FG asks states to stop use of okada

The Federal Government has called on states to stop the use of commercial motorcycles as means of transportation.

It said the decision to dissuade the use of commercial motorcycles in states was reached by stakeholders during the recent 13th meeting of the National Council on Transport.

A communiqué after the meeting, which was made available to our correspondent by the Federal Ministry of Transport on Monday, urged states to intensify the enforcement of existing laws on road worthiness.

Reading from the communiqué at a one day conference on the use of road and accident prevention techniques in Abuja, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, said as states worked towards putting off commercial motorcycles, they should also encourage the use of speed-limiting devices on commercial passenger and goods only vehicles.

He said, "States should discourage the use of commercial motorcycles as means of public transportation. They are encouraged to establish functional Vehicle Inspection Offices to ensure proper road safety enforcement, driving license processing and road worthiness testing."

Umar, who was represented by the ministry's Permanent Secretary, Mr. Nebolisa Emordi, said the NCT decided to create the required awareness on the alarming rate of road crashes on the nation's highways, which had continued to claim thousands of lives yearly.