State Government should prioritise training of commercial motorcyclist – Amaechi

Federal Government has stressed the need for all the State Governments to prioritise the issues of safety, regulation and training of commercial motorcyclists across the country.

Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation gave the charge during the National Day celebration of Amalgamated Commercial Tricycles and Motorcycles Owners, Repairer and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN) held in Abuja.

“You must agree that government should meet with you and organise especially the commissioners of transport because it is not the responsibility of the federal government to begin to look into how the motorcycles are running so the issue of safety, regulation are issues we need to deal with at the State level.

“Then the Federal Government will look at it through the Ministry of Transport. You should be trained possibly provided with uniform these are the responsibilities of the State Commissioners of transport,” he urged.

While reacting to recent calls on Federal Government to ban commercial motorcycle as part of efforts to checkmate incidences of road accident armed robbery operations, kidnap and other criminal activities, Amaechi stressed that any attempt to prohibit the operation may impact negatively on the nation’s economy.

“I don’t think they should ban okada if you ban okada it will affect development but the way forward is that you must obey rules and regulations. If you don’t obey rules it will be easier for the government to ban you. The Ministry of Transportation recognises the role you play in the economy not only in terms of growing your private and personal economy but in growing the national economy because transportation is logistics is movement of goods and services from one point to the other its absence will mean that the economy will not grow.

So you create that job not only that, you also create services and you are able to grow the industry. There are not enough cars to carry everybody that is where you comes in. He who doesn’t recognise that does not know how to grow the economy.”

In his remarks, Shehu Babangida, ACOMORAN President explained the sub-sector if properly harnessed can contribute significantly to the nation’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by over N100 billion.

“It should be noted that the membership of ACOMORAN cut across the length and the breadth of the country and can contribute significantly to the nation’s Internally Generated Revenue by well over N100 billion if properly harnessed.

“However ACOMORAN cannot do it alone. It is therefore open to partnership with the relevant government agencies to actualize its goals.

“It is pertinent to mention that ACOMORAN is strategically place in the intelligence gathering efforts of the various strata of government because of its grassroots appeal. To this end there is a compelling need for the government us to enhance its intelligence gathering machinery. This is so because our member can access every nooks and corners of this country,” he added.