Lagos without Okada menace

Last week, Lagos State Government extended the ban on commercial motorcycles popularly known as Okada to four additional local government areas and six local council development areas (LCDAs) of the state. BENJAMIN ALADE writes on implementation efforts, gaps and challenges.

The majority of Lagos residents asked for broad-based enforcement of the ban on motorcycles. The government has heeded the call leading to fresh action to rid the state of the nuisance the transportation mode has become. The enforcement, however, is already taking its toll on commuters in the metropolis.

The councils affected in the extended enforcement order issued on August 19, which became enforceable on September 1, are Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo, Somolu and Mushin. LCDAs affected are Ikosi-Isheri, Agboyi-Ketu, Isolo, Ejigbo, Bariga and Odi-Olowo.

Following the enforcement, many commuters were stranded at bus stops in the affected LGAs, as they waited for commercial vehicles to convey them to their businesses and workplaces. The situation has had huge consequences for businesses that rely on it for survival.

Expectedly, the ban on the use of motorcycles as a means of commercial transportation has led to queues at many bus stops as commuters wait endlessly for insufficient buses and tricycles to take them to their destinations.

Sadly, commercial vehicle drivers are feasting on the development as they keep hiking transport fares in the affected LGAs by as much as 150 per cent, following harrowing traffic gridlock.

At Jakande bus stop in Isolo, many commuters were seen stranded at the bus stop where they waited for buses. Despite the long queues, there were only a few commercial buses on the ground to convey them.

At some point, commuters resorted to trekking as the buses were held in traffic gridlocks.

Some tricycle operators in Ejigbo have increased their fares from N100 to N200 to Jakande gate since the effect of the ban. Passengers are mostly stranded during peak periods.

A trader, Susan Emeka, said she had been at the bus stop for two hours waiting endlessly for a bus but to no avail.

According to her, the traffic gridlock has compounded the situation, leading to the waste of manhour on transit.

Emeka lamented that commercial buses were charging as much as N400 from Jakande to Oshodi, a route that was earlier charged N150 per trip.

She, however, called on the government to direct all affected LGAs to open up the gated streets during the day to ease traffic flow for motorists.

A trader at Mushin market, Olayemi Ojo, lamented that since the enforcement of the ban, Lagosians had been facing hard times going to their businesses and workplaces.

To him, the gridlock is not showing any sign of easing.

He appealed to the state government to intervene in the challenging experience Lagosians are currently facing.

He said: “We are not happy with what is going on concerns Okada ban by the State Government because it has increased our expenses, we are paying double transportation fares despite the harsh economic challenges.”

In reaction to the ban and alternatives put in place, Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, said there is no plan for motorcycles in the state masterplan, recalling that the law had been in place since 2018.

He said: “This administration is deliberate; we don’t just do things shabbily. We plan, research and look at the positive and negative parts before implementation. The COVID-19 and ENDSARS era were not the time to enforce such laws.

“When the ban was enforced on June 1, in six local governments, the crime rate, according to statistics from the police reduced by 73 per cent, even data from general hospitals, showed that it reduced by 87 per cent.”

Giwa said the government has provided first and last mile buses to serve as alternatives for the ban on motorcycles. “The safety of lives and properties is the duty of the government,” he added, noting that there is a database of the riders.

“We would collect the database and split it into various government interventions through the Ministry of Poverty and Women Affairs. These riders would have opportunities to learn and relearn new skills. There is Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to issue loans for beneficiaries. This loan won’t be paid in the first year; it is after the first year they pay five per cent. We give up to N5m. We also give grants for people. This intervention is meant for everybody irrespective of tribe. We also encourage Lagosians to use the waterways as means of alternatives,” Giwa said.

Meanwhile, Okada riders have been relocating from the affected councils in droves since last week.
Some of them were sighted in trucks with their motorbikes leaving Ejigbo, Jakande and Isolo areas.

While some of them moved to other local government areas not affected by the ban, others have left for their respective hometowns.

Some commercial motorcyclists, who besieged the Lagos House, last week, urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to suspend the enforcement of the ban.

Chairman of Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State (MOALS), Lagos State Zone C, Tijani Pekins, who led the protest, urged the state government to engage the association and work out modalities to save millions of members, whose livelihoods would be affected.