y dont nigeria focus their enegy on looking fo ways to make the power sector work at least so we can have a beta power supply.

the development is good but thats not our top priority

I have tasted it already. Two days ago,I just climbed down from my office, stopped a bike man to carry me to the Mosque for Jumaat. The man just gave me a helmet to put on. He explained to me the new policy, and I had the thing tied to my head.

The policy, I think, is very commendable, but I have seen many vital points raised here, from health implications to ritual potential. These points are very genuine, but somebody has already proferred a better way out: If you fear the health/ritual implications, buy your own and have it with you. That's a very good defence.

I support the policy.

I hate this foolish law by the FRSC.The policy is too unhygienic.Imagine different people putting on one helmet for about 10 months and you now putting it on.One thing i notice in my area is that all Okada rider give the passenger their own old helmet and they use the new one.Imagine different passenger i.e Eleran,Elepo,Eleja,Crase man,thief,419,police,drunkard,mental person etc.Me don vow say i no go enter any Okada again so far the law is still active.Imagine somebody dissapear from bike after putting on the helmet at Ojudu yesterday.Guys be careful,2009 wont be our Ending of Joy.

owner:

I hate this foolish law by the FRSC.The policy is too unhygienic.Imagine different people putting on one helmet for about 10 months and you now putting it on.One thing i notice in my area is that all Okada rider give the passenger their own old helmet and they use the new one.Imagine different passenger i.e Eleran,Elepo,Eleja,Crase man,thief,419,police,drunkard,mental person etc.Me don vow say i no go enter any Okada again so far the law is still active.Imagine somebody dissapear from bike after putting on the helmet at Ojudu yesterday.Guys be careful,2009 wont be our Ending of Joy.

This is funny, I suggest you buy one for safety reasons.As for family journey enter molue  order wise one Helment is ok for the whole family.

@ Owner:

I understand the hygiene issue - no one wants to put on a reeking, sweat-soaked helmet that's been on hundreds of scabby, crusty scalps.

So the answer is, either buy your own, or don't use taxi cycles, it's simple.
What I'd consider foolish, would be jumping on a bike, without taking adequate steps to protect your skull, should you comme off that bike. Don't forget, you're not in control of the bike - the rider is, so why put your life in his hands?

^*Sighs.

it just cannot work, govt is supposed to construct a side and narrow road for okada riders,i don't see how this helmet thing can work.It's govt's failure  that okada exxists in the first place.
Most of the okada victims in hospitals are majorly not head injuries.the accidents occurs as a complete recklessness of the Otondo and aboki riders who don't even have the slightest idea of how to ride okada.
As a matter of fact,all the okada riders i saw today never tied the helmet rope round their chins.So if any accident were to happen,the helmets would fall off easily and the heads woiuld still have suffered injury.CONFUSED PPLE IN POWER

^^^ I don't see how the construction of narrow roads has anything to do with protecting your skull from fracture, in the event of a fall.
Are these side and narrow roads made of foam?

Regardless, Nigerians will generally find something to gripe about, if it's not roads, it's juju, witchcraft etc.

Naija people.

Even top government officials in the UK ride on their bicycles and it is against the law if you ride on a bicycle without a protective helmet, so they use it, now, they introduce the same thing in Naija and people have become to make nonsense comments, isint it for your safety? Between your head falling into somebodies pot of soup or being used for ritual and the head getting crushed and flat by a moving molue, which one will you prefer?

at least for the pot of soup, it is still useful, but when it is crushed, noone will even dare want it for ritual or for pot of soup.

bronx_dog:

Between your head falling into somebodies pot of soup or being used for ritual and the head getting crushed and flat by a moving molue, which one will you prefer?

His_Grace, that had me cracking up!

Hmm, I've heard of flat-packed furniture from the likes of Ikea, but a flat-packed head? 

Lets not make this discussion one-sided. A lot of comments I see here a made by people that don't use or rarely use Okada. For people that use it on a daily basis, in as much as it is a safety precaution, the fact that one gets on an okada and is handed an engineer's helmet that is so dirty he can't even use it to wipe his butt. That is really not encouraging. 80% of helmets used in Lagos cannot even protect you from a head butt from me. The FRSC should provide proper riding helmets at a subsidised rate to registered okada riders that take their machines through proper MOT tests, then we would have a headway.

