The Edo State Government has firmly resolved to bring back the sacredness of the public space in the state by outlawing the use of public school premises, roads and other public places for social events.

Making the announcement on Tuesday in Benin City, the Commissioner of Communication and Orientation, Hon Paul Ohombamu, in a press statement stressed that the government frowns at the use of public spaces for social events and would not accept it.

The statement read in part: “By our ancestry as Edo people, we have always shown the example of public order and decency which others have emulated over the years and this administration is determined to make Edo a model of magnificence and beauty once again.”

The statement also warned that “henceforth, any violation of this decision of government will be dealt with in accordance with extant laws.” It tasked all agencies of government to enforce compliance.

News Express reports that on every given weekend in recent years, roads and public school premises in Edo are packed full in the evenings with a sea of people involved in one social event or the other. And towards the late evenings as people pour out from the events, heavy traffic becomes the order of the evening in most public areas, as roads are blocked by honking cars struggling to make their way home as quickly as possible.

The new directive from the State Government forms a continuation of the resolve by the new administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki to make the state a model of civilisation. The city centre, Ring Road, is wearing a new look as bus stops and other road side businesses have been cleared from the area, giving it a neater and saner look. There’s no more the headache of traffic hold ups in the city centre as people can be seen walking freely to their various destinations on every given day around the Ring Road.

Taxi and bus drivers are now required to park their cars hundreds of yards away from the market premises.

Other major market areas and junctions like the Eki-Osa market area have similarly been freed of traffic-causing road side businesses and makeshift bus parks.

Traffic lights have sprung up over these market areas, overlooking mobile courts newly set up to try traffic offenders, while some hapless car drivers, huddled under the canopies of the courts, can be seen listening to their offences or trying to appeal for lesser fines.

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