Cross River State Commissioner for Transport, Pastor Ekpenyong Cobham, briefed journalists Friday, at his office and dismissed Thursday’s protest by mini bus drivers, saying the protest was sponsored by political elements who are unhappy with the reforms ongoing in the Ministry.
He said Thursday’s protest by minibus operators was expected because the departure from the old order of impunity and corruption would certainly be opposed by the new order committed to the actualization of Governor Otu’s “People First Agenda.”
Cobham said the Ministry is working to tackle the problems of illegal loading on the roads, touting, multiple ticketing and illegal task forces exploiting drivers in Calabar and beyond. According to him, those who profit from these illegalities do not like the new reforms so they decided to oppose by funding the protest.
He noted that there is an ongoing drive to reinvigorate the state transport sector to adapt to global best practices.
According to him: “When l assumed office I met several challenges enough to demoralize any person. Among the myriad of challenges was the paucity of funds. On the road, it was a culture of impunity where traffic rules were not obeyed and people packed wherever roads were congested. We had to call the leadership of the Unified Drivers Association for several meetings. We interfaced on the way forward.
“In those interfaces we had with the drivers Associations, I made it clear to them that it can’t be business as usual. We need to partner to be able to reach out to the drivers. l even suggested to them that there’s a need for reorientation. I remember saying that we need to have a meeting with the operators of driving schools because I
have discovered that there’s a problem of attitude among the drivers, habitual
decadence, alcoholic abuse, drug abuse
and all of such vices.
“l have an interface with the state security adviser. We are trying to work out ways to begin to arrest them. These people have caused so much damage, giving the government a bad name. In one week of the operation of my task force, we had the following results: free traffic flow at the Watt market roundabout axis. Free traffic flow along Marian market. But in the cause of contravening the vehicle that committed one traffic offense or the other, I discovered that there’s a nest of evil, and this nest of evil constitutes security agents and politically exposed persons.
“What they do is that they gather 10, 6, 20 buses or taxis as they can and tell you, “I will be covering you. If you have any problem you call me, but you will be paying me between N1,500 and N2,000 weekly. So whenever such vehicles have any challenge you will see them come out to release the vehicles.
“We need to restore sanity to the roads and the culture of impunity we have to put it away. And you know that’s not an easy feat.
“In the course of that, I stepped up to the third programme which was the dislodgement of illegal loading bays on the major roads. There were illegal loading bays that existed by the NEPA office, another one at 11-11. There were two opposite the Stadium and another one by Fidelity Bank. I’ve shut all of them down.
“These loading bays were supported, operated, and protected by politically exposed persons, cult-associated personalities and that didn’t sit well with them. When you are trying to bring change, impunity must fight back and that’s what happened on Thursday,” he explained.
Cross River State Commissioner for Transport, Pastor Ekpenyong Cobham, briefed journalists Friday, at his office and dismissed Thursday’s protest by mini bus drivers, saying the protest was sponsored by political elements who are unhappy with the reforms ongoing in the Ministry.
He said Thursday’s protest by minibus operators was expected because the departure from the old order of impunity and corruption would certainly be opposed by the new order committed to the actualization of Governor Otu’s “People First Agenda.”
Cobham said the Ministry is working to tackle the problems of illegal loading on the roads, touting, multiple ticketing and illegal task forces exploiting drivers in Calabar and beyond. According to him, those who profit from these illegalities do not like the new reforms so they decided to oppose by funding the protest.
He noted that there is an ongoing drive to reinvigorate the state transport sector to adapt to global best practices.
According to him: “When l assumed office I met several challenges enough to demoralize any person. Among the myriad of challenges was the paucity of funds. On the road, it was a culture of impunity where traffic rules were not obeyed and people packed wherever roads were congested. We had to call the leadership of the Unified Drivers Association for several meetings. We interfaced on the way forward.
“In those interfaces we had with the drivers Associations, I made it clear to them that it can’t be business as usual. We need to partner to be able to reach out to the drivers. l even suggested to them that there’s a need for reorientation. I remember saying that we need to have a meeting with the operators of driving schools because I
have discovered that there’s a problem of attitude among the drivers, habitual
decadence, alcoholic abuse, drug abuse
and all of such vices.
“l have an interface with the state security adviser. We are trying to work out ways to begin to arrest them. These people have caused so much damage, giving the government a bad name. In one week of the operation of my task force, we had the following results: free traffic flow at the Watt market roundabout axis. Free traffic flow along Marian market. But in the cause of contravening the vehicle that committed one traffic offense or the other, I discovered that there’s a nest of evil, and this nest of evil constitutes security agents and politically exposed persons.
“What they do is that they gather 10, 6, 20 buses or taxis as they can and tell you, “I will be covering you. If you have any problem you call me, but you will be paying me between N1,500 and N2,000 weekly. So whenever such vehicles have any challenge you will see them come out to release the vehicles.
“We need to restore sanity to the roads and the culture of impunity we have to put it away. And you know that’s not an easy feat.
“In the course of that, I stepped up to the third programme which was the dislodgement of illegal loading bays on the major roads. There were illegal loading bays that existed by the NEPA office, another one at 11-11. There were two opposite the Stadium and another one by Fidelity Bank. I’ve shut all of them down.
“These loading bays were supported, operated, and protected by politically exposed persons, cult-associated personalities and that didn’t sit well with them. When you are trying to bring change, impunity must fight back and that’s what happened on Thursday,” he explained.
