Controversy dogs call for return of okada

There has been controversy among Lagosians on whether the banned commercial motorcycles popularly known as Okada be allowed to return or not.

Some commuters have been complaining about the rigours they undergo daily while going out and coming in, making them agitate for the return of Okada.

On May 18, this year, the Lagos State Government announced total ban on the activities of commercial motorcycles in some LGAs and LCDAs.

The order took effect on June 1, 2022 with full enforcement as many commuters were forced to trek long distances.

Initially, six LGAs and their LCDAs were affected by the ban which are Ikeja, Surulere, Eti-Osa, Mainland, Lagos Island and Apapa.

While announcing the ban, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said: “This is the phased banning we are going to be embarking on so that others in the short while will begin to look for something else to do. We are giving the notice now, so you can begin your strategy. From the 1st of June, we want the okadas to be off these major roads.”

The ban was made following the gruesome murder of a sound engineer, David Imoh, allegedly killed by commercial motorcyclists in the Lekki axis of the state on May 16, 2022.

According to reports, Imoh and a friend, a saxophonist, were said to be involved in a disagreement over N100 with a commercial motorcyclist and were attacked by the rider’s colleagues, during which they killed Imoh.

Narrating her ordeal, Grace, the widow of the 37-year-old Imoh, said her husband was wrongly labelled as a ritualist and yahoo boy and was consequently lynched to death.

Though the population of the state has continued to rise with the influx of new immigrants on daily basis, Okada has served as complementary means of transportation for the teeming population of Lagosians, but the Okada operators kept wreacking avoidable  havoc on the citizens.

One of their major behaviors is that they flout traffic laws at will, ride recklessly and often cause accidents, killing innocent victims and maiming many and attacking motorists and other citizens at the drop of a hat, like they did to Imoh on May 16. Not satisfied with killing him, they burnt his body.

Public outcry over the incident galvanised the Sanwo-Olu administration into reviving the extant Lagos State Transport Reform Law of 2018, although with some modifications. The governor restricted the ban to only six local governments and local council development areas, but maintained the ban of ‘okada’ operations on highways and bridges.

Following the successful enforcement of the first phase of the ban, the state government, in August, announced the second phase of the ban by extending the ban order to another four LGAs and six LCDAs. The enforcement also began in the affected local governments which include Kosofe (Ikosi-Isheri and Agboyi-Ketu LCDAs); Mushin (Odi-Olowo LCDA); Oshodi (Oshodi-Isolo and Ejigbo LCDAs), and Shomolu (Bariga LCDA).

The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, Commissioner for Housing, Moruf Akinderu-Fatai and Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, had earlier, at an inter-ministerial media briefing on preparedness for commencement of the phase 2 total ban on Okada operations within four new LGAs and respective LCDAs in the state, at Alausa, Ikeja, warned that there would be no “sacred cows as no one would be spared during enforcement.’’

They warned that deterrent riders and passengers risk a three-year jail term for violation as enforcement for the Phase 2 ban starts on Friday. “We implore the general public to comply, as both the rider and passenger are both liable to three years in prison if prosecuted.’’

But the difficulty commuters experienced daily has been making some people to agitate for the return of okada.

For instance, Ademola Asoobowa, an artisan, told ECHONEWS how he had to trek long distances within Mafoluku Oshodi, while going to meet one of his customers.

To Asooboea, it would be a great relief for the commuters if the Okada could be allowed to operate especially within the areas where commercial buses and tricycles cannot ply.

Nofiu Rasheed, who share similar experience also called for return of Okada in some parts of the state where the operation of commercial motorcycles has been banned by the state government.

To Rasheed, there are some things to be considered to allow return of Okada such as the health of some people who do not have their own private cars but need to go far toplaces to make their daily meals.

He said the government only need to regulate the activities of the riders in the community.

Many others who spoke to ECHONEWS and called for the return of Okada gave so many other reasons. However, so many others went against the return of Okada. They urged the government to sustain the ban and even extend it to other local government areas.

Toba Oyeleke, a resident of Agege testified that since the government started the enforcement of the ban, stealing and the rate of accidents in the community have reduced.

According to him, the positive result of the ban outweighs its negative result.

He said the only negativity of the new order is that people have to trek long distances, adding that even at that, they walk with ease without fear.

“To me, the ban should be sustained and even extended to other local government areas across the state. If we look at its positive result, we will all agree that such order is better in a city like Lagos.

“Majority of the Okada riders use it to perpetrate heinous acts on innocent citizens. Apart from that, they cause most of the accidents on our roads and waste many lives carelessly.

“I think we should commend the government for taking such decision and sticking to it. This is election time, if the government allows the return of Okada now, it will cause more mayhem in the state. For me, I don’t support the return of Okada. I also trek long distance daily while going to work and while coming back because I don’t have my own car yet too, but I still don’t support the idea of returning Okada into the community,” he explained.

They warned that deterrent riders and passengers risk a three-year jail term for violation as enforcement for the Phase 2 ban starts on Friday. “We implore the general public to comply, as both the rider and passenger are both liable to three years in prison if prosecuted.’’

With the take off of the ban, some residents were of the view that the government was making life more difficult for people as there were neither sufficient shuttle buses, mini-buses (Korope) nor tricycles to fill the void.

Meanwhile, while commuters are learning to adjust to the reality of the ban, there is an unusual calm and free-flow of traffic. The usual chaos on many roads, especially at major bus stops, has vanished.

When ECHONEWS went round to seek people’s opinions on the call for the return of Okada, it found out that though the ban affected a great number of commuters, whose mode of transportation to their various destinations had been the ‘okada’, as the number of commercial buses and taxis has always been inadequate to satisfy demand, a number of them do not want the return of Okada.