Amidst the ban of motorcycle, popularly called Okada in Lagos, SafeBoda, a Ugandan On-demand startup has officially launched its operations in Ibadan, South West, Nigeria.
This comes a few months after SafeBoda disclosed that it will debut its on-demand motorcycle services in Nigeria earlier this year.
SafeBoda disclosed the routes its services will be available in Nigeria to include Eleyele, Sango, Bashorun/Gate, UI, Poly, Bodija, New Bodija, Agodi, Ijokodo, UCH, Mokola, Dugbe, and Jericho.
SafeBodas are currently available in:
UI
IJOKODO
SANGO
BODIJA
NEW BODIJA
AGODI
UCH
BASHORUN/GATE
MOKOLA
JERICHO
ELEYELE
POLY
What are you waiting for?
Download the app today and start riding! Remember, your first ride is FREE 😉
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.#SafeBodaNigeria#SafeBodaSafeOkada pic.twitter.com/kkZImDFbWu— SafeBoda Nigeria (@SafeBoda_NGA) March 3, 2020
Babajide Duroshola, the country manager of Safeboda said that the on-demand motorcycle startup launched in Ibadan instead of Lagos because the center of excellence isn’t Okada friendly. They all but said it before the ban so we figured it wasn’t the best decision which made us go back to the drawing board.
In terms of the fleet of motorcycles, Duroshola says that although the company has launched with a few hundred motorcycles, the amount of requests it has had so far means it will need to supply more motorcycles to meet demand.
Launching in Ibadan is perhaps a good move for SafeBoda because the Lagos State Government has clamped down on Okadas and from all indications, Okadas are not returning to the state anytime soon. Fortunately, Gokada appears to be the most affected by the ban as ORide and MaxOkada are present in other states.
Despite this Gokada has pivoted to deliveries and logistics as it has partnered Jumia’s food marketplace on food deliveries.
