Obaseki to return ‘Oshiomhole Police’ to Benin, may change the name and uniform
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has revealed that plans are already in place to return nonconventional traffic monitors to Benin and eventually throughout Edo State.
The traffic monitors under former governor Adams Oshiomhole and Obaseki as economic adviser, was Edo State Traffic Management Agency (EDSTMA) nicknamed “Oshiomhole Police” and they were largely untrained, unscrupulous and a menace to road users in Edo state, especially the state capital.
Due to pressures from citizen of the state, and in preparation for election year, the APC government disbanded the traffic monitors on Wednesday February 17, 2016 claiming they were an unnecessary waste of public funds and became a menace.
But barely a year after, the same APC government has decided to return the menace to the streets, although this time, it is believed, the name and uniform is expected to change to a shade of green or yellow.
“We will be recruiting traffic officers, but we will screen them very carefully and train them in a government facility we have set up”. Governor Obaseki said.
He said further, “We have hired a specialist with a lot of experience to reorganise the Edo Transport Management Agency. It will be part of the Edo Jobs scheme.”
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. John Mayaki said that the training would be rigorous, after which the traffic officers would be deployed to the streets to begin to organise and control traffic and deal mercilessly with road users, sending some to prison through magistrates who would be coopted.
Mayaki aso also revealed that the APC government would like to approach the World Bank for new loans to fund this controversial traffic monitors.
However respondents in the state have faulted the government decision to tow the familiar unpopular lines, noting that that had been tried by Oshiomhole and it was a colossal failure, accounting for a major reason for the drastic drop in the popularity rating of the governor in the last three years of his administration.
Dr Thompson Omorodion, an academic and rights activist has advised the government to “make haste slowly and rather than create more problems for motorists and road users within the Benin city metropolitan, Obaseki should rather concentrate on opening up adjunct streets which will naturally free up the main streets”.
Concerning the proposed recruitment of traffic monitors, Mr Tony Okungbowa, a social media activist, said that “We already have the traphic police. Obaseki should empower the traffic police to do their traditional job well and instead spend the money for the new recruits to train and empower them in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing and ICT.”
