Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has expressed dissatisfaction towards the Federal Government ban on commercial motorcycles, popularly known as Okada.
Fayose in a statement by his media aide, Lere Olayinka on Sunday stated that ‘Okada’ riders would be allowed to operate in Ekiti despite FG’s ban.
It will be recalled that the Federal Road Safety Commission recently called for a nationwide ban of okada, citing that they were responsible for the hike road accident in the country.
The statement reads: “In Ekiti State, we won’t ban okada because it is a source of livelihood for a lot of families. Why would anyone even contemplate such when government did not create alternative jobs?
“With this economic recession that is biting so hard, it is heartless of the Federal Government to even think of sending okada riders out of business, instead of putting machinery in motion towards checking their excesses.
“The hunger in the land is killing and most of these okada riders are graduates who have taken to commercial motorcycling to survive because of unemployment. Many of them are even those who lost their jobs within the 21-month existence of this All Progressives Congress led-Federal Government and government workers, whose salaries are not being paid regularly. How does the Federal Government expect them to feed if their means of livelihood is taken away?
“If commercial motorcycling is a major cause of fatal road accidents across the country as posited by the Federal Government, should proposing a ban be an option?
“Should we also say motor vehicles, especially heavy-duty vehicles, should be banned from plying our roads because they also cause accidents?”