Okada Ban May Inflict Hardship on 98m Nigerians, Group Warns

Segun Awofadeji in Gombe

A youth pressure group known as the North East Youth Transformation Forum (NEYTF) has condemned the plan by the federal government to ban commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada, nationwide.

The Minister of Justice and Atorney General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami, recently disclosed that the federal government was considering banning okada throughout the country as part of measures to tackle security challenges.

However, a press release that was issued by the President of MEYTF, Mr. Abdulrazak Albani, faulted the decision, saying that it would subject about 98 million Nigerians to hardship.

According to him, of the 200 million people in the country, about 98 million, close to the half of the population suffer from abject poverty and do not have vehicles of their own pointing out that the “okada” ban would further make them vulnerable and miserable.

Albani opined that aside making transportation difficult for the poor citizens, the decision would render the commercial motorcyclists jobless and concomitantly increase the rate of crimes in the society.

“The population of the country hit over 200 million now and statistics by the UNDP reveals that people living below the poverty line in the nation are 98 million, almost half of the population. These people cannot afford three square meals daily let alone possessing transportation vehicles.

“So the ban on motorcycles operation will compound their problems and make many people jobless.

“We, therefore, call on our senators, House of Representatives members, governors, traditional and religious leaders to prevail on the federal government to jettison this decision,” he said.