Apart from indiscriminate waste disposal, beggars-nuisance and uncoordinated/unplanned cities, another public issue that constitutes and defaces the cities no matter how highly planned is the issue of touting. Until the government of Imo State led by Senator Hope Uzodinma takes drastic measures to curbing the menace of touting in the metropolis, all the urban renewal, especially its junction/roundabout renewal would have been effort in futility.
In Imo, there are few places that make the state look like a city; places like Wetheral, Douglas, Ikenegbu Layout, Amakohia, World bank, Egbu roads need to maintain the aesthetics for which a state/city is known. Since the creation of Imo state in February 3rd, 1976 under the leadership of the military ruler of Nigeria, Murtala Mohammed, all the leaders both military and civilians, starting from Ndubuisi Kanu, Adekunle Lawal, Sunday Ajibade Adenihun, Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe, Ike Nwachukwu, Allison Amakoduna Madueke, Amadi Ikwechegh, Anthony E. Oguguo, Evan Enwerem, James N.J. Aneke, Tanko Zubairu, Achike Udenwa, Ikedi Ohakim, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, Emeka Ihedioha and the present Hope Uzodinma, every effort has been made to ensure that the metropolis wears the look that should make the state what it should be.
The irritating, nauseating and frustrating atmosphere created by these touts who are found at every nooks and crannies of the state, especially at motor parks, bus-stops, dragging the steering with commercial bus drivers has come to a point that if the government of the day does not take proactive measure to curbing their excesses, they will turn the roundabouts to ghetto of sort and smear the architectural renewal design to the mire. The unfortunate part of it is that some of them brandish identity cards whose validity have expired.
The government must begin to develop a template, if not a ministry to flush these touts out of the streets before they cause more harm than envisaged because at any point in time, they drop the name of government officials as their principals to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public. Government should no longer tolerate any form of molestation, harassment and intimidation from criminals who constitute nuisance in the guise of government agents to defraud the unsuspecting public.
Imo state government can borrow a leaf from Anambra State government that last year launched the “Operation Anti-street Touting” across the state to arrest and persecute offenders.
The only way to coordinate and curtail this menace of touting is for the government to create isolated parks for commercial movements/drivers, so that the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) will be able to document the operations of the touts in the state. With the indiscriminate parks here and there, it will be difficult to stop the unholy and uncivilized activities of the touts.
The other day, while I driving along Wetheral road, at Fire Service to be precise, I saw, suddenly some group of men forcefully grabbed the steering of one of the commercial drivers, I was jolted out of my concentration, I pulled over to find out who they were, when the driver gained freedom from their grip by the intervention of other drivers, I was told they were unknown touts requesting for emblems/tickets. Before I could turn to speak to the so-called touts, I could not see their shadows, they disappear into the crowd.
If they are not checked, they could use that method/ploy to snatch unsuspecting motorists’ vehicles and disappear to unknown destinations. The government should set up its internal agents to monitor the activities of these criminal elements before it gets too late because for a dark street, sunshine is most welcome. Not only will sanity be returned to the streets but lives will also be saved. Addressing the menace would have prevented fisticuffs that could lead to death. That death can be circumvented today by doing the needful.
If the state government is committed to solving the age-long traffic grid-lock, it must address the issue of touting, especially that the touts jump into the steering of the articulated vehicles, dragging with the drivers. Sometimes, accident occurs killing pedestrians and road traders.
