Hundreds of motorcyclists on the platform of bike-haling services – Gokada and Max – took to the streets to protest the ban on the operations of commercial motorcycles in six local governments in Lagos State. A placard brandished by the protesters carried the message: “Our jobs matter.” But as the ban goes into effect, leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students have risen in support of the Okada operators, issuing a 10-day ultimatum to the Lagos state government to rescind the decision or “risk the wrath of youths across the country.”
The ban, which also affected tricycles, popularly known as Keke NAPEP, goes into effect on Saturday, February 1 and covers over 50 roads and expressways in Nigeria’s economic capital city. The motorcyclists marched on Lagos State governor’s office in Alausa, Ikeja, on Friday, voicing their antagonism to the ban.
Despite questions around the legitimacy of the ban on bikes above 200 cubic centimetres, as prescribed by the Lagos State transportation reform law 2018, the state government insists bikes are not part of the “masterplan” for the city. Lagos State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, insists the ban is in “compliance with the extant Transport Sector Reform Law 2018.” He said the measures were taken in response to “scary figures” of fatal accidents recorded from operations of Okada and tricycles in the state between 2016 and 2019.
The state also defended the ban as necessary for security and safety especially as motorcycles and tricycles are known for a tendency to disregard traffic laws. “As far as I know, nobody has been licensed to go and start running Okada because it is unfortunate that…the rate at which people are dying; the rate at which people are being robbed on the roads; the police are worried, everybody is worried,” Omotosho said on Channels TV on Friday.
However, the bike-hailing companies accuse the new Sanwo-Olu administration of pandering to the whims and caprices of the transporters unions, saying the administration have extorted huge levies and taxes, only to turn around and ban their activities after they were forced to pay upfront to operate in Lagos state. They want the Lagos state government to reimburse all levies and fees collected; including fines paid to the special police task force for all bikes that were impounded.
Apart from the groaning from the riders, commuters have also expressed mixed feelings. Critics say it is a harsh reality for investors of the bike-hailing companies and also means more hours in traffic in the city’s notorious gridlock. The ban will result in the loss of livelihood for the majority of riders, critics say. Several others, however, hailed the government’s decision as it aligns with the primary goal of a good government – to protect loss of lives and properties as several traffic robberies are aided by bike riders.
But reacting at a news conference in Abeokuta, Ogun State, NANS Zone “D” Coordinator, Mr. Odunayo Amos, in concert with his colleagues, threatened to mobilise the union’s members en masse, to occupy Lagos and cause discomfort for the government, should it fail to backpedal on the Okada ban.
The NANS leaders particularly criticised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for arbitrarily depriving the Okada riders of their means of livelihood without corresponding alternative job provision “for the teeming Nigerian youths whose lives depend largely on proceeds from the Okada business.” The NANS described the Lagos State Government’s action as “irresponsible, cruel and ill-conceived” noting that “a greater number of Nigerian graduates of higher institutions of learning have taken to riding Okada as means of livelihood in the absence of government paid jobs.” They claimed that the ban on Okada and Keke NAPEP will create joblessness and aggravate crimes in the society, rather than reduce the rate of crimes as postulated by the Sanwo-Olu administration.
“It is pure irresponsibility for a government to ban peoples’ means of livelihood without creating a replacement. What has Governor Sanwo-Olu done as policy to replace the Okada? If government cannot provide jobs, is it not politically insane to ban people’s means of livelihood? “The reality is that, one is more likely to be kidnapped with a car than with a bike, and armed robbers are more likely to use a car than a bike.
“We need to ask the Lagos State Government; how many jobs has it created in the past two years? We need to also ask Governor Sanwo-Olu; why has Lagos State, since 1999, never had any new higher institution? The worst record in the South West. Not even a new Technical College.
“Instead of Governor Sanwo-Olu to face the real issues causing crimes, all he does is to follow, like others before him, that cruel ritual of blaming the victims for the woes inflicted from the top. Nigerian students have had enough,” Amos averred, for the NANS. He, however, urged Governor Sanwo-Olu to “forthwith lift the ban on Okada and Keke NAPEP, negotiate with their unions and also apologise to Lagosians for the inconveniences caused them; because not all the roads in Lagos state have commercial buses or cars plying them.”
The Lagos State government had proscribed the operations of commercial motorcycles and tricycles in six local government areas, nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and 10 major highways across the state, with effect from today. Omotoso, who made the announcement at the State House in Alausa, said the measures were taken in response to “scary figures” of fatal accidents recorded from operations of Okada and tricycles in the state between 2016 and 2019.
The state government directed security operatives to embark on a total enforcement of the State’s Transport Sector Reform Law of 2018 to immediately address the chaos and disorderliness created by illegal operations of Okada and tricycle riders in restricted areas. In addition, the government banned Okada and tricycles from plying 40 bridges and flyovers across the state.