A group known as Keke Owners And Riders Association of Nigeria (KORAN), has vowed to bring sanity to the operations of Kekenapep on the road. To that end, the body over the weekend organized a one-day sensitization workshop for its members in Port Harcourt.
Addressing the gathering, the chairman of KORAN, Rivers State Chapter, Mr. John Ademola said through the keke operations over 60 million Nigeria have gained employment, with many acquiring skills in the assembly of Keke-Napep across the country.
According to the KORAN chairman, youth restiveness and other sundry crimes have been eradicated in the country, thereby achieving the vision of the establishment of the Keke-Napep programme by the federal government in 2002.
On the problem of congestion on the road, Mr. Ademola said his association has been trying its best to tackle the challenge by setting up task-forces. The KORAN boss also said that code numbers have been allocated to keke operators to monitor or regulate their operations, noting that the threat by the Rivers State government to totally ban keke from operating is affecting their effective control of the sub-sector. He urged the government to support KORAN decongests the roads, instead of planning an outright ban on their operations.
In a chat with journalists shortly after the workshop, the unit chairman of KORAN, Elelenwo/Slaughter/Akpajo, Mr. Julius Ejekhine who said it is necessary to have training for keke operators periodically, lamented that the activities of communities and local government councils in controlling keke operators have hampered their business.
He expressed confidence that after the training, there will be total law and order on the roads, adding that if sanity is brought to the roads, everybody will be happy for it.
Ejekhine appealed to government to discard the idea of trying to ban the operations of keke on the road, since according to him, unemployment in the state and the country as a whole has been reduced to the barest minimum by virtue of keke operations.
The KORAN unit chairman said he is calling on the government and all well-meaning Nigerians to encourage the keke transport scheme, for the betterment of the nation.
Our correspondent who covered the seminar, reported that Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) led by Deputy Corps Marshall, Mrs. Patricia Emordi, Head of Administration Zone 6 on behalf of the Zonal Commanding Officer FRSC zone 6, Mr. Attah Yakubu, delivered lecture at the event.
Highlight of the programme was a question and answer session where keke riders (operators) aired their views and received clarifications from the FRSC officers. ###
Barth Ndu
