BOILING COCKTAIL KINGS OF THE ROAD If there is anything we know how to do in Nigeria, it is to criticize.

And those who call themselves critics have never offered any solution to the problems bedevilling the country. I have discovered that almost every Nigerian is a king in his small territory. Sometimes these territories are not actually theirs. They can hijack a space and forcefully convert it into theirs. The ones that I cannot come to terms with are the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Ile Ife branch that have taken over the former toll gate area and converted it into a garage for buses going to Ibadan. As if that is not enough, they have decided to be stopping all the buses plying that federal highway and force the passengers to disembark and enter their buses. I was once on a ride with a colleague in his car when we noticed a couple of our students stranded at the toll gate. We pulled over to offer them a ride. Lo and behold, from out of the blues came some members of the union asking the students to come down and attempting to deflate the tyres of the car. Shocked by this action, I approached a couple of Police officers who were doing what they know how to do best (collecting N20 from motorists) on the other side of the road. But it came as a shocker to me when the officers told me they cannot do anything about it. Now it has taken an ugly dimension because the members of the union have vowed not to allow any commercial vehicle, be it bus or motorcycle to pass the toll gate to the roundabout on the expressway going to Ibadan from Akure. They will ask all the passengers to alight and join their buses going to Ibadan or trek to the roundabout. This is a drawback to businesses beyond the toll gate. There is a steel smelting company at Fashina and there is a university at Ipetumodu with a good number of the manpower dwelling in Ile Ife. Is it okay for members of a union to deny these people freedom of movement to and from their work places? The other day, an elderly man driving one of the commercial buses said while we drove pass the toll gate that they are mobilizing to have a faceoff with the union members. Whatever he meant by that statement, it sure does not sound like an empty threat. I guess they must be planning something that might not be peasant to the ears when unleashed. It is high time the government stepped into this matter. A federal highway is not a motor park and should not be converted into one. It is obvious that the excesses of these union guys will continue unchecked. My prayer is that some form of remedy should be found before a bloody confrontation between the union members and angry road users lead to loss of lives.