and stature, it is a dishonorable act, highly dishonorable and stands as testimony against all you claim to stand for.
At least, it can be argued that those who you hold this grudge against, abandoned the party completely and did not sit back while actively working to destroy it from within. But what then can be the argument on your own part, seeing that those you are currently working with against your party are the same people who set in motion, and executed surgically, the plans that not only ended our Party’s leadership at the centre, but ended up dislodging the first Niger Deltan to occupy Aso Rock as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Is this not akin to “cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face?” That will be worse than folly. Let us not throw away the baby with the bath water because we do not like the soap used in bathing the baby. It will be a grave mistake.
Honourable Minister, sir, it is rather unfortunate that of all people, you have also decided to play the role of an undertaker not only for our party, but for our dear Rivers State.
I will like to take you down memory lane a little. Let me remind you of your emergence as Guber candidate of the PDP in Rivers State, against all fairness and justice in 2014. You will remember that despite the reality being that you as an Ikwerre man was poised to replace a fellow Ikwerre man in Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in our multiethnic state, Rivers people overwhelmingly stood by you and pushed for your emergence as Executive Governor of Rivers State in 2015. I dare say that your popularity in the entire Niger Delta region was at an all-time high at this point.
I want you to understand why you were loved across board leading to your eventual emergence as Governor of Rivers State in 2015; it was because when it looked like all were against the second term ambitions of the first Niger Delta man to emerge as President of Nigeria, you became not just a pillar but a beacon of resistance by standing for Goodluck Jonathan. Rivers people, as grateful and rewarding as they can be, paid you back by ensuring your electoral victory against the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) led by your predecessor. On your emergence, where there were second term Governors in the region, you, a first term Governor, was seen by the people as not just the leader of the PDP, but the leader of the entire Niger Delta region. You earned it, and no one could dispute it.
In 2019, when your re-election bid was being challenged ferociously, Rivers people once again stood solidly behind you. Many were killed in the process of defending your votes. Do you remember Dr. Ferry Gberegbe that was shot and killed while trying to protect your votes in Khana Local Government Area? There are many more unnamed and unrecognised sons and daughters of Rivers State who sacrificed their lives so that you could emerge as a second term Governor of Rivers State.
In 2022/23, Honourable Minister, you oversaw a party primary across board that saw some candidates imprisoned and internal party democracy jettisoned for your wishes, leading to the emergence of flag bearers of our party all singlehandedly picked by you. You have on more than one occasion publicly stated that you paid for all their forms. Even those shortchanged in this process licked their wounds and continued to play their roles as party members to ensure the success of the party at all levels. In what will go down as one of the most keenly contested elections in recent Rivers history, with formidable candidates like Senator Magnus Abe of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Tonye Cole of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the vibrant youth driven Labour Party (LP), PDP emerged victorious across board except for Phalga Constituency 1 that was lost to the Labour Party. (Not that you did not loose in some other LGA’s but let’s stick to the official figures declared by INEC).
It begs the question, why then do you want to burn down Rivers State, when everyone who now holds political office emerged through a process designed and endorsed by you? Is it that you do not care about Rivers people and you are all about yourself? If so, I am forced to believe that those around you are not telling you the truth. The truth being that in a state where your words were law; where houses and businesses could be demolished or closed down without any recourse to legalities, where Executive Orders could be deployed to stifle the opposition, that your popularity is now at an all-time low. Probably because they are afraid of you, or of losing the benefits they gain from you, they fail to tell you that what you might perceive as a battle against your successor, has slowly but gradually degenerating into a battle against Rivers State and Rivers people. You know, there is a popular saying that, a man can cook for the community and the community will finish the food, but when a community decides to cook for one man, the reverse is the case.
LEAVE FUBARA ALONE
You have gone on and on about being betrayed by Governor Siminalayi Fubara. You point fingers forgetting that some of those same fingers quick to spot betrayals point straight back at you. It is not Governor Fubara that has betrayed the PDP by working against it in the just concluded General Election, and working with the opposition at the State and Federal level to destabilise the party. It is you, Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that betrayed Rivers people by instigating a political crisis with propensity to escalate ethnic tensions in Rivers State. It is you Honourable Minister. It is not Governor Fubara that has declared himself God over all in Rivers State and has no qualms with burning the state to the ground to prove a point. It is you Honourable Minister. It is you Honourable Minister who told the world that the APC was a cancer and you can never support a cancerous party. It is you Honourable Minister who ended up facilitating the emergence of the same “cancerous” APC that has accelerated the economic decline of this country and further impoverished our people with no remorse. All so you can be a Minister of the Federal Capital Territory? The lack of self awareness is gobsmacking.
