Babatunde Irukera, (Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)
If there is any political appointee whose profile is by each passing day been on the rise by dint of hard work and by virtue of breaking new grounds in areas people never thought consumers need to be protected, he is unarguably Mr. Babatunde Irukera, the Executive Vice-Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), formerly Consumer Protection Council (CPC).
Commenting about him recently on a media platform, Adebisi Adeyemi, a Lagos based publisher and Chief Executive Officer of Gem Communications Resources, wrote “FCCPC and its prompt response to the complaints of Nigerians has made Irukera, one of the unsung heroes of Nigerian public service. He is a technocrat that has proven that no matter the weight and expanse of responsibilities that are placed on his shoulders, he has the confidence, expertise and temperance to achieve great results. Indeed, he is one of the few Nigerians that can be trusted in public office”.
Against the foregoing backdrop, anyone that understands an Irish proverb that says “The work praises the man” do not need to be told that Irukera is not just been praised in this context for the sake of admiration. Rather, the works he has been doing in the realm of consumer protection as Nigeria’s number one consumer protector, are the achievements that are daily eulogising him.
Thus, analysed in this context, it won’t be panegyric to say that he deserves thumb up for his recent call for guiding principles for road haulage in the country, which he said is aimed at identifying what is acceptable and not tolerable in operation of haulage services to minimise road mishaps. Aptly put, it cannot be said to be a misnomer that he has taken consumer protection to the road just as he has done in other areas where people never expected.
In his usual pragmatic disposition, Irukera has at a joint stakeholders’ forum on, “Safe Haulage Operations for Sustainable Road Usage in Nigeria,” which was in partnership with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), said such guides would ensure fewer road accidents in the country.
Irukera, who noted that adopting self-regulation and adherence to the law by major stakeholders and citizens to help protect lives said there is the need for authorities to set “operational time” for vehicles to operate as witnessed in developed countries where the infrastructure is better adding that this would not only address safety but also traffic management in Nigeria, and added that “The key issues are safety and protection of life even the vehicles. Secondly is durability of the infrastructure- roads and the vehicles and third is traffic management.
“All of these three things are complicated severely by the way we carry on haulage. How can we get to a point where we are self- regulating to make sure that these vehicles do not carry weight in excess of their capacities?
“Secondly is operational time for these vehicles to operate even in developed countries where the infrastructure is better, they have time that they operate. Address safety and certainly address traffic management.”
He also said that the country should be able to operate speed limiters in haulage including tracking devices and hour counters to monitor how many times a vehicle is in operations.
He explained that there should be consensus between industry and regulators in ensuring that appropriate crew operational time and rest time is observed, and added, that the appropriate mechanisms, tools or technologies for implementing these principles would be the next stage and those are quite available.”
He further pointed out that within the first nine months of 2021, 441 accidents recorded in Ogun State involved articulated vehicles.
To those that have been following Irukera in his official activities at the FCCPC, his recent feat in the bid to strengthen his efforts towards the protection of road userswould not be a surprise to them as he has for long been demonstrating the burning desire to take consumer protection to the road. It would be recalled that in 2019, in response to a tweet about Chisco bus breaking down during the end of year festivities and abandoning helpless passengers on the road that he visited and engaged senior executives and station operatives of Chisco in Lagos on the way forward to which Chisco accepted responsibility and agreed to compensate the concerned passengers. So, it has been a journey!
Irukera’s achievements at FCCPC serves as an instructional lesson on why government should always appoint those that can literarily be described as round pegs in round holes. His unique combination of advocacy, commercial practice and reputation provides the required mutual industry and regulatory assurance and balance for a vibrant and robust consumer protection regime that promotes business stability and investment, as well consumer satisfaction and confidence.
Not only has the foregoing impeccable and unquestionable background been going for him, he was admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1990, and before the Washington State Supreme Court in 1996.
At this juncture, it is expedient to say that Irukera is not a pushover when it comes to protecting consumers in the transport sector of the economy. He has to his credit key sector related consumer protection advancements including advising the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority(NCAA) with respect to its role in sector consumer protection. He led the initiative in developing current aviation consumer protection regulations as well as the Passenger Bill of Rights. He also led the team that revised existing aviation economic regulations and superintended a comprehensive regulatory and parliamentary investigation into anti-competitive behaviour by foreign airlines. Before joining then CPC, now FCCP, he played a major consulting role in providing capacity-building and advisory services to the federal agency and other clients with respect to competition/antitrust issues. Against the foregoing backdrop, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is a leader Nigerians should watch out for, particularly as we are at the moment searching for credible leaders, more so as age is still on his side.