Members of Motorcycle Operators Association of Lagos State (MOALS) have urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to reconsider the ban placed on their operations.
The protesters besieged the entrance of the House of Assembly complex in Alausa, saying the ban did not come at the right time, considering the poor state of the economy.
They said the partial ban could lead to total ban by December, noting that should the ban remain in place, many could be forced into crime due to lack of legitimate alternative sources of income.
The government, in June, banned okada operations in six local government areas and nine local council development areas.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, on August 18, ordered phase two of the ban in another four councils and six local council development areas, totaling 10 local government areas and 15 LCDAs.
Chairman of MOALS Zone C, Comrade Tijani Pekins, who led the protest, appealed to the government to engage the association and work out modalities to save its members whose livelihood will be affected by the ban.
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“If security of lives and property remains government’s primary objective, definitely it is everybody’s business. Restriction is still better than total ban, especially looking at the number of people who will be sent into the labour market, over 10 million.
“The government should call the union to a meeting because we were not even invited for their one-day stakeholders’ meeting. Our passionate appeal to the government is that they let us be as indicated in the letter we have submitted.”
According to Pekins, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s Chief of Staff, Tayo Ayinde, received their letter with a promise that “pending when this issue will be resolved, there will not be enforcement of any kind on our members”.
Chairman Zone I of the union, Comrade Martins Abbdulrahman, pleaded with the government to resolve the issue amicably because many of their members are card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and have their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC).
“The ban will affect our livelihoods, which might eventually pose a threat to the electoral fortunes of their party. When you ban the Okada riders, will you bring out bankers for the rally? How many of them vote during elections? We vote many times, from the congress, primaries and even the general election,” he said.