Some days back I came across a video where you talked about death and how you do not cry when you hear about the death of some people because you have no idea what might have caused it considering many a politician swear “over dead bodies” and still go back on their words. Those words made me think, and I could see the reason behind them. You see, in chosing to be God in the affairs of Rivers people, you have closed your eyes and ears to reason; you see nothing and hear nothing that can cause you to rethink on the path you have chosen. In your quest to “show Fubara” you have unwittingly united a vast majority of Rivers people behind him, so much that even those who despised him because of you, now like or love him, because of you too. In your scheming, I will advise you not to forget that “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Note that the war which you have or are waging against Governor Fubara, has gone beyond being merely political as you might see in your minds eye. It is now one that, fortunately for some and unfortunately for others, has evolved into a war against Rivers people. It is good to point out that no one has taken a stand against Rivers people and won. No one has gone against God and won. In your defiant characteristic manner, it will be unfortunate if you believe your own hubris and that of those around you on the possibility of you being the first to successfully go against Rivers people. It will be a needless gamble; one where if you win you create more enemies for yourself than you can withstand on your political journey, and if you lose, your legacy becomes an inglorious and irredeemable one in Rivers State, the Niger Delta, and Nigeria at large. For your sake as regards posterity, it is my greatest wish that you have a moment of sobriety and a deep reflection and introspection on this path you have chosen.
Honourable Minister, sir, what is left of your legacy is on the brink of being completely desecrated and relegated to the dustbin of our political history, and it will be a sad end to what I will say has been a wonderful political career that many can only dream of. The ball is in your court, and may God Almighty have mercy on us all and forgive us for our shortcomings.
Gabriel Baritulem Pidomson
Dr Pidomson is former Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt and former member, Rivers State House of Assembly.
In 2015, I made a conscious decision to invest my financial resources, my time, and energy into supporting Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial campaign. I poured my heart and soul into ensuring Nyesom Wike emerged victorious even at the risk of my personal safety.
Again in 2019, I doubled down on my commitment. I invested a significant amount of money to procure campaign outfits for all twenty-three Local Governments Areas of Rivers State. I spared no expense in supplementing Wike’s election efforts in my own local government, and once again putting myself at great risk to safeguard the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.
However, despite my unwavering loyalty and sacrifices, I found myself abandoned and forgotten by Wike. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he failed to acknowledge my contributions or fulfill his promises and agreements. Even as a former Deputy Governor, Wike denied me my severance benefit.
My investment in Wike’s governorship was not just financial – it was a commitment of passion, dedication, and belief in a better future for Rivers State. Yet, his leadership style of dishonesty, greed, drunkenness and rash abuse of senior citizens brought me nothing but disappointment, misery and losses.
By the grace of God, today I speak not as a victim, but as a hero. I have accepted my losses, and I have moved on. And as I reflect on my experience, I cannot help but urge Wike to do the same and allow peace and development to reign in Rivers State.
Nyesom Wike, when you speak of investing in Governor Sim Fubara’s election, remember those like me who also invested in you. Remember the sacrifices I made, the risks I took, and the promises and agreements you left unfulfilled.
It is time for you, Wike, to let go of the past and allow Governor Sim Fubara the breathing space he needs to lead Rivers State forward. Allow him to focus on the challenges of good governance and the aspirations of the people. Spare him these unwarranted and ill-conceived political manoeuvrings founded on personal agenda and not for general good of Rivers State and her people.
I may have lost my investment on Wike, but I have not lost hope in the future of Rivers State. And together, we will continue to strive for a brighter tomorrow.
Long Live the Governor to Rivers State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara!
Long Live the Good People of Rivers State!!
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!
Engr Ikuru is former Deputy Governor of Rivers State.
Tele Ikuru
