Nigeria

#ShowUsYourData: Ezekwesili Condemns Lagos Okada and Keke Ban, Challenges Government to Provide Statistics that Justifies Policy

A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili has challenged the Lagos state government to provide the data that justified the recent ban on commercial motorcycles and tricycles in the state.

Speaking against the backdrop of the policy which has caused untold hardships to millions of commuters in the state who struggled on Monday to get to their places of work and business, Ezekwesili in a statement issued in Monday via her Twitter account condemned the ban and urged the government to reversed it.

See tweets,

When all that Governance achieves daily is to pile all shades of hardship on Citizens with no Consequence whatsoever, it means both they and those that lead them have a very serious Denial Problem.

No country, government nor people ever solved a Problem they denied.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

When I read about the #OkadaBan #KekeBan last week, it made me tweet about the futility of trying to tackle Poverty by “hiding your Poor”.

I then promised to do a thread on why though the Problems identified are correct, the Policy Choice is sub-optimal.
Will do thread later. https://t.co/0O8hGq00Ad
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

When policy academics, experts and practitioners eulogize Evidence-Based Policy-Making, it is for a very good reason.

Such approach minimizes the kind of mess and pain that mostly anecdotal, intuitive, “seems-like-good-idea-policymaking” inflicts on Citizens. #OkadaKekeBan
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

Data anchored and empirical analysis of any Problem a person, country, organization or company wants to solve is the best pathway for maximizing success and minimizing failure.

The opposite is “just choose an option” that “appears logical “ or “looks best”.#OkadaKekeBan
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

First, can someone who knows within the @lagosstategov please release the relevant Data and analysis on Transportation and Logistics for the State that gave them confidence for this unilateral and almost “with-immediate-effect” #OkadaKekeBan?#ShowUsYourData for the Policy.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

Second, @lagosstategov should be able to show the Public the Risk Mapping and the Mitigation Plan it put in place when it decided that #OkadaKekeBan was the Best Policy Choice for tackling the generally agreed problems of those modes of transportation: Poor Safety, crimes, etc.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

Third, @lagosstategov should show that it held a Public Consultation to enable relevant groups in Lagos that would in any way be affected by its #OkadaKekeBan contribute to the Problems it set out to Solve with that Policy.

Governments exist to Solve Problems of the People.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

Fourth, now @lagosstategov can evidently see that the #OkadaKekeBan was poorly conceived and executed, please quickly retrace steps and then launch a new Policy Process to help solve the Problems of the society that the State has in mind.

But quickly end the present hardship.
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020

I will in my tweets tomorrow contribute my idea to a range of Policy Options available for tackling the obvious problems that @lagosstategov intended to solve.

The Public should at least admit that the Problems the State wishes to Solve are real and then join in doing so. ✍🏾
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) February 3, 2020