At times I wonder if we have a competent government that truly cares about the welfare of its people. The activities of the social miscreants popularly called "area boys" in Lagos state has gone beyond what the citizens can handle. Area boys dominate almost all parking lots and bus stops in Lagos, collecting illegal toll from commercial bus drivers. The most annoying thing is that these boys can go to the extent of inflicting physical injuries on bus conductors /drivers or even damage or remove external parts of the vehicle, if they refuse to give them money. In most cases, police officers are witness to such lawless act yet they feel so unconcerned, after all they are guilty of the same offence. Many protest and appeal has been carried out by the commercial bus operators, but nothing comes out of it.
In order to find a lasting solution to this social menace, I try to ask myself some fundamental questions i.e. Is our government not capable enough to handle this situation? Is it that they are not concern about our welfare? Or is there any agreement between these area boys and the Lagos state government?
If these questions are sincerely answered, Lagosians will have a sigh of relief because we the commuters bear the brunt of the whole issue. The driver will have to increase transport fare so as to consolidate the money collected from him by the area boys.
The Lagos state government should make it a point of duty to act fast.
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