Reuters Insider - Crowded Lagos to ban 'chaotic' motorbike taxis
29/01/2020 09:49
Click the following link to watch video: https://share.insider.thomsonreuters.com/link?entryId=0_4cob6w1p&referenceId=tag:reuters.com,2020:newsml_OVBY8FVCJ_930&pageId=ReutersNews Source: Reuters Insider Description: Commuters and drivers have reacted with dismay after authorities in Lagos announced a ban on commercial motorcycles - a move that will affect thousands of commuters and threaten ride-hailing startups. Nneka Chile reports. Short Link: https://tmsnrt.rs/2GzeItG Video Transcript: Commuters and taxi drivers in Nigeria's notoriously congested business capital Lagos have reacted with dismay after authorities announced a ban on commercial motorcycles and three-wheelers across nearly the entire city. Lagos state government said it would ban the taxi bikes, known as okadas, and three wheelers, known as kekes, from February 1 because of what it described as their "chaos and disorderliness" and "scary figures" of fatal accidents. But for Lagosian commuters like Folarin Bosun, okadas and kekes are essential for zipping through the thick congestion that bogs down larger vehicles. It's an easier way for me to beat the traffic so if they ban them I don't know what the plan of the government is because whatever the plan is, it's not going to be good enough. It's not going to be as good as the bikes and the keke. And for drivers like Johnson Ekubi, his maruwa, or tuk tuk taxi, is his livelihood. He says those who are banning the vehicles don't care because they never use them. It's not easy to get a job. Imagine that I park my maruwa, where would I get a job? It means I am going to spend the little money I have. There are an estimated eight million okada drivers across the whole of Nigeria, many of them employed by commercial motorcycle companies like Max.ng and Gokada. They've been trying to capitalize on Lagos's congested roads by expanding their operations - both Max.ng and Gokada raised around $5 million in investment last year. But such companies are included in the ban, a Lagos state official has said, with only courier services exempted. Gokada founder Fahim Saleh said the decision was disappointing, but he was not sure how it was going to be enforced. Chinedu Azodoh, cofounder of Max.ng, said he has not heard directly from the government but said the ban amounted to a "restriction on poor people"