Governor Mbah Archives - Naija Premium Gist

Governor Mbah dissolves all commercial tricycle task forces

The Enugu state government has dissolved all task forces of commercial tricycles, popularly known as keke, till further notice in the state.

The permanent secretary of the state ministry of transport, Ogbonna Idike, announced this on Saturday in Enugu after a meeting with the executives and members of the commercial tricycle union in the state.

The ministry invoked the meeting on the sidelines of the peaceful protest held by some members of the tricycle union on Friday over harassment and extortion by tricycle task force members operating within Enugu metropolis.

Mr Idike said that dissolution affected both legally and illegally constituted task forces for tricycle operators, adding that the dissolution was with immediate effect.

The permanent secretary lambasted the tricycle operators for not officially reporting the matter to the ministry on time, as the ministry’s offices remained open for the public and road stakeholders, especially drivers/riders.

According to him, the ministry, before now, was not aware of this negative and inhuman development.

“Henceforth, the state government, through the ministry, will streamline and sanction all transport union task forces to conform to best practices and standards as well as ensure that hoodlums and thugs do not hijack such exercises.

“First, the union must apply and get the approval of the ministry, while those to carry out the task force duty will be well known and well profiled with numbered reflective aprons, identification cards and they must be properly dressed.

“All task force members must be duly trained by the ministry on how to carry out their duties in the most courteous manner that will not disturb public peace but attract commendation due to discipline and professionalism in carrying out such duties.

“The ministry will also clearly specify what an offence is and the attendant fine and penalty of such an offence. It will not be arbitrary or outright extortion again,” he said.

Mr Idike said that the ministry officials and traffic officers work during public holidays and weekends to ensure that traffic control and issues between drivers, union members and other road users are quickly sorted out.

“The ministry is here to promote and ensure that Gov. Peter Mbah’s target of making the state more productive and prosperous for all will be achieved,” he added.

Reacting, Sunday Ozeh, chairman of the Association of Tricycle Riders Transport Union (ATRTU), thanked the government for its timely intervention, noting that the association would abide by the ministry’s guidance and actions meant to streamline operation for optimal performance.

Mr Ozeh urged the state government, through the ministry, to interface with the council chairmen to ensure that their tricycle task force officials operate within their designated local government parks as stipulated in their mandates.

Earlier, Chinedu Nsude and Peter Emmanuel, who are keke riders, lamented how the disbanded task force members harassed them daily as they loaded passengers far away from their tricycle parks and ensured they forcefully paid N3,500 as fine.

“If you argue over the illegal fines with them, they will allege that you have fought with them, forcefully drag you to their parks, and collect N10,500 as fine for fighting.

“We no longer meet our daily remittance to the tricycle owners since most of them are on hire purchase agreement due to the unwarranted intimidation and extortion by the so-called task force members,” they lamented.

The meeting was attended by officials of the ministry of transport as well as executive members, board members and members of the tricycle union in the state.

The federal and Enugu state governments say they will partner to complete and operationalise the international wing of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, including building a cargo terminal to boost the state’s and nation’s economy and tourism capacity.

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria CEO Kabir Mohammed and Governor Peter Mbah disclosed this on Monday in Enugu.

The duo toured the ongoing international terminal building and the proposed site for the international cargo terminal of the airport.

Speaking to journalists after a courtesy visit to the governor and tour of the facility, Mr Mohammed commended Mr Mbah’s zeal and sense of urgency towards the actualisation and operationalisation of the two terminals.

He said there was no better time to discuss partnership and collaboration than now.

“We met with the governor here today with a view to collaborate with FAAN in order to make the international terminal functional,” stated the FAAN boss.

“This is a time to look at things again and again before you will be able to get the right formula for it, and I believe His Excellency has that formula, and within the shortest possible time, I can assure you that this terminal will be put to use.”

He added,

“The first place we went to is supposed to be the cargo terminal, and we have a cargo warehouse in that location as well as the cargo terminal.”

He explained that having a cargo terminal in Enugu would go a long way in improving the economy of the South-East zone and the nation and assisting traders in the region.

Mr Mbah said the operationalisation of the international terminal and construction of the cargo terminal and warehouse at the airport were critical to Enugu’s drive for a $30 billion economy. He described them as enablers of investments and key economic activities in Enugu.

“For us, the cargo terminal is critical. You know that we are migrating agriculture to agro-allied industrialisation. That means agriculture will not just be for food. It will also be for export,” added the Enugu governor.

“The cargo terminal is critical if we are going to engage in the export of agricultural and agro-allied produce from the state. That is why we are looking at partnering with FAAN to ensure that we start and complete a cargo terminal and, indeed, operationalise it.”

The governor also mentioned that the international wing was almost completed, demanding they operationalise it, stressing that they would not be able to make money from it until they got it functional.

“We will not be able to create value for the people of Enugu or South East and indeed the entire country if it is not done. If you look at the huge economic development plan we have expressed to our people, tourism is core there.

We are looking at attracting over three million visitors to Enugu yearly,” explained Mr Mbah.

The governor added,

“That cannot happen just by road, and it is going to occur by flying, getting people from all across the different parts of the world to come to Enugu, and that will mean having an international airport.”

On the funding challenge, Mr Mbah assured that FAAN and the Enugu government would explore funding models to actualise the project.

“Now, we believe that projects like these are bankable because they are also revenue-yielding projects. So, there is no reason why we cannot find a financing model that will work for us and ensure that this project is immediately realised,” the Enugu governor stated.

Mr Mbah also said the state government and the FAAN team had fruitful discussions on the timeline to ensure the speedy completion of both projects.