12th November, 2012
Rwanda President, Mr. Paul Kagame has backed the decision of Governor Babatunde Fashola to restrict the activities of commercial motorcycle riders also known as okada riders in Lagos State rather than ban them outrightly.
Kagame spoke at a breakfast meeting organised by the Young Nigerian Professionals at Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria at the weekend, saying that there was the need to regulate the operation of okada.
He was asked what he felt about the restriction of okada riders in Lagos State and he said, there were okadas in Rwanda, but that they were well regulated and not allowed to constitute nuisance to the public.
“We have okada too in Rwanda. It is a lucrative business. A good number of people are doing okada business in Rwanda. But their activities are well-regulated. There are rules and regulations that define the limit of their operation.
“We also organise them into groups, such as association of owners and association of operators. The groups help in ensuring that the rules and regulations are duly observed. Because we have rules, institutions and structures in place, we do not have much problem with okada operators.
“There might be challenges here and there. But we have institutions and structures that can take care of those challenges,” he stated. He also spoke on the International Criminal Court, ICC, saying it is a court to prosecute poor countries, stressing that “it is wrong to ship African leaders to The Hague all in the name of criminal offences.
“There are non-Africans who support those African leaders accused of committing war crimes in other parts of the world. But ICC does not go after such people. I will prefer African Union to have its court where those erring leaders could be tried.” He also identified meaningful investments in the youth and education as key strategies that would help Nigeria and other African states recover their lost opportunities.
According to him, there was no need for some African leaders to seek aids from foreign donors, saying that neither Nigeria nor any African state needed any foreign aids to unlock opportunities in their economies.
He stated that Nigeria could change, but that it was the young people that would bring about the change, adding that “I believe the change has started already. What is required to make a change is in the hand of youths. Rwanda is ready to work with Nigeria and failing to do what is necessary will make prosperity a major challenge on the continent.
“Each country on the continent has everything it needs to catalyse its growth and development. We have lost opportunities in the past. We should be challenged so that we do not lose opportunities in the future again. We must ensure as a continent that opportunities are no longer wasted.
“Aside from natural resources, which the continent is endowed with meaningful investment in young people constitutes larger part of African population. If we look at the number of young people we have in this part of the world, it is a vast opportunity for the government. But we need to support them. I want to see young Nigerians and Africans working together and take advantage of vast opportunities in their respective countries or on the continent. “The continent’s young people need to interact and network. We now have technology and devices to interact and network better. This is how we can gain what has been lost in the past decades. There is no other way around it. Africans must develop Africa. Europe will not develop our continent for us,” he said.
On Rwanda constitution, Kagame said it made provisions forum, and that “we call it forum of political parties. Through the tools, we engage people and interests. We have some different views about the process of attaining development.
“But all the people and interests are working for national progress. At the end of everything, we have common ground. Development is binding on all of us, but the process may be different.”
—Kazeem Ugbodaga