For those who navigate the chaotic streets of Nigeria’s commercial centre, Lagos, it can seem that the city was designed to test the patience of commuters.
Traffic jams stretching for kilometres and drivers desperate to reach their destinations are common features of this sprawling metropolis. In the heat and confusion, dangerous driving often becomes the order of the day — with many choosing to drive against the flow of traffic.
Between January and May last year, 2 785 people were arrested for this offence — which sometimes proves fatal. The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (Lastma) says at least one pedestrian is knocked down and killed daily by those driving against the traffic.
Now, the department is striking back at irresponsible drivers — by making them go for psychiatric tests.
Individuals who are caught travelling into oncoming traffic are required to obtain a certificate of mental fitness from a government-approved psychiatric hospital. The rationale? That only people who are mentally unstable would engage in such a high-risk activity.
Those who fail the test normally have their driver’s licenses withdrawn.
Seven of the first 100 people made to undergo testing were found to be “insane”. So far more than 3 000 individuals have been examined.
Officials appear to hope that the mere threat of being put on the couch will prompt reckless commuters to change their ways.
“Everyone wants to avoid the psychiatrist,” says Muiz Banire, Lagos state commissioner for transport
But to date, there has been only a slight drop in the number of people caught violating traffic laws.
Critics also accuse Lastma of being overly enthusiastic in its campaign to curb reckless behaviour on the roads.
“Lastma has been a terror on the road to Lagosians — they have been arresting people indiscriminately,” says Chukwu Ezeala, a human rights lawyer who has himself been requested to undergo psychiatric testing. Ezeala refused and took the matter to court, claiming that the new policy was illegal.
“Whoever says someone is not sane, the onus lies on him to prove [that]. They should not ask you to go and prove that you are sane,” he says.
“That law must be removed … The court must help us stop them. In our culture, if you are insane or for any reason you have gone for [a] psychiatric test, it has a dent on you.”
Annie Davies is also critical of the policy, having been the victim of robbers who went from car to car robbing motorists held up in a traffic jam. She believes things might have turned out differently if she had driven against the traffic.
“I believe the right atmosphere for compliance ought to be provided before punitive measures are put in place,” she said.
Her concerns are echoed by others, who would prefer to see authorities putting their energies into improving the Lagos road system. However, city officials have avoided taking responsibility for road maintenance: they say that task belongs to central government. Since the seat of Nigeria’s government was moved to Abuja a decade ago, little attention has been paid to infrastructure in Lagos.
The city’s woes have been compounded by rapid expansion. With a population of about 14-million, Lagos is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.
All this means little to harassed commuters, however, who may find that psychiatric testing does little more than drive them to distraction. — IPS