482 Motorcycles crushed

I was recently in Kaduna and what I witnessed was profound. Life there was

rustic. I was impressed.

Point of Sales Service was surprisingly cheap. For N10,000.00, I was charged N100.00.

From Abuja to Kaduna, by road, at Night, I was scared stiff. I managed not to urinate on myself.

It is not that there was no insecurity. Just that like in defining News. When a dog bites a man, it is no News but when a man bites a dog, then it is News.

If in Lagos, three men out of 20Million people bite a dog in three different parts of the town, not surprisingly, any visitor to Lagos will be on the look out for men biting dogs. 

Considering, the figures mentioned, that possibility, will be forlorn.

There were military checkpoints on the way except that the roads were not lit.

I did not notice religious persecution or ethnic jingoism. All I saw were people trying to eke a living.

Thinking of 482 bikes crushed takes my mind to the North and conspiracy theories.

They may have substance but they negate the desire for young people to pursue their dreams.

On the way back to Lagos, I rode in the same Bus with a youth with virtually nothing but the clothes he had on. Fancy clothes and his dyed hair.

He sat on the floor for the journey. He appeared happy to be heading to Lagos.

I did not see a sponsored trouble maker. Possibly, a night guard or bike rider looking for a future. A future, he fails to see in his State.

Are our Governors not failing? Of course, their failures daily draw youths from all corners of the country to Lagos.

Even their failures, draw them to Lagos to own property with the funds they fail to provide basic amenities in their state.

Those 482 bikes if they are the property of their sponsors, I have no qualms but no. Those 482 bikes represent deprivation for more than 482 youths and their dependants back home.

Justice administration is tricky and sometimes thankless but it should at all times have a human face.

Crushing those 482 bikes does not resemble a human face but the dark side of anger. Better a guilty man goes free than for an innocent man to be unjustly punished.

I am not oblivious to the sins of bike riders but crushing 482 bikes does our Economy no good but somehow adds to the mystic of frustration and deprivation.

Can the empowerment of the State Government give bikes to youths? Who are those who patronize bike riders?

Do bike riders ease traffic pains of Lagosians? I come in peace!