Okada/Keke Ban: Riders get another means of survival as new wheels hit Lagos

There is a saying that when one road closes, multiple ones will open and that is looking like the case for the "out-of-job" Keke and Okada (Tricycle and Motorcycles respectively) riders after new mini-cars were spotted in some Lagos areas.

Recall that the Lagos State Government placed a ban on motorcycles and tricycles from five local government areas and major highways on February 1, 2020, a decision that didn't sit well with residents and operators.

The Lagos State Govt. seemed unfazed by the riots and protests afterwards and gradually, the #Otrek trend that started as a joke on social media became a reality.

A number of commuters had to trek several kilometers to major bus stops before the could see a public bus, something that becomes difficult due to the large crowd heading towards the same direction.

The government, to ease the tensions, rolled out new BRT buses to cover some of the areas where Keke were previously operating, still, commuters continue to groan as the buses couldn’t meet the needs of residents in some areas.

But the desert storm that receded weeks after the ban is back with a bang, this time with a brand new look, yellow and black Lagos commercial vehicles colours and red too, so the town won't need a new painting.

Pictures of the brand new wheels have started surfacing on the popular microblogging website, Twitter:

@AdeBC_ wrote:

“New Lagos movement, what do you think!?”