OKADA! A DEADLY DESIRE
Ewe are seen as the dumbest amidst animals that mingle with humans. An average Lagosian is worse than one, the moment he/she is desperate to jump on an Okada. When you caution a rider competing with a trailer, its the passenger that will first abuse you.
Ewe are seen as the dumbest amidst animals that mingle with humans. An average Lagosian is worse than one, the moment he/she is desperate to jump on an Okada. When you caution a rider competing with a trailer, its the passenger that will first abuse you.
That an Okada rode with its passenger to death will never deter Lagosians from climbing the next bike without a helmet. These riders arrive in Lagos from nowhere, without any form of training, pick a bike for the first time at Oyingbo, and they start looking for you - passengers.
At Ikeja General Hospital, i have seen Okada accident victims pouring in like tap water. There is no benefit in Okada as commercial means of transport, that isn't eroded by the injuries and fatalities recorded against it, daily! Nigerians won't care until they become victims.
When you are backing (reversing), even at the smallest inch of space to the gutters, an average Lagos Okada won't stop and will still risk driving into that space. It takes a very high level of ignorance to adopt Okada as a means of survival. It has ruined many of the riders.
I don't know about Opay, and we can excuse dispatch riders, but I laugh when people say Okada/Keke is a means of livelihood. Except for those who do it part time, or those who use it to snatch bags from ladies returning from work, its a deadly, unsustainable means of livelihood.
Have you ever asked Okada riders if there's a sustainable margin on okada riding? It's a means to an initial daily bread that usually leave all parties involved in tears. Go to Police Stations to count deaths & garage violence arising from okada and keke hired purchase cases.
Some riders collect new tricycle for an unrealistic N3Million on hired purchase, knowing they wont pay back. These machines become scrap before they make half of the money, and nobody cares about the environmental waste. LAWMA is left with the burden to remove them from roadside.
Nigeria's craftsmanship has become greatly eroded because of Okada quick meals. Youths who should be farming or learning vocation to be welders pour into cities to ride okada. We equally dont care that this is negatively impacting our GDP by swelling our pool of unskilled labour.
Now, let me share a secret that will shock y'all. I have data that shows Ambode actually started and completed more projects than Fashola did. But, this isn't obvious because of Ambode's "jaujau" unsystematic approach to things. @jidesanwoolu is already treading this path. 😀
Throwing 65 buses & 14 ferries into the fray without a model thats well publicized is in itself chaotic. Where's the map showing BRT routes to commuters? Where's the list of Bus Stops, arrival & departure schedule? How do we buy ticket? This is urgent now that we've banned Okada.
Ambode's Bus Stop remodeling needs to be completed, and BRT route published, for the Okada ban to make sense. The Bus stop construction opposite ICM at Alausa Secretariat in front of @jidesanwoolu was abandoned. Most BRT road markings are wiped off. New lanes needed to be marked.
Where we copied BRT from, there're Park & Ride car parks. We should be able to leave our cars at Oworo to join BRT to Marina.
@jidesanwoolu's new buses are far more comfortable than some used in Europe, but a lot has to be done to make Lagosians change their commuting culture.
@jidesanwoolu's new buses are far more comfortable than some used in Europe, but a lot has to be done to make Lagosians change their commuting culture.
Even poor Nigerians think they are too rick to walk. This is d sidewalk today in Bristol; working class walking up to 30mins to their offices. Our sidewalks are typically occupied by traders, if you chase them, Adeyanju will say, "Buhari's Fulani has plans to kill yoruba traders.
Banning Okada looks bad bcos it enhances our firefighters approach to commuting. We want to leave Ikeja at 1:30pm for a 2pm appointment at Mile 2. I saw people arguing if ferry, like okada will get to d front of their office? Is this how you people want to go and live in Canada?
There was a time @Mr_JAGs took it upon himself and he started promoting Lagos Ferries when he had no appointment and it didn't look like he will get one. @followlasg has acquired so much waterways potentials that it seems to me @jidesanwoolu doesn't know how to kick start.
Lagosians don't forgive governors who take them for a ride. In the next few months, if @jidesanwoolu doesn't infuse all his energy at erecting and advertizing his replacement transport plans, with good traffic management, till he will end his tenure, he will regret banning Okada.
