In this report, NURUDEEN ALIMI explores how the harsh economic condition prevalent in the country is reshaping the lives of okada and keke riders in their relentless pursuit of survival.
IN many bustling streets across the country, the hum of motorcycles and tricycles —more contextually known as okadas and kekes— has long been a lifeline for countless commuters, connecting hundreds, if not millions, of people to their daily routines. But, as the nation grapples with economic uncertainty marked by soaring inflation and rising fuel prices, these riders face an uphill battle.
Once seen as a symbol of resilience and entrepreneurship, many are now struggling to make ends meet, as their daily earnings have plummeted amid fierce competition. For countless families dependent on these incomes, the struggle to survive has intensified, forcing riders to rethink their strategies by working longer hours and diversifying to provide delivery service, among others to scrape by.
For many people who now own or operate okada and keke business, their original line of work could no longer sustain them and their household. The need to make ends meet and provide for their loved ones forced them to seek a business and life out of okada and keke business.
This was the summary of Kayode Agbeloba, a successful business merchant who once traded in dried yam flour widely known as elubo. While in the elubo business, he recorded a huge financial breakthrough until the year 2019, when things turned awry as his business which was thriving started to nosedive.
Agbeloba, who is now an okada rider attributed the collapse of his business to a series of economic policies that were not favourable to many business owners but were formulated by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government.
He recalled how a good number of his business associates went bankrupt as a result of the development.
Speaking with Sunday Tribune recently, Agbeloba said: “Before 2019, I used to buy elubo from Ilesa Ibaruba to sell in Ibadan. I used to buy elubo in large quantities and I made a lot of profit before everything turned upside down.
“I had quit the business when I started running at a loss to the extent that I was selling my personal belongings. I lost over N10 million to the unfriendly economic policies of the Buhari administration. I used to be a rich man; I had three cars and two motorcycles for my workers.
“I lost everything because the money I invested in the business was borrowed from the bank. I became an okada rider after my business collapsed. The okada I use at the moment was given to me because I agreed to pay back in installments.
“The okada was given to me at the rate of N1.5 million. It felt convenient for me to meet up with the weekly repayment plan of N25,000, but when the price of fuel and other essential commodities started to escalate, I could not meet up again, so I pleaded with the person who gave the okada to me to please allow me to pay N18,000
and he agreed. Even at that, it is not easy at all.
“I used to start work at 8am and close by 6pm, but now, it is no longer so. The increase in pump price of petrol has adversely affected a lot of things. The government no longer considers the average Nigerian when coming up with decisions that affect every one of us.
“So, as a result of this and in order to meet up with daily needs of my family, I have now decided to start work at 5am and close by 10pm.
“To take care of the family has become extremely tough now. We spend over N3,000 on breakfast; we will buy four cups of rice and two cups of beans. We have expunged lunch from our feeding arrangement because we only eat in the morning and evening. In the evening, we will buy N1,900 worth of Semo, which we eat with N600 worth of ewedu. That quantity of ewedu used to be N50.
“So, I spend N6,500 on food every day and that’s almost N200,000 in a month. School fee expenses and other utility bills have pushed my expenses towards half a million naira.”
Agbelogba, however, appealed to the Federal Government to do something urgent about the reduction of pump price of petrol and also act promptly about the exchange rate of naira.
The harsh economic reality is not peculiar to Agbelogba, as another commercial motorcycle rider, Ademola Moshood, told Sunday Tribune he spends about N9,000 on maintenance of his motorcycle every two weeks.
He noted that aside from the cost of buying fuel, the levy paid into transport union and local government purses is also a major obstacle hindering the progress of the average okada rider. “So, I want to plead with the government of Nigeria to please do something urgent about the price of petrol in order to reduce this suffering,” Moshood said.
Sharing his experience on the payment of motorcycles in instalments, a motorcycle dealer, Mr Oluwagbenga Sosinmi, said: “It has not been easy. The economic situation in the country has turned many Nigerians into hardened criminals.
“Imagine a brand new motorcycle now sells for N1.1 million while a new tricycle goes for between N3 million and N4 million. I now buy used motorcycles because not everyone can get a motorcycle at N1.7 million with payment on instalments.
“Motorcycles have now become targets of armed robbers. I have a case at hand now where one of those I gave a motorcycle to came to inform me that armed robbers snatched the motorcycle I handed over to him a few weeks ago.
“There are others who will say they have family issues orchestrated by the harsh economy which has made them to fail in the fulfilment of their obligations, as far as repayment is concerned. These and many other factors make the business riskier.
Commenting on the issue, the Chairman, Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners, Repairs and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACCOMORAN), Oyo State, Mr Solomon Olugbode, described the current prices of motorcycles and tricycles as outrageous.
He stated that it takes only a soul that is determined to work and earn money for himself to succeed under current realities, adding that it is not easy to approach a dealer and dole out over N1 million to buy a motorcycle or almost N4 million to buy a tricycle.
Olugbode said: “It has been a very difficult situation for members to meet up with their daily financial obligations. So, the situation is very worrisome such that if someone wishes to get a tricycle on instalments basis, he should be ready to dole out over N4 million. As a matter of fact, there is a company in Ibadan that gives out tricycles at N6 million because of the instalment arrangement.
“What I think is responsible for this is the fact that these machines are not manufactured in Nigeria, they are imported and we all know what the exchange rates look like. So, the Federal Government is in the best position to make things easier by acting accordingly.”
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