The Lagos Okada ban appears to have claimed its first victim as Gokada, one of the leading motorcycle ride-hailing service in Lagos has reportedly shut down.
Although Gokada is yet to officially confirm this shut down, reports have emerged that Fahim Saleh, the CEO of Gokada has actually taken the difficult decision to close down the on-demand motorcycle startup he founded in 2018.
Gokada is not Okada. Dont hamper innovation @followlasg @Mr_JAGs #KekeBan #OkadaBan pic.twitter.com/CYytyTKCnv
— Gokada – We do delivery now (@GokadaNG) February 3, 2020
All we just want to do is give everyone a chance at a better life. #RegulateNotBan #KekeBan #OkadaBan @followlasg @Mr_JAGs pic.twitter.com/3z2yZQstcI
— Gokada – We do delivery now (@GokadaNG) February 3, 2020
Fahim had posted an emotional message on the Gokada Twitter Handle- @Gokada reacting to the Lagos transport ban on motorcycles.
He emphasised that Gokada has created thousands of jobs for riders who previously could not find employment adding that Gokada is safe.
Gokada raised $5.3 million Series A round to scale its business in May last year. The funding round was led by Rise Capital and joined by Adventure Capital, IC Global Partners, and Illinois based First MidWest Group.
In August 2019, Saleh temporarily suspended Gokada operations to restrategize and improve its services. It resumed business 2 weeks later.
The on-demand motorcycle startup’s investment in Lagos state also includes GBoat, its on-demand boat riding service.
In spite of being the startup that disrupted the motorcycle business in Lagos State, the entry of ORide by OPay gave Gokada a serious competition which probably forced Gokada then to temporarily suspend operations.
Presently Gokada, ORide by OPay and MaxOkada have all been banned.
The Lagos State Government had proscribed the operations of motorcycles in six Local Government Areas (LGAs), nine Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) and 10 major highways across the State with effect from February 1.
LASG directed security operatives to embark on total enforcement of the State’s Transport Sector Reform Law of 2018 to immediately address the chaos and disorderliness created by illegal operations of Okada and tricycle riders in restricted areas.
Consequently, Uber and Bolt were reported to have increased their prices due to rise in demand.
However, Bolt denied that it increased its fares stating in a DM response that “Our prices have not changed and we would always communicate to riders when there is a change in our pricing metrics.”
Many Lagosians may have clamoured for the ban on motorcycles or Okada in the state.
At the same, a significant number of them expected that the motorcycle ride-hailing platforms would be exempted from the ban due to their good safety record and the ease of regulating them.
