It beats me hollow when I see tanker drivers constituting nuisance on our roads and the government just watch helplessly. Millions of Naira is lost every day to avoidable traffic gridlock on our roads. The problem is that the government seems to have been boxed to a corner. These set of people appear untouchable and can afford to hold our dear nation to ransom. Most threats issued by the government have fallen on deaf hear as these untouchables can’t afford to sneeze.
When tanker drivers sneeze, the entire nation catches cold; which is sort of scary because no one can rebuke them for their actions. Does this speak well of a nation that has a properly constituted government right from the local to federal level? Are we losing it as a nation? Have these set of people become so power drunk that no government can bring them under subjection? From one civilian regime to the other, these so called untouchables have carved a cult-like status in our society.
They have become a menace on our roads and other road owners fear for their safety and are thus scared to criticize. The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority LASTMA and the Federal Road Safety Commission FRSC play lip service to decongesting our roads by intimidating car and bus owners; but it seems to be a different thing when it comes to tanker drivers.
Implementation of laws in Nigeria seems to be our biggest headache. While there are various laws to check the activities of these set of people, the will to implement them seems to be lacking. Getting rid of the monsters on our roads is now akin to extracting ice out of volcano or extracting fire out of snow in winter.
The Apapa-Oshodi Express Way is now an eyesore as motorists now dread taking the route to their destinations. As a matter of fact, the Mile II to Coconut end of the road has now become one of the deadliest roads considering the high rate of accidents happening daily. Commuters and other road users are daily faced with the risk of losing their lives as a result of vehicles plying one way.
The present government is only seven months old, but the lack of proper action as regards the tanker drives gives us much to be worried about. Something has to be done by the government; and that has to be now or never!
