Okada (motorcycle taxi)

[2] Motorcycle taxis or okadas are also commonly used in some other West African countries,[3] including Togo (oléyia), Benin (zémidjans), Burkina Faso, Liberia (phen-phen), Ghana[4] and Sierra Leone.

Unemployed youths began to use motorcycles to earn money by transporting passengers swiftly to their doorsteps and sometimes on narrow or poorly maintained roads.

Okadas are used in cities such as Lagos by businessmen, government workers, and students to overcome traffic congestion, and can navigate roads that are inaccessible to automobiles and buses, particularly in villages and urban slums.

Contributing to the flourishing of okadas is their low purchase price for operators, and their superior fuel efficiency, which is particularly important during petrol shortages in Nigeria.

[11] A study carried out in 1993 in Yola, a medium-sized city that is also the capital of the northeastern state of Adamawa, Nigeria, provides additional insight into the okada business.

Customers generally were male (65%); were young adults between 18 and 30 years of age (57%); had completed at least secondary school (83%); were unemployed but in the job market (59%); and had low to moderate incomes (45%).