@bronxdog,
please don't bring UK matter into this one because it's an entirely different ball game.Most of UK roads have a separate mapped side  for people riding bicycles and the helmets they use for riding bikes are not engineering helmets like the one they use here.
However,they don't use motocycle and bicycles for commercial purposes.
Govt should not even have allowed motocycles for commercial purpose in the first place.A country intending to be among the 20 most industrialised nations shdn't be in this situation.

Have u seen where people rent  helmets in the UK?How on earth would  people be sharing the same helmets or passengers carrying helmets around?

just this morning I've seen more people wearing mining helmets, engineering helmets and other plastic contraptions than people actually using motorcycle helmet,

Am not thrilled by these policy statements. This has been said before and after some months, nothing. Dead on arrival, the actual beneficiaries are those who import them and the police and other law enforcement guys who jump into implementing only for the kickbacks from defaulters. I don't know why poor people's policies always kick off sharp sharp. If it is a rich thief in Govt, his name will remain 'name withheld' until we forget the crime sef.

Plateau State is almost about to enforce it while Rukuba Barracks had long ago. But the cost of those helmets will impoverish these guys the more or they pass it along to customers who may contact all these head/hair diseases. Guys watch out or better still buy yours. Most importantly, head injuries are not much seen when accidents happen. Why protecting the heads, when the spots are knees, chins and elbows? Is this not applying medicine in the wrong place, people?

Great idea.

moondust:

just this morning I've seen more people wearing mining helmets, engineering helmets and other plastic contraptions than people actually using motorcycle helmet,

don't give frsc any ideas, they may decide to import their particular brand of helmet and impose it on okada riders ( at a token fee of n10000)

as to the health thing, simple solution - at least for the man - buy a bandanna that you will tie on whenever you ride an okada. ( i sometimes have to do that when i'm at sites and have to borrow suspect safety helmets

The FRSC helmet law has come to stay _{though it may die after a while like the reflective sticker one}
If you are a constant okada rider, i don't think anyone will frown at you if you have your own personal helmet. That way you wouldn't need to be wearing nylon bags over your head or be afraid of disappearing when you ride an okada

I've had experience of using Okada's helmet which brutally ended the passengers head in a Pot,not a joke,its a serious issue,so i urge you guys to be careful.

^^^ Please elaborate, and be factual.

@alex, Come on, ? Head in a pot? Sheesh, Nigerians.
Seun, abeg don't let foreigners see this thread oh!

Alex, your statement lacks so much credibility, even an idiot child could pick holes in it.

It's people like yourself that make a mockery of our country.
Any non-Nigerian reading what you've written, will think we're a nation of savages.
When they discover you're a Nigerian, and rightfully ask you questions of lions, witchcraft and cannibalism, you get all defensive!

Jeeze, get real for once, and keep your posts factual!
I spent 13 years in Nigeria, and never once encountered a single witch or wizard.

cvibe:

The FRSC helmet law has come to stay _{though it may die after a while like the reflective sticker one}
If you are a constant okada rider, i don't think anyone will frown at you if you have your own personal helmet. That way you wouldn't need to be wearing nylon bags over your head or be afraid of disappearing when you ride an okada

All vehicles come with factory installed reflectors. So there was really no need for people to buy reflector for their vehicles.

Heads do not come with "heaven installed" helmets  .

Let those who are "aggrieved"  by this new policy thinkn this thru properly and begin to see the beauty of the policy.

Does it really matter who the importer is?
Did people not bad mouth BRT at inception?
Why are Nigerians so NEGATIVE about things that concern their safety?

By way, a lot of these OKADA riders are not as impoverished as we think.  
There is this guy in my neighbourhood who started 2 years ago with one bike. Today he has bought about 4? It has become a major business for them.  

THE BOTTOM LINE REMAINS:
[size=18pt]BUY YOUR HELMET IF YOU CANNOT STICK THE OKADA RIDERS'[/size]

@keyremotes, Like i said before, a lot of people are saying this from the perspective of car owners. Try using okada as primary short haul transportation and you will understand. The govt has misplaced priorities. Get the roads in good condition dammit!!!!!

