From Subair Mohammed, 'Yomi Ayeleso and
Thousands of road users were stranded at various bus stations across Lagos State as the state
Sunday Tribune gathered that many
A newspaper vendor at
'As a result of the ban, people were at the bus stop for hours with no okada in sight. This was as a result of the raid carried out earlier in the day by officials of the
'They even seized an okada from a policeman. They ordered the policeman to get off the motorcycle with his passenger and took it away.
'If a weekend can be this bad as a result of the restriction, what would weekdays look like? Inasmuch as I hold that the ban is for the general good of
'If Lagos State is not designed for motorcycles, what is the government doing to assure residents of a meaningful life? They cannot be subjecting us to hardship and impoverishing residents all in the name of turning the state into a mega city. People of
'They banned okada to impoverish us, create elitist state'
A commuter stranded at
He said with the ban, Governor
'I wonder why out of the multiple problems confronting
'I have been standing here in the sun for many hours to get an okada to my residence in Ikeja, but the task force did not allow them to operate. I am forced to face the Ikeja traffic.
'If Lagos State is truly for all of us, there is no reason for the ban. Why should the government stop some set of people from engaging in their lawful business? Why should they affect people's lives negatively in the name of adding aesthetic value to the state? The Lagos State government should consider the poor and the less privileged whose daily survival revolve around okada and keke.
Ban is justified -
In spite of the reduction in his income occasioned by the ban, chairman of the
Rasheed told
He said, 'although the number of our riders has depleted in the first day of enforcing the ban, the administration of Governor
'Neither the children of
'So, now that the ban has taken effect, there is nothing we can do other than to comply. For us, we are concerned about earning a living and not considering other factors that could jeopardise the interest of other residents.
'As someone that has been a unionist collecting okada riders' toll for decades, I can tell you authoritatively, that okada riders are not trained in the art of riding.
Many of them found themselves in the riding business as a result of the pitiable economic situation in the country.'
Rasheed disclosed that the effect of the ban would only be felt for a short period of time by both riders and commuters, adding that it would have no negative implications, except on those that refuse to seek legitimate means of livelihood.
'The ban will have no negative impacts at all. For commuters, the BRT are there and for riders, many have gone back to their roots. The Northerners, among them have gone back to the North, while those that came from the neighbouring South-West states have also gone back.
'But for those of us that have nowhere to go, there is no alternative than to go back to our primary callings. I was into POP plastering, but when I discovered that the job was not yielding enough income as I expected, I dropped it to join okada union.'
We operate in fear, watchfulness -
An okada rider, Odofin Sikiru, who shuttles between Ikotun and
Sikiru said since the start of the day, he operated along the axis in fear and in watchfulness.
He said, 'I operate along this route being watchful of the
'Considering the stress and level of unemployment that accompany the ban, the Lagos State government should reconsider its decision to ban okada and keke from operating in the state.
'Many residents in this axis rely on okada and keke to beat the traffic gridlock the LCDA is known for. But with the ban, how will they cope? Government said okada riders and keke operators are reckless on the road, but are the laws not there to sanction erring riders? How can they punish all of us for the misdeed of few?'
Meanwhile, efforts by
Don't take food out of our mouths, okada/keke operators beg Sanwo-Olu
Some operators of commercial motorcycles and tricycles have said that the ban on their operations by
The operators said this while speaking with the
They added that the government's plan would also affect them and their families in negative ways.
They urged the government to be lenient with them and give them more time to think of other positive things they could engage to take care of their families.
They said operating commercial motorcycles and tricycles was their last resort to survive and stay away from crimes.
An okada operator,
Daniel, who said he is a marine engineer, added that the government should give more time to the operators, maintaining that many of them took to okada business to survive 'for the main time.'
Daniel said: 'If this is what we get from the government that we stayed in the sun and rain to vote for, it is very bad. This is where we get our daily bread, feed our families and pay our children's school fees.
'Government is taking the bread out of our mouths. I am a graduate by the Grace of God, but I don't have a job. I trained and graduated as a marine engineer, but because there is no job, I have to use this to take care of my family for the main time, till when God will answer me.
'Nobody wants to do okada. It is just a matter of life and death. The government should give us time.'
According to him, there are about nine okada riders in his park that are graduates.
He said they were surviving on it, instead of being a nuisance to people and to stay away from crimes.
Another commercial motorcyclist, Mr Success Esi, said the ban would cause more damage to the society than good, urging the government to give the operators more time and provide alternative jobs.
'This is wrong, because since the new government came in, it has not provided any job for the people; instead, more people are going out of jobs. There are more jobless people now. So many people had been sacked by their employers.
'Such used their severance pay to buy okada or keke to survive. We must eat; our families must eat; we must pay school fees and house rents. So, banning okada is very wrong. We, our wives and children survive from it.
'This ban will cause much damage to the society than good. It will affect security more, because an idle hand is a devil's workshop,' Esi said.
Adding his voice to the discourse, a tricycle operator, Mr
'What I want to say is that the government should be lenient with us; it is not easy for us. If the reason for the ban is the rate of accidents, I think the government can get a task force to clampdown on some of us that ride roughly, instead of banning all of us and taking away our means of livelihood.'
According to him, as a private school teacher, he resigned because his salary was not paid as due, and he became a commercial tricycle operator.
Another tricycle operator, Mr
'This is what I use to feed my family. My first child is above 20 years. I send them to school. This is not the best time for the governor to do this.
'If we are restricted from bridges, it is understandable, but if we are banned in some local governments and restricted in most of the roads, the government is invariably recruiting people into crimes and violence.'
Another keke rider, Mr
'What does the government want us to do? Many of these roads from where we are banned from operating are the roads people use to go to offices and markets. Government should leave us to continue struggling for our survival,' he said.
The Lagos State government had, on Monday, announced that it would commence enforcement of the extant Transport Sector Reform Law 2018, which banned the operation of motorcycles and tricycles in some local government areas and local council development areas with effect from
'We are yet to see influx of strange okada riders in Ekiti'
Meanwhile, the chairman of the
He said while not ruling out the possibility of new persons in the okada business in the state, it would be too early for his association to detect new operators.
According to him, 'you know, officially, the ban takes effect from today (Saturday) and it will be difficult for us to know if there are new faces on our roads here in Ekiti at the moment.
'We don't have any request from people that want to join us, but let us just see what we happens in the next few weeks.'
'Ondo will monitor influx of foreign riders'
The Ondo State government said on Saturday that it had put in place measures to prevent influx of okada into the state from
A Special Adviser to Governor
He said rather than proscribe activities of the riders outrightly, all the commercial riders would be registered to curb the rate of crime in the state.
He said any unregistered commercial motorcycle would not be allowed to operate in the state.
'Apart from this, the state government will soon introduce a tricycle scheme known as Keke Aketi in two of the estates in the capital city to prevent crimes in these estates.
'This scheme will be extended to other places, but any unregistered motorcycle will not be allowed to operate in the state. This registration will include all their data and their next of kin. This will allow us to monitor the activities of the commercial motorcycle operators,' he said.
Ogunleye added that new commercial motorcycle operators would not be allowed in the state.
© Pakistan Press International, source