Okada Ban

There are plans to ban okadas from Abuja. This is a disastrous bit of city management. The ban is due to be imposed as of the beginning of October. That’s next week! It’s craziness.

Number one: there is no provision made for alternative employment for the thousands of okada drivers.
Number two: there is no alternative transport system to carry passengers about the town.

The repercussions from this, if it indeed goes ahead, could be huge. Both for individuals and the community. There may be less traffic accidents, and less pollution, but the loss of livelihoods for a mass of predominantly young single men could lead to all manner of troubles.

There is cynicism around everything in this country. Someone has suggested that maybe this is as a result of some ‘Big Man’ needing a few extra Naira. He spends public money on ‘cleaning up’ Abuja making it ‘safer’; the okada union ask all their members to pay a fee of N100, they dash the Big Man and all will be able to continue. I wonder. It will be interesting to see what happens these next two weeks.