LASPA: Not Churches And Mosques Alone…

By Bola BOLAWOLE

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Last week, Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA) stirred the hornets’ nest when a letter addressed to the Lagos State branch of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria hit the newsstand. Dated Friday, July 19, 2024 and signed by its Head of Operations, Ayokunle Akinrinmisi, LASPA’s letter intimated the PFN that vehicles parked on designated streets by PFN and its members would be charged certain fees on a hourly basis while indiscriminately parked vehicles would be enforced upon; meaning, they would be clamped and or towed. Bedlam!

Why single out only churches and its members? Quickly, LASPA recanted and retraced its footsteps “to clarify the matter” in what appeared as an explanation of its true intentions or the actual information it meant to convey in its first letter, which was so unprofessionally couched. Or was LASPA’s second letter an afterthought or bowing to pressure? Before we take a look at how a news medium reported the matter, let us quickly discuss two important events on the international scene.

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The first was the decision of President Joe Biden of the United States of America not to seek re-election, thus paving the way for Vice-President Kamala Harris to have a shot at the presidency. Destiny can be uncanny! The daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father could as well become the first woman to be elected president of the US. Who saw this coming? Many had thought Hillary Clinton was it but, as they say, man proposes but God disposes. Kamala’s candidacy has immediately thrown confusion into Donald Trumps’ camp; not minding the bold face statement that Kamala would be easier to defeat than Biden!

The second event was the election of Paul Kigame for another seven-year term. Kigame has been in power since 2000, meaning he has already spent 24 years in office! How many of us are aware of that? All we hear is how he has turned Rwanda to paradise one earth. Originally, the Rwandan constitution prescribed a two-term limit for the president but in 2015, Kigame engineered a constitutional referendum that allowed him a third seven-year term and the ability to run for further two five-year terms thereafter! How many years in all? Kindly do the arithmetic!

If this man is not a budding dictator or a full-blown one already, then, I don’t know who is! The earlier we begin to interrogate Kigame’s media hype and orchestrated international acclaim, the better for all of us. Josip Broz Tito was, for decades, successful in papering over Yugoslavia’s cracks; he was charistamic as well as authoritarian and even championed and led the non-aligned movement or the Third Force, as some called it, which is now dead. But after Tito’s long reign, what fate befell Yugoslavia? After Kigame, what fate awaits Rwanda and its people?

Back to LASPA. The report in a news medium ran thus: “Lagos State Government has denied media reports that worshipers will be charged for parking around churches. According to an earlier report, in a 19 July letter by the Head of Operations of Lagos State Parking Authority (LASPA), Ayokunle Akinrimisi, which was directed to the state branch of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, the government informed the body that vehicles parked by the church and members on designated streets would be charged hourly while indiscriminately-parked vehicles would be enforced accordingly.

Akinrimisi reportedly wrote : ‘I am directed to inform your revered organization that LASPA will be commencing its on-street parking scheme at designated streets within the Lagos State metropolis. In view of this, I am using this medium to inform your eminence that vehicles parked on designated streets by the church and its members will be charged hourly and indiscriminately-parked vehicles will be enforced upon accordingly. Consequently, we advise that this piece of information be adhered to as a law-abiding organization’.

But, in a statement on Sunday (21st July), LASPA’s General Manager, Mrs. Adebisi Adelabu, said the state’s parking policy would affect all motorists who intend to utilize the agency’s newly-created 1,800 parking slots. According to her, the parking policy is designed to mitigate parking-induced traffic congestion across the state.

Adelabu further said: ‘To clarify the matter, LASPA wishes to emphasize that (the earlier) information is inaccurate and does not reflect the true intent of our communication. The Lagos State Government is not imposing parking fees on churches or worshipers for parking on streets around religious institutions. Rather, LASPA is implementing the Lagos State Parking Policy to mitigate parking-induced traffic congestion across the state. Like many other major cities worldwide facing similar challenges, Lagos is experiencing a high demand for parking space that exceeds the available supply. Therefore, we are adopting a regulated on-street parking model to better manage parking resources efficiently.

‘Earlier this year, the governor approved the introduction of regulated on-street parking, which was announced during a stakeholder’s forum held on 14 February, 2024 at the Lagos Marriott Hotel, Ikeja.