The scheme will create a whole new viable sector for crash helmet cleaning and sanitizing,as well as manufacturing and sells of cheap disposal helmets underlays for passengers protections against infections,just like the more dangerous pubic hair clippers use in salons.

A whole new connections and opportunities in quest for sanity which is long over due.We got to learn to live properly.Understanding the mechanism of a motor bike will make u see the need for bike gears.riding a motor bike on  public roads without crash helmet is a traffic offense in normal societies,worst than driving a car without a seat belt.

Nigeria need leaders like Fashola,revolutionary in democrazy.

Nigeria is not a country where one can just take some principles from textbooks and apply. Ask Soludo with his monetisation policy. Whats seems ideal needs a second thought before applying here in Naija. Yes helmets are good and safe but check statistics, there are more fatal accidents caused by petrol tankers and danfo buses than Okada riders.

Government should better do something about the passengers that are asked to wear helmets too. Here in Enugu, if you (a passenger) is caught holding the helmet on your hand( for a very good reason), you will be charged a fine of N2,000. Why must we wear helmet? is it compulsory? This is a very bad idea. Look at it my way, now there is use of public helmet, there would certainly be spread of different kinds of hair diseases. For instance, hair lice, dandruff, ringworm and so on. Government please do something about this. We the ladies, we take about 1.5hrs making and combing up our hair and the minute we go on byke, we are given a dirty helmet, not only about the diseases that might be in it, it scatters our beautifully arranged hair. Government i dey beg una ooooo. Maybe make una do Iron umbrella, that one will be better .

By the way, almost all the accidents i've seen that have occured here in enugu doesnt have to do with lack of helmet. Most of the time,its buses hitting buses, or lorries hitting cars or bykes hitting tankers not due to lack of helmet ooooo. Make una open una eyes well

I think a good way to do these things is for government to make beautiful iron caps for individuals. Iron caps of different colours. Not the one that makes us look like "Chelsea GoalKeeper"

sojioguns:

Nigeria is not a country where one can just take some principles from textbooks and apply. Ask Soludo with his monetisation policy. Whats seems ideal needs a second thought before applying here in Naija. Yes helmets are good and safe but check statistics, there are more fatal accidents caused by petrol tankers and danfo buses than Okada riders.

Dere I:

Government should better do something about the passengers that are asked to wear helmets too. Here in Enugu, if you (a passenger) is caught holding the helmet on your hand( for a very good reason), you will be charged a fine of N2,000. Why must we wear helmet? is it compulsory? This is a very bad idea. Look at it my way, now there is use of public helmet, there would certainly be spread of different kinds of hair diseases. For instance, hair lice, dandruff, ringworm and so on. Government please do something about this. We the ladies, we take about 1.5hrs making and combing up our hair and the minute we go on byke, we are given a dirty helmet, not only about the diseases that might be in it, it scatters our beautifully arranged hair. Government i dey beg una ooooo. Maybe make una do Iron umbrella, that one will be better .

GET YOUR HELMET.

redsun:

The scheme will create a whole new viable sector for crash helmet cleaning and sanitizing,as well as manufacturing and sells of cheap disposal helmets underlays for passengers protections against infections,just like the more dangerous pubic hair clippers use in salons.

A whole new connections and opportunities in quest for sanity which is long over due.We got to learn to live properly.Understanding the mechanism of a motor bike will make u see the need for bike gears.riding a motor bike on  public roads without crash helmet is a traffic offense in normal societies,worst than driving a car without a seat belt.

Nigeria need leaders like Fashola,revolutionary in democrazy.

NOW YOU'RE TALKING.
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND FOR PEOPLE WITH VISION.

WHILE THE MAJORITY WILL COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LAW. THE MINORITY WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE AND PROSPER BIG TIME.

I THINK I WILL FOLLOW THIS AND SEE WHAT I CAN MAKE OUT OF IT.

Now you are showing your true colour keyremotes. I always knew there was something fishy about you. Sure you don't work with the FRSC?

keyremotes:

GET YOUR HELMET.

How will you feel about carrying a helmet everywhere you are going to? To school, to church, to an important meeting, to a friends' house, to picnic or even to the bank? It sucks!!!