For many years, Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria, has been known as a city plagued by gridlocks. The horrific traffic challenge is not surprising given the number of people living and commuting within it.
To beat the gridlocks, a number of people on many occasions either leave their vehicles at home or avoid boarding commercial yellow buses that operate in the state to patronise the commercial motorcycle riders, popularly known as Okada.
But most of these Okada riders are known to be reckless and careless. Fatal accidents caused by their recklessness is everyday experience. A visit to the Orthopaedic hospital in the Mainland area of the state and other local bone-setting hospitals across the state, tells the gory story of pain many people go through by patronising the cyclists. Apart from the increasing cases of Okada-related accidents and sudden deaths, allegations abound of the involvement of many cyclists in armed robberies and other heinous crimes. Many innocent people have been dispossessed of their valuables by Okada-riding thieves.
At a point, cases of robberies and other crimes by Okada riders became so high and frequent that the state government began to clamp down on them. The State House of Assembly had to pass a law that barred them from certain areas of the state.
At that time, state agents seized so many of the machines to enforce the ban.
But with the increasing cases of gridlocks in Lagos, many residents believe that outright ban of Okada may not be the solution as traffic snarls have been partly responsible for people getting to work late and missing appointments.
It was to bridge this gap that gave birth to Gokada, an on-demand transportation company or motorbike hiring service, that has made movement on motorbike a lot better, safer and faster.
Gokada came into existence in January 2018, and has been serving many without cases of fatal accidents that is synonymous with the Journey-just-come riders of the typical Okada.
Today, this means of transportation has brought a lot of smiles to commuters who patronise the firm. It has helped its passengers to achieve whatever goals they set for the day without interruption from gridlocks.
The operators claim also that this platform has helped to reduce the level of unemployment and poverty in the state.
Speaking with our reporter, DejiOduntan, chief executive officer of the company, said thatthe platform has empowered over 1000 riders with the launch of the Driver Training School.
Oduntan is also hopefulthat it would empower thousands more who would be trained on how to ride Gokada bikes, customer service techniques, how to use the app and will also be given the opportunity to own their bikes after one year of service, amongst others.
He said that through Gokada, drivers are able to own their bike after one year of service.
According to him, “Drivers on average earn two times more than they did previously. Gokada supports drivers with pension plans, recreational services, and health services.”
Investigation by BDSUNDAYrevealed that a typical Okada rider makes between N60,000 and N80,000, although the earning potential of each rider is different. But Gokada riders are said to make over N200,000 depending on how many rides they undertake a day. This is significantly higher than what a regular okada rider would earn and still far above the minimum wage.
Unlike the regular taxi trips in Lagos,Gokada is still cheaper. The cost of Gokada rides starts from N100 and the cost goes higher depending on your destination. Unlike traditional okadas, Gokada bikes run above 200cc+, which means they can take longer distance trips and have greater freedom of movement within Lagos. “You can get a trip from Lekki to Ikeja for instance, which most regular okadas cannot do because of the restrictions of bikes on the commercial roads,” BDSUNDAY gathered.
In terms of safety, the ride-hiring platform is the best so far. Their drivers are fully trained and the rides are very safe. The company said that the ride recorded a 0.013 percent accident rate last year.
The ride has created a niche for itself. One cannot just stand on the road under the scorching sun or down pour and expect to flag down a Gokada machine.
You canfind a Gokada anywhere in Lagos by using the smart app.
The comfort the ride gives to its passengers is really great.Unlike many regular bikes that can pick two unknown persons as passengers just because they are going to the same direction, and in order to make extra cash, Gokada does not allow such.
AGokada staff who explained why people should use the platform said: “We are safe and our drivers are extensively trained in defensive driving behaviour with safety always in mind. The riders are always monitored, so we are aware of their movements as an added level of customer safety.”
The staff also said that in just 12 months of operation, Gokada has secured close to 1,000 bikes and completes around 5,000 rides across Lagos Mainland, Victoria Island, Apapa each day, saying, “these are the areas mainly affected by the traffic gridlock in Lagos.”
Jonathan Aderoju
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