The thing wrong with this picture is that the motorcycle (popularly called Okada) rider in blue T-shirt, has an available helmet which he could have worn but choose otherwise. Instead, he decided to make a statement of either defiance or stupidity with an improvised empty container or bucket of possibly used paint as his preferred helmet. Very visible on the front-end of the motorcycle between the two bar-handles is an orange-colored helmet which he ignored to wear, but instead chose to dramatize the new helmet-law in Nigeria with his strange-looking plastic bucket! This is one example why Nigeria is ungovernable as people do not usually obey laws but most times, choose to make mockery of them. What stops this mallam, pictured in Ijeshatedo area of Lagos, from simply throwing his helmet on his head instead of the plastic bucket he is wearing; and knowing fully well that the helmet-law is meant to cut down on his losses in event of an accident? The tragedy of this picture is that some policemen who are supposed to enforce the helmet-law, possibly saw this motorcyclist with his bucket-helmet driving around the Itire council area of Lagos State without arresting him. Icheoku says, they were all possibly, smiling and making jokes about the new "foreign/homegrown" helmet? Icheoku says, such conduct as displayed by this motor-cyclist is not laughable and should not be condoned by anyone. In as much as it elicits laughter, being so hilarious, the rider is apparently making a mockery of the new helmet-law and should have been stopped cold. He should in addition, be made to take full responsibility for his action, as he broke an existing law of the land and ordered to pay a very steep fine/penalty as a deterrent. The term deterrent is what is missing in Nigeria's law enforcement lexicon, otherwise all these in-fractures of existing laws would not exist. On the new helmet-law however, Icheoku says, it is a welcome step towards mitigating motorcycle-accident victim's losses. Helmet saves lives as it protects the head upon contact with the pavement. Icheoku's one other concern is the possible transmission of head-lice (pediculus humanus capitis), dandruff, ticks, odour, eczema and other head-hair and skin contagious diseases from one passenger to another through sharing of one helmet. The African sun could be so intense and easily heats up the human-body including the head-hair; thus makes head-lice very uncomfortable that they become so agitated and jumpy and could easily stick unto a helmet waiting to be transferred to the next passenger's hair. If every passenger is to share one helmet, shouldn't be a requirement also that some disinfectants be sprayed in the helmet before the next rider's use? Whatever happens, Icheoku says, riding "OKADA" with a plastic rubberised empty bucket "helmet" is not COOOOOOOOOL!Thursday, January 8, 2009
NIGERIA, WHAT A HELMET?
The thing wrong with this picture is that the motorcycle (popularly called Okada) rider in blue T-shirt, has an available helmet which he could have worn but choose otherwise. Instead, he decided to make a statement of either defiance or stupidity with an improvised empty container or bucket of possibly used paint as his preferred helmet. Very visible on the front-end of the motorcycle between the two bar-handles is an orange-colored helmet which he ignored to wear, but instead chose to dramatize the new helmet-law in Nigeria with his strange-looking plastic bucket! This is one example why Nigeria is ungovernable as people do not usually obey laws but most times, choose to make mockery of them. What stops this mallam, pictured in Ijeshatedo area of Lagos, from simply throwing his helmet on his head instead of the plastic bucket he is wearing; and knowing fully well that the helmet-law is meant to cut down on his losses in event of an accident? The tragedy of this picture is that some policemen who are supposed to enforce the helmet-law, possibly saw this motorcyclist with his bucket-helmet driving around the Itire council area of Lagos State without arresting him. Icheoku says, they were all possibly, smiling and making jokes about the new "foreign/homegrown" helmet? Icheoku says, such conduct as displayed by this motor-cyclist is not laughable and should not be condoned by anyone. In as much as it elicits laughter, being so hilarious, the rider is apparently making a mockery of the new helmet-law and should have been stopped cold. He should in addition, be made to take full responsibility for his action, as he broke an existing law of the land and ordered to pay a very steep fine/penalty as a deterrent. The term deterrent is what