In the wake of a fresh strike by the tricycle operators in Kano state, motorcycle business, also known as ‘Okada’ or ‘Achaba’, is slowly resurfacing as residents find alternatives to reach their destinations.
Daily News 24 reports that motorcycle owners convey passengers to various destinations as the tricycle strike bites in the state.
The Kano State Government had in 2013 banned commercial tricycles from operating in the state due to insecurity.
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For the second time in 12 months, the Tricycle operators have embarked on strike action as the government renews their operational permits.
On the 22nd of February, the users also halted the tricycle operations.
Photos show residents riding on motorcycles in the metropolis
As seen by Daily News24, commercial motorcycle operations had an alternative to Tricycles in the state. While some individuals were seen patronising mini-trucks as an alternative to Keke-Napep, the Achaba business has slowly resumed.
A group of NYSC Youth corp members currently serving in Kano state negotiated with a motorcycle rider along Zaria road in Kano.
One of them who spoke while negotiating with the rider says:
“My colleagues and I just got a motorcycle operator, and when we tried to negotiate, he said we have to pay him N600. All the buses around here are filled up, and we have to do with the motorcycles despite their high prices. Before we got this Okada, we have been moving up-and-down to find a means to get to our destination.”
Kano residents stranded
As the sun scorches him, with a heavy school bag strapped at his back, Abba Umar patiently waits for any available motorcycle operator on his way.
He tells Daily News 24 that all his plans for the day had been thwarted, which has also resulted in the frustration of his effort for the day.
“I have been standing for hours in the sun waiting for any Achaba which could take me to my destination. My younger siblings couldn’t go to school today because there weren’t any means of transportation, and here I am, waiting along this motor park after trekking for long before I got here.
“If I don’t get any Achaba, I will trek back to the house and cancel all my appointments for today and hope for a better tomorrow. I want to plead with the operators and the Kano State government to resolve their differences because it is the masses that are suffering in this situation.” He said.
Like Umar, Mallam Ibrahim Yaura, a commuter, is looking for an alternative to the tricycles to take his children home. As he awaits his children returning home from the Christmas/NewYear holiday in the popular Kano Line motor park, he described the strike action by the Keke napep operators as heartbreaking.
“I am expecting my children from school, and any moment from now, they will arrive, and I am totally confused as to what means of transportation we will take home. They are coming with many loads, and I am also here with a few items I am pained in my heart because I don’t know what to do when my children arrive.
“For more than two hours, I’ve been looking for alternatives, but I can’t find any. I have no hope because my plans and budget for today have been destabilized, and I want to beg the tricycle association to call off the strike because we are suffering.
He explained that the tricycle operators are on strike due to the Kano state government’s perceived exploitation through the Kano Road and Traffic Agency (KAROTA). He said the strike had pushed his colleagues out of work, but he is using the opportunity to hustle for him. While his colleagues are on strike Rabila Yashimu, uses the advantage to convey bread to retailers’ shops.
“We were told to pay the sum of about N 8,000 for an identification card, and people who default to get that I.D will be fined heavily when caught. We are fed up with the multiple forms of taxation because we also pay money for our daily tickets, which is 130 naira, and now they are requesting that we pay 8,000 for an I.D card. It is too much, and we don’t subscribe to that.
“While my colleagues are on strike, I am using this opportunity to deliver bread to different shops from the bakery. I will use this medium to make some money while the strike action continues, but I am pleading with the government to reduce the price of that I.D because we will be forced into hardship.” Yashimu concluded.
While reacting to the strike action, the Secretary, Kano State Transport Associations Forum, Malam Ashiru Sallau, distanced the union from the strike.
“The Union didn’t instruct its members to go for the strike. Some of our members resolved to decide, not under our umbrella.
Likewise, the Public Relations Officer, Kano State Road and Transport Agency (KAROTA), Nabulisi Abubakar, said that the tricycle operators were protesting the N8,000 permit directed by the state government.
