The Kwara State government has re-defined the operations of commercial motorcycle operators in the state, promising them humane treatment but with a caveat that they should not breech the state's new rules and regulations on their operations.

Already, the state government has streamlined the activities of the unions from the initial 65. Besides, it has produced and distributed to the cyclists, a single uniform just as certificates of operations have been issued them in order to distinguish them from quacks.

The seven recognised groups are: Express Riders, Heritage Riders, Nigeria Union of Roads Transports Workers, (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, (RTEAN), Champions Riders, Kwara Riders and Safety Riders.

According to Governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed during the launching of the new reflective jackets for the operators, the state government, "a listening one", would continually prefer the option of dialogue to violence over any sensitive issue.

Ahmed, represented at the event by the Head of Service Alhaji Dabarako Mohmmed, said: "The present administration is a listening one. We are ever ready for prompt improvement of socio-economic status of the people of the state. The government will ensure that all the dividends of democracy get to all the law abiding and peaceful people.

"What we are doing today has made it an offence for any one henceforth to operate motorcycle as a commercial venture in the state without strict compliance with the rules and regulations we have unveiled to you. But again, you all have the duty to expose all those are not your authentic members in order for them not to be bad eggs."

Meanwhile, the government will soon commence the rehabilitation of Ajasse-Ipo-Offa-Erin-Ile federal road which links the state to Osun State, in the first quarter of 2013 as an indication of government's commitment to easing challenges of motorists and commuters on the road.

Ahmed who gave this assurance in Offa, Oyun Local Council during the commissioning of Offa Descendants Union Town Hall added: "Preliminary assessment and engineering have been completed on the road. We are awaiting federal government's nod on mode of the award and execution".

Ahmed who reiterated his administration's commitment towards completion of on-going projects in the state, said: "My administration has embarked on a comprehensive reconstruction of the Offa General Hospital in order to boost human capital through the healthy well-being of our people".

He praised the Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Mohammed Gbadamosi and Offa community for completing the town hall project which he described as a "show piece in modern architecture".

Over 3,000 commercial cyclists converged at the Banquet Hall venue of the event, grounding the activities of the cyclists for the next two hours the programme lasted.

It would be recalled that the state government a few months ago had outlawed the activities of the commercial motorcyclists in some parts of Ilorin, the state's capital. The announcement had led to a spontaneous protest by the operators. The government had cited the need to stem robbery cases linked with the riders in the town.

Speaking at the event, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Labour Matters, Bisi Fakayode said while the new uniform would enhance easier identification of the cyclists, the biometric exercise already conducted for them by the state's government has helped in sifting "the fake riders from the original ones."

Fakayode, while shedding more lights on the loan scheme of the state government, encouraged the motorcyclists to constitute themselves into recognisable groups towards enabling them to benefit from the kind gestures of the government.