Nigerian Politicians Now Talking All-Out Motorcycle Ban

[advrider]

A few weeks back, we told you about Nigeria’s “shoot on sight” order against motorcyclists—in some regions, due to terrorist threats, the government had announced a no-nonsense crackdown, and was even distributing gun licenses to farmers in the battle against bad guys.

As it turns out, that was only the start of the story. Now, politicians in the African country are actually talking about an all-out ban on motorcycles, if you can believe reports out of news sites.

The idea is, banning motorcycles will stop the free flow of terrorists, who ride them to enact destruction on isolated villagers. The government is going so far as to even propose the end of mining activities, which it claims is a source of funds for the terrorists. As per the Premium Times website:

The Nigerian government is considering banning the use of motorcycles across the country.

The Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, disclosed this on Thursday while addressing journalists at the end of the National Security Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He also said the government was considering banning mining activities across the country.

Mr Malami said the ban was being considered as part of efforts to curtail the activities of terrorists, who often use motorcycles.

“Placing a ban on the use of motorcycles and mining activities will cut the supply of logistics to the terrorists,” he said.

The country’s politicos seem very aware that many law-abiding citizens will see their only source of transportation cut off, if this happens, but the Premium Times quotes the justice minister as saying a sacrifice that affects less than 20 percent of the country’s population is worth considering.

As you might expect, reaction has been less than positive. The Guardian (another Nigerian news source) quotes a variety of government officials, tribal chiefs and businessmen with their perspectives, and while everyone believes the Nigerian government needs to battle terrorism, not all believe a ban on motorcycles is the answer (although there’s certainly some support for the idea). In another article in the Premium Times, Muda Yusuf of Lagos State University says the country cannot afford a total ban on motorcycles, and there’s a good point to that argument. The whole reason that motorcycles came to such widespread adoption in Nigeria is their ability to travel bad roads at far less cost than an expensive 4×4.

So, who knows where it leads. It’s sad that motorcycles are being targeted by government, but even sadder to see the problems that are causing that ban. Here in North America, we may joke sometimes about Mad Max and the end-of-the-world bikie gangs, but in other countries, roving homicidal gangs with guns and machetes are a real problem. No matter how much we like to complain, we still have a far better life than most of us realize.

Vezi sursa