Okada riders lament over proposed ban
Posted by admin | 9 years ago | 2,918 times
“Why must it always be us every day? What have we done to the Government that they are just frustrating us. Yet, we were the ones they used for their election campaigns, and now after the elections they have dumped us, why are the State and Federal governments frustrating us?”
Those were words of lamentations by William Njoku, a commercial motorcyclist (Okada). He spoke to Factnewsonline at Ojodu/Berger area of Lagos State. He was reacting to a recent Federal Government’s proposal to ban-commercial motorcycle operators in all states in the country. The intended ban was proposed by the National Council on Transport after its annual conference in Enugu State which was endorsed by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar.
The Council in a statement it released last Saturday stated that the ban was one of the measures it was proposing towards adequate provision of safe and secure transportation in the country. It went on to advise all states in the country to henceforth discourage the use of commercial motorcycles as a means of public transportation.
“All states and the Federal Capital Territory have therefore been advised to establish a public transport system that ensures strict regulation of the operation of public passenger transportation system through a well-articulated management system for enhanced safety, security, effective and efficient service delivery,” the statement said.
The statement went on to suggest that all commercial vehicles should be properly registered in each state while their enumeration should be carried out periodically to enhance safety and security.
Njoku was irked by the proposal, just like many of his colleagues who bared their minds on the proposal. He told Factnewsonline that they were not all illiterates that they only took to the business because there was nothing else they could do.
He warned the way government was going, it should prepare for high rate of armed robbery in the country.
Speaking further, Njoku explained: “They said we should go into Agriculture, but how many of their children can do that? Their children are all abroad studying, while our children are here suffering. What the government does is whenever they want to contest elections they reduce school fees but immediately after election they will increase it again. It is not fair at all” he said.
He pleaded with government to rethink the decision and to know that it would greatly compound the problems of many of them in the business.
“It will turn many of us here into robbers because most of us have families that we are taking care of” he added.
Almost all the Okada riders that Factnewsonline spoke to aired their views, insisting that the decision was a wrong one. Olaleke Taiwo was livid: “Government should prepare for high rate of robbery in the nation we will attack them more than Boko Haram. We are ready for them, the result of this Boko Haram insurgency is as a result of bitterness in the minds of frustrated people, and government is not being fair to the poor. When the rich man’s children are going to school, I will do the worse because I can’t see my children stay at home while they arm their children with good education to ride over our own cj
children” he stated.
“It is an unfair treatment’ he continued ‘the government keeps talking about Okada riders every day, not that they are providing something in exchange for the Okada, No! In Lagos State for instance, the cost for taxi is 2.5million and if you are not able to pay that money they will collect it from you not even minding the previous money you have paid. I have a friend that hired a taxi from the State government, he was unable to pay because he fell sick, they collected it from him without refunding him the initial 2million? Is such treatment fair?”
“Is banning Okada the nation’s problem? There are so many problems the government needs to tackle not Okada. People venture into ridding Okada, not because they like it, but because there are no meaningful jobs to earn a living” he concluded.
Sunday Onche, another commercial motorcyclist holds similar views: "Is unfair that governments are not really looking at the way we are being maltreated, here in Lagos State, how illegal authorities come here to extort money from us by force. The government has done nothing to stop them. We pay N780 on a daily bases, not that we want to pay but because we are being forced to pay. So am pleading that government should have a rethink of their decision or better still provide something meaningful in the exchange for Okada business.
However, there were some that reasoned with government. “Banning Okada is not bad I agree with the government because there are so many dangers attached to it, some have lost their lives untimely, some have been hospitalised for years. Governments should provide us with alternatives, we are not happy ridding Okada” said Ibrahim Wada who described himself as a Mass Communication graduate.
“I have my certificate at home but I have not been able to use it because there are no jobs. If the Federal government is baning Okada, they should please provide alternatives” he said.
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