By TAYO OGUNBIYI

THE Lagos State government has begun the enforcement of the law banning street trading in the state. Expectedly, this has continued to generate lots of controversies across the state and beyond. While some have commended the state government for the action, others, however, perceive it in bad light. This is the beauty of democracy.

It is, however, important to state that the state government has not enacted any new law concerning street trading. What it has done is to enforce a law that has been in existence before now. Thus, the Lagos State Street Trad­ing and Illegal Market Prohibition Law, 2003, which prescribes a punishment of N90, 000 or a six-month jail term, for both the buyer and the seller of any goods or services on the streets, predates the current administration.

Globally, formulating laws and enforcing same for the good of the society is one of the cardinal tasks of governments. A major differ­ence between human society and the animal kingdom is that the earlier is regulated through set rules and regulations for the preservation of law and order while the latter thrives on jungle code which gives rise to anarchy. It is in order to ensure that human societies don’t descent into chaos that laws are enacted to guide hu­man conducts.

Globally, human societies are roughly clas­sified into developed and developing nations and one of the major indices used in arriving at such categorization is ability to live by set rules. In developed nations, conducts of the citizenry are largely guided by set rules. But then, same cannot be said of developing na­tions where deliberate acts of lawlessness and disorderliness are often the order of the day. It seems one of the unwritten codes, here, is gross disdain for the law. In such nations, driv­ers, riders and other road users behave without recourse to the law. It is not that they are ig­norant of the law. No! They recognize the law. They just don’t care about the law. Ironically, when same people find themselves in climes where the law is revered, they readily stoop to the supremacy of the law.

One of the recurring arguments from those who are against the Lagos State government’s recent enforcement of the law on street trad­ing is the poverty angle. The basis of this argu­ment is that since street traders are poor peo­ple with no other source of livelihood, they should be allowed to go on with their street business. But then, this line of argument is rather too simplistic. It is akin to asking the police to ignore a petty thief because he stole out of poverty. It is equally similar to demand­ing that KAI officials should not reprimand someone who was involved in open defeca­tion just because there are no public toilets along the route. A society can’t simply work that way!

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Before the Lagos state government decided to sanitise Oshodi, the place was the ultimate centre of pandemonium. The old Oshodi was a reflection of the rot and lawlessness that has pervaded our society for long. The Os­hodi Master Plan did not make provision for roadside trading. But then, over the years, a few people took advantage of the ‘weaknesses’ of the law to turn the place into one hell of a place. Oshodi was to become the albatross of the metropolis; a symbol of commotion where commuters were held up in avoidable traffic gridlocks for hours. What the state govern­ment eventually did at Oshodi was a question of upholding legality against illegality in order to create an environment beneficial to mil­lions of other lawful citizens. Today, thanks to that singular intervention, Oshodi has be­come saner and safer.

Many commentators have argued that the state government ought to have provided an alternative for the street traders before get­ting them off the streets. To me, the logic in this argument doesn’t seem right. It is like the police asking you to provide a robber who had in­vaded your home with a job so that he wouldn’t come visiting again! In the first place, turning the roadsides and the streets to trading arena is illegal. Just try to imagine what Lagos would look like if everyone turns every available space across major roads and streets into trade centers.

As previously affirmed, a major responsibility of governments across the world is preservation of law and order. A disorderly society cannot at­tract much development. This is partly why we remain where we are as a people. Our compatri­ots flout traffic laws and other such flagrantly. One moment, they out rightly disregard public officials whose lot is to uphold the law, the next instant they complain of not being treated cour­teously by same officials whom they treat with disgusting contempt.

When government abdicates its duty of pre­serving law and order, the society simply be­comes a jungle. To ask the government to provide job for everyone that comes to Lagos is a tall or­der. A recent data reveals that over 25,000 people move into Lagos on a daily basis from several parts of the country for various reasons. This is aside hundreds of others that daily troop into the state from neighbouring West African countries. Sadly, when their aspiration for economic salva­tion becomes a mirage, most of them readily take to anti-socio path.

What government could do to encourage wealth creation in the state is to create a condu­cive atmosphere for regulated economic activi­ties to thrive. Towards this end, government is upgrading infrastructure across the state as new roads and bridges are being constructed just as existing ones are being re-habilitated. Likewise, the Light up Lagos Project has improved security for all at nights. The proposed Oshodi Transport Interchange, the ambitious plan for a 4th Main­land Bridge, the Lekki Free Trade zone among others are projects that would clearly enhance economic activities in the state

nOgunbiyi writes from Ikeja, Lagos.