is missing in Nigeria's law enforcement lexicon, otherwise all these in-fractures of existing laws would not exist. On the new helmet-law however, Icheoku says, it is a welcome step towards mitigating motorcycle-accident victim's losses. Helmet saves lives as it protects the head upon contact with the pavement. Icheoku's one other concern is the possible transmission of head-lice (pediculus humanus capitis), dandruff, ticks, odour, eczema and other head-hair and skin contagious diseases from one passenger to another through sharing of one helmet. The African sun could be so intense and easily heats up the human-body including the head-hair; thus makes head-lice very uncomfortable that they become so agitated and jumpy and could easily stick unto a helmet waiting to be transferred to the next passenger's hair. If every passenger is to share one helmet, shouldn't be a requirement also that some disinfectants be sprayed in the helmet before the next rider's use? Whatever happens, Icheoku says, riding "OKADA" with a plastic rubberised empty bucket "helmet" is not COOOOOOOOOL!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
.jpg)
Okada: Death and disability for hire
ReplyDeleteWritten by SOLA OGUNDIPE, CHIOMA OBINNA & BLESSING BALOGUN
Sunday, 11 January 2009
OKADA, achaba, going, ina-ga, akauke or by whatever name it is known, the commercial motorcycle is a mainstay of the transportation system in Nigeria, but when it comes to notoriety on the highway, the Nigerian commercial motorcycle is undisputed king.
Talk about wanton disregard for decorum and civility, think of recklessness on the fast lane and imagine dismissal of traffic rules and regulations with impunity, and you have the ubiquitous okada rider. Generally the motorcycle is considered a relatively unsafe mode of transportation but okada riders take this infamy to unprecedented levels.
Their level of high-risk behaviour and accidents are legendary. A hallmark of the average rider of this mechanised contraption is the penchant for breaking every known traffic rule and regulation. The okada rider delights in intimidating others on the road. He often drives too fast and too recklessly. He respects nobody and obeys no law.
Not only is he stubborn and lacking of patience, he has little or zero understanding of the basics of the highway code. And he cares even less that his general lack of knowledge portends dire consequences in the form of crashes that often have fatal consequences.
He is ever competing for space with much larger vehicles on the crowded road.
He has a tendency of appearing in traffic often at breakneck speed, when the motorist least expects and this is often the genesis of the predominant causes of okada-related crashes. Without the use of any personal protective equipment in the form of helmets, gloves, jackets, boots, goggles or helmet visor or ear plugs, both the rider and passenger(s) are exposed to all the elements of the weather.
The keen sense of balance and heightened awareness, coupled with more alertness that is required to operate the machine is often wanting data indicate that motorcycle crashes, which have been on the increase, are becoming a larger portion of fatal motor vehicle deaths in Nigeria.
Compared with car crashes, motorcycle crashes are more likely to result in injury or death. An okada ride on the busy streets of Lagos, for instance, is a matter of life and death for the rider, passenger and pedestrian. Fatal and non-fatal injuries are associated with okada. Virtually on daily basis, one okada rider and his passenger suffer serious injuries ranging from fractures and lacerations to internal bleeding and severe concussion and many that can render them incapacitated for life. The head, neck, arms and legs are primary body parts affected
have learned with much regret that the negligent and careless attitude of the recalcitrant riders makes it a misadventure to take okada for granted. As much as it is a cheap and convenient mode of transportation, the okada is often an express visa to the hospital and if the occupants of the bike are really unlucky, it could be a one-way ticket to the graveyard.
Okadas, like all motorcycles elsewhere, have a far higher rate of crippling and fatal accidents per unit distance than automobiles. It is no secret that there are special wards specifically for okada accident victims at the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos (NOHL). Kano General Hospital also has a ward called the “achaba ward” where only accident victims from commercial motorcycles are hospitalised. Between 20 -30 cases are attended to daily at each of the hospitals.