‘As part of our efforts to inform stakeholders, including religious organizations who were adequately represented at the forum, about the upcoming implementation in October, LASPA communicated with umbrella bodies representing these groups. One of such correspondences was referenced in a news release making the rounds.

‘It is important to clarify that no specific religious group is being singled out by this policy. Our aim is to ensure all stakeholders are informed and prepared for the implementation of the regulated on-street parking scheme. Additionally, Lagos State Government has designated and lane-marked suitable roads for on-street parking across major zones such as Ikeja, Surulere, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, and Lekki, creating approximately 1,800 additional parking slots.

‘The communication sent to religious institutions serves to notify them of their respective roles and the financial aspects of utilizing these designated parking lots. The management of these facilities will be overseen by concessionaires under the regulation of the Lagos State Parking Authority’ ”.

No apologies for sending out “inaccurate” information that did not “reflect the true intent” of their communication! We can all see what harm or damage can be caused when proper communication is lacking. Anyone not at the so-called stakeholders’ meeting at the Lagos Marriott Hotel, Ikeja and who never chanced upon the information on on-street packing would be at sea understanding LASPA’s first letter.

Background information on the new policy would have helped to clarify matters. Also, the letter should not have been personalized the way it was done. There was no other interpretation to give to the first letter the way it was couched and addressed than the one widely and wildly circulated. LASPA should send those writing its press statements for refresher courses. A stitch in time…

That said, I do not think LASPA has apologies to offer to those who indiscriminately park their vehicles in the wrong places. In fact, such people and organizations should be penalized – and they include churches and mosques but are not limited to those. Our people travel abroad and see how orderly those places are; they go there to enjoy the facilities and orderliness but would not obey rules and regulations that would make our own place look like those overseas countries.

Churches and their members are guilty of parking indiscriminately right on the road. This should not be so. When building your structure, provisions should be made for parking space right within your premises, not outside of it where you obstruct traffic and cause inconveniences and untold hardship to other road users. Because there is no consequence for bad behaviour, impunity, lawlessness and disorderliness reign supreme here. The law on orderliness must be enforced without minding whose ox is gored.

The mosques are even worse than the churches in some respects. On Fridays, they spread their mats and rugs right in the middle of the road to observe their Jumaat prayer. They have absolute disregard for road users. Their own comfort is what matters to them and nothing more. Worse, they get angry, even violent, if you dare demand your right of way. I read a post recently of a woman who ran into a crowd of such worshipers in Lagos and was not only ordered to detour, she was also forced to cover her head before being allowed to take another route out of the place. Such madness!

Events centres are another group of lawless people whose customers park their vehicles indiscriminately. Who approved and why approve such places in the first instance? Are the agents and officers of the Lagos State Government not the culprits? The rot in those agencies stinks to high heavens! Along the streets where I have my church at Owo-ade and Bakare street, Off Ori-ola street, Alapere, Ketu, houses newly constructed have no parking space within their premises. They park right in the streets! Who gave them approval? Is it not the Lagos State Government?

Not all buildings in Lagos comply with building regulations: How do they cut the corners? The depth of corruption in the Lagos building sector cannot be washed away by the sea! The jungle and urban slum that Lagos has become is due to the lawlessness of the citizens as well as the corruption embedded in the Lagos State government machinery. Lagos State Government itself builds roads without making adequate provisions – or none at all – for bus stops and parks. So, motorists park indiscriminately everywhere!

Most of the time, the lawlessness of the “Danfo” drivers, the Kurupes and Keke Marwas, not to talk of the Okadas, can be excused because you ask yourself, “Where are the bus stops and parks designated for them by the Lagos State Government”? The new bridge at Pen Cinema, Agege, where I live, has become an eyesore and a den of robbers. The situation there is worse than Fela’s Ojuelegba where confusion breaks bones! No provisions for bus stops and parks.

Lagos state Government, then, must first remove the log in its own eyes before it can point at the speck in the eyes of others.

*Former Editor of PUNCH newspapers, Chairman of its Editorial Board and Deputy Editor-in-chief, BOLAWOLE was also the Managing Director/ Editor-in-chief of THE WESTERNER newsmagazine. He writes the ON THE LORD’S DAY column in the Sunday Tribune and TREASURES column in New Telegraph newspaper on Wednesdays. He is also a public affairs analyst on radio and television.