Fines or no fines [size=20pt]OKADA CANNOT BE BANNED IN NIGERIA[/size]

You are right that will render many people jobless

Before I left Nigeria in the 80s, there were no okadas and transportation was not bad at all. So we can do without okada. But to ban them means crime rate would increase. I saw so many pretty girls walking funny cos they fell off okada. My best memory of Okada, my first time back in Nigeria since okada era, was seeing a man carrying his "ileya" goat and him on okada. Too bad i did not take the pic.

okada has done so many things here(bad).but we cant do without it here(nigeria).its faster than buses.
Buses will stay 4 like 20 mins on a bus stop waiting for those that are still bathing.can u imagine

yes i agree with seun ,see u can't just wake up one morning & say u want to ban ppls job .these guys re very many out there trying to make both ends meet & u talk of getting rid of their job.let me tell u guys,if government try it they will not only suffer the implications but will be the one to beg them to come back because it will bring forth more & more robbers,419ners,name it

so my ppl lets leave okada riders they too want to survive just as the bigger boys re, nigeria is a home for all of us.

i like them so much. my only complain is dat they should ride with caution so as to save lives.

Okada shouldn't be banned at all. You know why?, they make ones journey faster and boarding cab or bus to ur proposed destinations. I think they could be educated on how they drive on the high ways and on the streets in order to avoid accidents.

When government increasingly provides good road, the number of commercial vehicles in our cities and towns will increase.
This will automatically phase out the era of okadas (at least from the city centres where they constitute more hazard than good).

For now, they are neccessary evils.

Talking about immoral, was it OK for the government to give people at the Vi estate ultimatum before sending them packing last year? no this issue of OKADA operators has to be dealt with now or it will be too late. people like you have to start thinking outside the box, just because you have Okada as a job security is not the end of the world, if and when in-did okada is ban people will  secure other means of employment, how were people surviving before OKADA and cell phones? all i am saying is most of the operators i saw when I was in Nigeria are notorious. Read the tread again, it state Should Okada be Banned? not lets ban Okada.

No because there are some place in Nigeria like Balogun market where people can't just drive thru,They gotta use an Okada.So I don't see the point in that.

i think it shuld be banned nevertheless this is not the time. it too early now . when a good and affordable transportation and infrastructure are in place until then they shuld honestly ban it. so enjoy for now

Let me state my observation:

1. People who agree that these guys should be banned do not reside in Nigeria (Lagos especially) or have never had a ride on it (they are botties).

2. People who disagree are constant Okada patrons and riders.

3. People who have power bikes are neutral.

OKADA'S IN LAGOS are a problem at the moment and if they do not find some way to regulate and control them they are going to create even more confusion!

The main problem is that no Okada driver has any kind of understanding that there should be rules on the road, they will overtake on the inside / outside / go down roads the wrong way / fail to indicate / carry loads that wouldn't go on a pick up truck etc etc etc. And if you manage to bump one of them even though it is their fault then you are in big troubl

I know too many people who have had accidents, some wrecking their knees and the worst was someone who is now crippled in one arm becuase of a mad okada driver he was sitting behind.

There is no way to ban them, I doubt anyone can find a way to regulate or train them so what (especially Lagos) has to be done is to offer people a more efficient transport system which will naturally stop people using Okada so much. This way you could also have a limit on the number of registered / licenced Okada drvers in each district. Will it ever happen?!?

I appreciate that lots of people depend on Okada, but they are symptomatic of the state of the country, untrained, unruly, uncaring and in a desperate rush to make their money by any means!

Does anyone know what happened to the BTR buses / lanes? By the time a bus arrives I imagine the lines on the road will have faded away!

WOrd man, word, you said it all.

If the roads were smooth and wide, no heavy traffic, no muddy pot holes and stuffs like that, no one would patronise Okadas, in fact, i'd drive my car to work, but as it is now, i'd rather take a bike all the time than board a bus let alone drive the car, its tiring.

Yes and No

they should only be banned only if lagos roads are well tarred, then they should make sure they put barriers and bumps

ban okada? my okada? haba! no nau. ah-ah. kilode?

1) Before Okadas were introduced in Nigeria, werent we surviving??
2) I am a doctor, and i know the number of cases i see daily in the hospital from Okada accidents, grotesque and appaling injuries, many fatal. Most of you here talking havent been in any okada accident, if not ur story for change.
3) If you drive in 9ja, you would know what a menace it is with okada people on the road.
4) Banning Okadas would NOT solve the problem; that doesnt mean that nothing should be done.
5) Regulation of the number of Okada riders must be carried out. Also, ALL okada riders MUST be trained to be good road users.
6) In port harcourt, they banned Okada riders at night (from 7pm) cos they were utilizde by theives and they were just road hazards. Of course, that somehow slowed the economy down, but i think its a necessary sacrifice.

