IT has become a norm that when there are political rallies and election campaigns, there must always be a standstill in any part of the state where such takes place. Some aspects of the economy and the life of the people in the environment and sometimes beyond the vicinity are affected one way or the other for hours or days. During the preparations for elections, political rallies and election campaigns are political activities which are imperative. They are ways to make the public familiar with candidates and to be able to see and listen to their manifesto. They also allow the candidates opportunities to be familiar with the communities and states they are to govern. In a nutshell, election campaigns are necessary in order to have a free and open discussion about who is a better candidate or who would be a better representative as far as the people are concerned. Political rallies are gatherings where people of similar political beliefs come together to listen to speakers and musicians promoting political parties. These are high energy events used to raise morale and support.
As good as these activities are, they always come with some unnecessary problems and horrors for the people, so to speak, in this part of the world. For example, some markets might be affected. This is because in some states, halls that are used for such activities are usually in the midst of major markets. This avails the programme a wider audience who are residents of the communities apart from the political allies or the candidates, their entourage or the party faithful. Once the roads are closed, the influx of buyers drop for as long as such activities hold. Buying and selling automatically comes to a standstill. Traffic gets hectic because there are always diversions. Transport fare skyrockets as drivers use the opportunity to exploit commuters. The popular okada riders and tricycle riders do have a field day as they also triple their prices. Their excuse is they spent longer period of hours than usual on the road and as usual and it is the commuters that have to suffer for it. Louts also use the opportunity to steal and cause chaos on the make-do roads all in the name of helping with easy flow of traffic. They get away with people’s phones and snatch handbags without inhibition.
Most public cabs and bus drivers in all honesty have to spend longer hours on the road. For example, a journey that should have been 15 minutes could take as long as 1 hour or more during these periods. Commuters get affected by having to stay on the roads for unplanned numbers of hours. For those who are going around in hired cabs, it is double trouble as such cabs do bill per second in most cases. That means their devices are made in such a way as to read as the vehicle moves and calculations for fares are made after the trip. A commuter sometimes has to pay triple fare for trips during this period. For someone who already has a sum set aside for daily runs, this could be very cumbersome. Sometimes, some lose their valuables to hoodlums in case of those who boarded bikes. Hoodlums use the opportunities of long traffics to attack people on bikes and tricycles.
Private car owners are not left out of this hullaballoo. There have been cases of hoodlums breaking into vehicles or trying to distract drivers so as to get their hands into their cars due to diversions just because they are looking for other routes since they can’t pass the normal routes. Men of the underworld use the opportunity to stay on these routes , waiting for unsuspecting people to bounce on. Even in broad daylights The question now is: Are there no ways these rallies and political outings could be done in a way that won’t be detrimental to the life and time of the masses? Is there no way the security agencies such as the Nigerian Police Force(NPF), the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and all the other security agencies created by the various states such as the Amotekun, could be on ground to maintain peace and order even within the vicinity where such programmes occur without all the unnecessary diversions? Would it not be better if all hands are on deck to make the people to enjoy such programmes without having to groan? While the rallies are being held, the unnecessary hardship mentioned above could be avoided so as to make the people not to feel pangs of guilt for allowing their candidates to come into their states and communities. This is not the job of any political party or individual per se but the collective responsibility of all and sundry. As the government tries to maintain decorum on the streets, road users should also be ready to give their maximum cooperation for any means proffered to be effective.
The diversions are quite unnecessary. Mmany of the roads are too narrow to accommodate a large influx of traffic. Many of such diversions are sometimes residential areas and the loud noises could also cause health issues, especially for people who have health challenges. Once hoodlums know that all hands are on deck to maintain sanity on the roads despite the large number of people present whether inside halls or at rally grounds or even stadia, they would sit tight and avoid such places. They can only operate when they sense laxity in operation. The road users would also cooperate with these agencies as they will know easy flow of traffic would make them get to their destinations in no time and the fear of being robbed or their time being wasted would not be there.
- Ishola is on the staff of Nigerian Tribune
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