Gokada operator gets car gift as government policy bites hard on others

While the ban on motorcycles and tricycles by the Lagos State government in 15 local councils continues to bite hard on affected operators, it has brought opportunities and relief to others. One of such is Egbunna Sandra, a rider with Gokada, whose interview on the okada ban after a protest at the weekend went viral. She has been gifted a car to enable her to operate as an Uber driver.

In the viral video, Sandra, a National Diploma (ND) graduate of accounting at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos, had revealed that being a rider with Gokada was her only source of livelihood and she did it because she didn’t want to venture into prostitution. Sandra also explained why she stopped searching for jobs. According to her, the N20,000 she earned daily with Gokada is what some employers pay per month.

The footage caught the attention of the founder of Kokun Foundation, a non-profitable organization, Adedeji Olukokun, who sought for her contact on his Instagram page. On Tuesday, Olukokun shared a video where he presented Sandra with a Toyota Corolla 2004 model car.

During the protest last week, The Guardian while interviewing the protesters discovered that many of them were students and graduates from different universities in the country. A representative of Max, a 400-level Psychology undergraduate of the University of Ibadan (UI), Akanmu Afeez, said he is sponsoring his education from the proceeds of the business. Another Max operator said he is a mass communication graduate of the University of Abuja.