They should be banned, the drivers should be arrested and the jail keys thrown away. Case closed: we´re better off without their menace.

really agboifo ? i dont blame u
But do u no how many appointments okadas have saved when there is traffic congestn especially in lagos?

They should be banned, the drivers should be arrested and the jail keys thrown away. Case closed: we´re better off without their menace.

How can you even think of something so ridiculous? How can you want to ban someone's occupation? How would you feel if someone decided to ban your own occupation? Please, let's be sensible and fair in our thinking.

oga seun mo ri ise yin o.
wld never again make dat mistake,im sorry okay?

seun here you go, how strange or coincidence, i posted this thread a week ago and bam some states are taking actions already. the key here is safety and security, not transportation



The Lagos State government yesterday imposed an immediate ban on commercial motorcyclists a.k.a Okada from operating in the state between the hours of 7pm and 6am.
Briefing newsmen in Ikeja, at the end of the State Weekly Executive Council Meeting, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dele Alake said the worsening security situation in the state informed the government decision.
He noted the state executive had to take the step to clamp down on okada riders whose operations have endangered lives and properties in the state.
“In recent time, the security report emanating from members of the public about Okada riders in the state has been alarming”, he said.
Alake said incidents of robbers using motorcycles to rob people of their belongings have given cause for concern in recent time.
He warned that any okada found operating during the period of ban would either have its okada impounded or made to pay a fine of N50,000, and the passenger would also be sanctioned.
By this directive, all security agencies including the police, the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), and Neighbourhood Watch are to enforce the law by apprehending the violators.
Alake said government would not compromise the security of Lagosians, adding that update on the Okada menace will be made public as events unfold.
He called on members of the public to support government in its effort at ridding the state of crime, adding that the security situation and the ban will be reviewed from time to time.

but why d ban now?is it permanent?

Well my sister this is the 1st step to curtailling their nefarious activity and irregularities, and for seun and the other guy who is drinking ogogoro now? I am not gonna get into word exchange, but that just shows how shallow minded you guys are and how closed minded people can be, anybody in their right minded will know safety superseed any level and means of transportation. when the sosoliso tragedy occurred, people start pointing fingers at regulations and checks that should have be put in place, why must it take a tragedy for people to act in Nigeria?

I dont think it can be banned.Okada takes you from point A to B,it is no different 4rm powerbikes in accidents just that they are a lot and anyone can get their hand on one.

All your story proves is that we have people in government who need more knowledge. Source, please?

Aaahh! Nooo! Abeg O! Okadas should not be banned. they can at least be regulated, controlled, have their excesses checked. they may be evil and responsible for the deaths of many (including people i know) BUT they are a necessary evil

what will those boys do if Okada is banned? they'll pick up guns and you know what's next-armed robbery. they too have to survive

so are you saying Okada is the only means of employment in Nigeria?

personally i dont think okada should be banned,if the Govt is ready to ban okada then THe govt should be ready to tar most of our roads to make them more motorable,and also to find lasting solution to traffic congestion most especially in lagos.because thoose are the two reasons why pple mostly lagosians patronise okadas .
But then,I can only suggest that their time of operation be restricted ,I hope we are all aware that the lagos state govt has passed a law that OKada has been ban to operate btw 7pm and 6am.which i think is good,but the problem is enforcing it so that okada men can abide by the law.
it is well with Nigeria!

Just wait and see, i'll give you 30 days. Let's test this ban thing and see if it'll work. Have you been to Ijegun or Ejigbo, these are places where okadas cannot be banned, there's virtually NO ROAD there. How do people get home? canoes or donkeys?

The people banning okadas have prolly never left V.I. or Ikeja, and that's where robbers use bikes. If all the roads were okay, I tell you there would be no Okadas. Like Generators, Okada has become a perfect substitute to buses all because of our roads like NEPA.

Policemen are very happy for the new means of income given to them, the tax has increased from 20 naira to 100 naira, this, to me, has been the only "positive" change so far, without which, no man shall see the lord.

Who's afraid of Okada?

By Reuben Abati

THE decision of the Lagos State Government to ban the movement of commercial motorcycles during a specified period of 7pm-6am would on the surface of it, seem a genuine expression of concern about the emergence of the okada, as the motorcycles are better known, as a major tool and icon in reported cases of armed robbery in the state. But a close examination, compels a sociological investigation of the place, and circumstances of the okada in our lives, and whether indeed, the state government's directive is sustainable, and not one of those episodic, knee-jerk responses that are at variance with reality.