‘’corruption Field Of Lastma’’
I have heard so much about the exploits and notoriety of the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, popularly known as LASTMA in terms of its effectiveness and swiftness in traffic management at the centre of excellence . What I do not however know is the fact that the agency is as corrupt as it is efficient in traffic management, at least going by my recent encounter with some of its officials .
Sometimes, when people came up with the thought that Nigeria will be a better place in no time , one tends to harbour the doubt that things might not be better owing to the crop of people that makes up the entity called Nigeria as well as the rot that has characterised the system .
One thing I have discovered is that , while the stigma of corruption is usually labelled on certain individual , groups and agencies of government who are seen as the ones giving Nigeria a bad name , there exist numerous other agencies whose activities are worse , but the public are still in the dark of . Thus, organisations such as LASTMA is one in such category whose activities if subjected to close scrutiny may be worse than others already known . Such organisations has continued to exist for the enrichment of private pocket far and above their statutory role of generating income for the government . They operate at the expense of citizens they are expected to protect , thereby turning them to a cash machine and sometimes leaving them with tales of woes , anguish and deprivation.
An incident occur which revealed to me the type of grand corruption that is going on within the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency . First impression they say lasts long . It was indeed my first encounter with the agency and the impression will sure reverberate for a long time to come .
On Friday, 19th August , 2016, I was on my way to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport , Lagos State to board a plane to Abuja . The vehicle which I was travelling in developed a minor fault which was beyond my capacity around Iyana Ipaja . For fear of missing my flight ,I had to find a suitable walkway to pack the Almera Tino, metallic colour with registration number AAB 501 JH . At that point, I immediately contacted a friend to find a nearby mechanic , fix the car and move it out of the scene as I went off to the airport . While on the way , I kept constant touch with my friend who reported to me that they could not locate the car where I claimed it was packed . In order to come and salvage the situation, I had to cut short my journey by taking the next available flight Lagos from Abuja almost immediately I landed , without hesitating to execute my mission in Abuja .
This, on Saturday, 20th August , I began the frantic search for the vehicle . I made an attempt to check the vehicle at the venue where it was packed . When I could not find it, I trekked down from Iyana Ipaja to Abule Egba without any traces . What made the matter so frightful was the fact that I have contained in the vehicle all the certificates I had obtained over the years . I later got some people who advised that I should visit LASTMA office at PWD, Lagos .
On getting to PWD, the officer I met on ground shocked me when he disclosed to me that LASTMA has about 45 operations units in Lagos State . Where do I start from! He later advised that I should locate the nearest unit to the place of operation. At a point, I met some individuals who emphatically told me that my vehicle will surely be at Pen Cinema, Agege office of LASTMA notorious for such operations . True to type, I found my vehicle there with two tyres already deflated . At this point I heave a sigh of relieve and thank my stars for not losing all my certificates that I had laboured to obtain over the years . Since it was already late and on a weekend, I immediately headed back to my base in Abeokuta, the Ogun State Capital only to return on Monday, 21st August , 2016.
At Pen Cinema Agege, there are two operations unit of LASTMA. I went to the first cabin housing the first unit to make enquiry about the status of my car. The officials there sent me away claiming the place I mentioned does not fall under their jurisdiction, ditto for the second unit. #
At this point, I was left with the quandary of how my car got to the compound when none of the units said they were not in the known. I was directed to go and stay outside for one ''Mr . Akinola'' who they suspected might carry out the operation. After much waiting in the rain , I sighted a good –spirited tall officer who appears to be listening to other victims' complaints by name ''Mr. Akande'' who upon hearing my complaints immediately called Mr. Akinola on his mobile phone and the fellow surfaced in a jiffy.
The short dark officer on arrival told me he was the one that towed my car and in an attempt to work on my intelligence and scare the hell out of me immediately informed me that the car had been book on the e- ticketing platform already and that it attracts a fine of N30,000. I went on a begging spree to prevail on him to reduce the money , but he would not bulge .At a point, he asked me how much I can afford to which I immediately answered N10,000 . He insisted on collecting the N30,000 saying although my vehicle had been booked, since the offence was committed on Friday, but the booking will be waived and imposed on other victims. While our negotiation was on-going, I again sighted the good –spirited Mr. Akande and I quickly approached him to intervene .After Mr Akande's intervention, the said Mr Akinola later called me to one side and demanded that I should add N3,000 naira to make the money N13,000 which I obliged in order to get to the root of the racket .
Unknown to the officers, I had already contacted the ADC to the Governor of Ogun State who had contacted the ADC to the Governor of Lagos State with the promise of helping to resolve the matter, while I equally have retinue of friends, Journalists , Traffic Officials and Law Enforcement Agents ready to render one assistance or the other. But, in order to get to the root of the racket that is going on, I decided to jettison all other promises of assistance and play along .
Looking at the manner in which Mr. Akinola collected the money from me and his demeanour, I knew I was paying the money into a private pocket, but I did not mind since it has somewhat become a participant observation investigative journalism adventure for me and I was enjoying the game . Before one could say LASTMA , he had beckoned to a Vulcaniser who is always on standby at the premises to come and inflate my tyre. It was at this point that I got further revelations about their operations. The Vulcaniser he invited vehemently refused to inflate the tyre saying he must get final clearance from the Commander of Operation. What an affront ?
During the confusion that ensued , I was able to glean that '' Mr. Akinola '' deliberately brought the vehicle to that unit to hide since it is not under that jurisdiction. I overheard him as saying that were he to have towed the vehicle to the real zone which covers the area where the offence was alleged to have been committed , the officers there would have written the paper almost immediately . This is the ground corruption being perpetrated by some officers of the notorious and dreadful LASTMA.
To demonstrate to me that he was not alone in the racket , he moved under a shed within the compound to confer with a senior officer simply identified as ''Zebra'' who also gave his blessings for the release of the vehicle after receiving his own share of the cash .Upon the Vulcaniser's action, confusion sets in as the matter escalated with all roads leading to the Unit Commander's Office . Either by getting a share of the cake or apparently in an attempt to protect his men, the unit Commander after sometimes` also gave the nod for the release of the vehicle and I was left off the hook.
It was at this point I got some insight into the operations of LASTMA and I concluded that some officials of the agency are perpetrating such illegal acts that amounts to robbing the government of huge revenue , which ought to accrue to the covers of the government.
The last time I wrote about the racketeering that is taking place and is still on-going at the passport office of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), I had thought that that place is the headquarter of corruption, but this encounter with LASTAMA has proved me wrong . This only goes to show that corruption pervades every aspect of our national life and a lot still need to be done to unravel this cankerworm of corruption if Nigeria will claim its rightful place in the comity of nations and be great again as some people desired .
Owing to the experience with LASTAMA, it should be noted that through close scrutiny, there might be the need for a review of the modus operandi of the agency's operation or better still close monitoring to eliminate some of these sharp practices . A situation where poor citizens are being subjected to the whims and caprices of corrupt official is uncalled for and required urgent reversal , especially at this time that some group of professionals like the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) are talking about resetting the mindsets of Nigerians through ethical rebirth . God bless Nigeria !
Written by Waheed Ogunjobi, a journalist and Public Affairs analyst.
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