An independent Sunday Vanguard survey of hospital records in Lagos showed that while about 35 per cent of automobile crashes are fatal, the rate for motorcycles is over 80 per cent. At the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos (NOHL), the commonest types of injuries sustained are abrasions and cuts, fractures of the upper and lower limbs, and injuries to limbs in patients who reported at the emergency department of that hospital
from the same hospital also indicate that there is a statistically significant effect on the risk of cervical and thoracic fractures in motorcycle crash victims. Cervical spine fractures, thoracic fractures and lumbar fractures are also recorded in most helmeted and non-helmeted victims of okada crashes at the time of their crash.
It is unarguable that most okada accidents occur because most riders are unlicenced and untrained, drunk or drugged and offer shared-rides involving two or more passengers. The poor state and design of the roads is another issue to contend with. In a mishap, numerous types of injury occur when the bike falls. Concussion and brain damage are common, as the passenger or rider could hit their head violently on vehicles, objects or the ground.
Ordinarily, this is a risk that is could be reduced by wearing proper-fitting head protection. Breakage of joints (elbows, shoulders, hips, knees and wrists), fingers, spine and neck, for the same reason. The most common breakages are the shoulder and the pelvis. In an accident, both passenger and rider are prone to suffering skin and muscle damage as the victim’s body slides across the surface at speed. Failure to wear the proper protective equipment is usually the major cause.
There is also a condition known as biker’s arm, where the nerves in the upper arm are damaged during the fall, causing a permanent paralysis of arm movement. Facial disfigurement is also a possibility in the absence of a full-face helmet as quite a number of okada accident victims have discovered.
Where the environment is concerned, the okada is a hazard of sorts. It produces excessive smoke which is a double-pronged hazard. Not only is this smoke deleterious to human health, it is also a potential safety hazard. The exhaust fumes comprise a medley of poisonous gases that are by-products of incompletely combusted mixture petrol and engine oil. It is no secret that most okada operators put petrol mixed with engine oil into their fuel tanks out of the belief that such mixture burns slower than neat petrol and is more economical as a result.
In reality, however, the engine oil/petrol mixture is a recipe for disaster because based on the fact that the fumes produced from its combustion have potential to cause harm. There are indications that these fumes have potential of causing skin cancer if there is prolonged exposure.
The typical okada operator wears no high-visibility colours or retro-reflective materials that allow them to be seen in adverse conditions of dark and wet. While wearing a helmet reduces the incidence and severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) sustained by victims of motorcycle crashes, bony injuries to the spinal column are randomly detected during hospitalisation, the non-enforcement of helmet use among both riders and passengers of commercial motorcycles contributes in no small measure to incidence of brain injury and death. Many victims do not survive to receive medical care. However, among victims who survive long enough to get hospital care, many are much more likely to die.
In a chat, Dr Olubukola. Kuti medical director, Marvelous Hospital, Oko-afo, Badagry Lagos, notes that the devastating effects of okada accidents was robbing the country of potential human resources. “The hazards is as a result of recklessness,” he noted. “People suffer severe injuries on a daily basis. There was a time a ward was specially created for okada victims at Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital, Lagos. Only okada accident victims are admitted there, but it became filled up in just three months because the series of bone injuries and compound fractures were not healing fast enough.
Many of the patients had to remain on admission for months to undergo autonomic surgery. It may interest you to know that some bone injuries can stay as long as two years in an autonomic hospital and the ward was filled up, so there was no bed space again. If people are on admission for upwards of six months to one year, and you bring in 10-20 new patients everyday to the hospital, where would they stay?”
Okada Quotes
Okada: Death and disability for hire
In an accident, both passenger and rider are prone to suffering skin and muscle damage
Not lucrative business anymore
‘This okada is not my own; it belongs to one woman like that and I usually return N 5 00 to her everyday I use the okada. I pay N500 because the okada I’m using is Jincheng; the people using Bajaj(motorcycles) usually return N700 everyday to the owners'
With crash helmets, cleanliness is the last word in safety — Experts
‘Cleaning your helmet will also give you the opportunity to check it for any damage. It is recommended that a damaged helmet be replaced as soon as possible. Remember that it is your life it is trying to protect'
The security implications of commercial motorcyclists (okada) in our society
'It is unfortunate that some of them are helping armed robbers in their escape after robbery incidents'