Inside life of dispatch riders

Logistics business manages the complex flow of goods, encompassing transportation, warehousing, inventory management and distribution from origin to final destination. This business optimises the supply chain to ensure timely, cost-effective delivery, often focusing on niches like courier services, freight forwarding or last-mile delivery, as well as e-commerce vendors, restaurants/food vendors, corporate offices, pharmacies and individual […]

Logistics business manages the complex flow of goods, encompassing transportation, warehousing, inventory management and distribution from origin to final destination. This business optimises the supply chain to ensure timely, cost-effective delivery, often focusing on niches like courier services, freight forwarding or last-mile delivery, as well as e-commerce vendors, restaurants/food vendors, corporate offices, pharmacies and individual gifts, documents or personal items.

Dispatch riders play a huge role in the logistics sector, with many graduates turning to the business as a source of livelihood due to lack of employment opportunities in the country.

In Lagos and other parts of the South-West, the logistics sector is largely dependent on dispatch riders, with the industry experiencing high growth in demand driven by e-commerce and traffic congestion.

Like every Nigerian in the street trying to earn a living, the riders are exposed to challenges, which include high fuel cost, traffic congestion, harassment, and road accidents.

In May 2025, two dispatch riders were crushed to death after a 20-foot container fell on them during a collision involving two fully loaded Mack trucks on Eko Bridge inward Alaka, Lagos.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) attributed the crash to excessive speeding and suspected driver’s fatigue.

“Preliminary findings suggest that the driver of one of the articulated trucks, reportedly speeding and allegedly dozing off, lost control of the vehicled.

“This collision led to the dislodgement of a 20-foot container from one of the trucks, which subsequently crushed two unsuspecting dispatch riders who were navigating the route at the time,” a statement by the LASTMA noted.

 

The life of dispatch riders

A middle-aged dispatch rider, Kayode Adeola, told Weekend Trust that every day in the life of a delivery rider is full of risk.

He attributed this to the nature of Lagos roads and the never-ending traffic snarl.

Asked what qualifies one to be a dispatch rider, Adeola said, “A rider is a rider – when you know how to ride a motorcycle. That’s the basic requirement.”

He disclosed that the salary of couriers varied from one company to another.

“The salary varies. Some pay N70,000 and some N80,000. It depends on the company,” he said.

On the challenges riders encounter, he said, “You have to know how to ride well on Lagos roads. That’s very important due to the nature of Lagos traffic.”

Taiwo Atipede, a young graduate and dispatch rider also said, “Every day I wake up hoping for the best, getting the best out of the best for the future.”

He said his search for a job after graduation pushed him to apply for a dispatch rider’s job when he saw a vacancy.

“I was just a normal graduate hoping for a better job until one day when I was going to a bank and saw a vacancy somewhere and they needed a dispatch rider.

I had to apply because I can ride bikes; mostly this type of bike. 

That was how it all started,” he narrated.

Atipede told Weekend Trust that he was not considering quitting the job any time soon.

He said, “The way things are going now, I see it as a permanent job. God has been doing wonders with it and I am grateful. I keep praying for more deliveries because I never get satisfied. I just want to work my ass out because I love money.”

He described arrest, accidents and harassment as some of the challenges he had faced on the job.

He also said, “The roads are not safe for anybody. You just have to be careful. You should always be at alert on the road. You don’t just run like you are trying to meet up with somebody. You have to work smart and try to protect yourself always.

“Yes, I have been in an accident once and I never pray for such again.

“I wanted to deliver one order and go for the second one, but God didn’t allow it.

“The accident was a little bit fatal. I got injured on my left leg and was at home for two to three weeks.”

Asked what keeps him going every day, he said, “I have a lot of responsibilities on my neck; a lot of things to take care of.

“At times my wife will even follow me to make some deliveries. This Sunday she followed me with my daughter. We went to deliver chicken and chips at 10,000 Estates – three of us.”

On his earnings, he said, “A job that can give me more than N50,000 weekly; what else can I say? I am not sure any other kind of job would give me that kind of amount.

“I am sure I will get more than N50,000 weekly because I have a weekly contribution I make every Monday, which is N30,000.

“I stick it out for my family too. So everything is fine with me.”

In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), several dispatch riders operating in the city said the business had become a tough means of survival as rising hardship, high fuel cost and declining orders continue to affect their daily earnings.

Some of the riders who spoke with Weekend Trust said many young Nigerians turned to the risky and uncertain job of dispatch riding due to high rate of unemployment in the country.

Peter James, who has been in the business for a year, said he ventured into it due to lack of employment opportunities.

“This work is not something I planned to do. Someone like me should not really be doing dispatch work, but because of lack of employment opportunities in the country, I had to start it,” he said.

James said he worked for a company and earned N60,000 monthly, explaining that the amount hardly met his basic needs.

“I work for someone. The company receives payment for deliveries, and at the end of the month, they pay me N60,000,” he said.

He noted that the number of deliveries dropped compared to when he started.

“Before now, I could undertake up to 10 deliveries in a day, but it has reduced to five or six,” he noted.

James explained that the economic situation in the country reduced the number of customers requesting deliveries.

“Because of hardship in the country, some people no longer send packages the way they used to. Only a few people still place orders,” he added.

 Another rider, Abocheila Global, who has been operating for a year, also said dispatch riding had become a common option for many young people trying to survive.

“It is a risky work, but if you are strong and smart, you can do it. When it rains, you just wear your raincoat and continue,” he said.

According to Global, earnings vary from day to day, depending on the number of orders.

He noted, “Sometimes you can make N20,000, N30,000 or even N40,000 in a day. It depends on the orders you get.”

He said work usually improved during festive periods when orders increase.

“In December, sometimes you can make up to N50,000 because of Christmas and New Year orders and deliveries,” he explained.

Zahradeen Adamu, another rider, said he joined the dispatch business after failing to find a job in his field of expertise.

“I am a house electrician. I install inverters and electrical equipment, but there was no job, that’s why I started dispatch riding,” he explained.

Adamu said most riders depended on mobile applications for orders and must also pay weekly remittances for the motorcycles they use.

“From each delivery, maybe N3,000; the app can take about N400 or N500. From the remaining money you still have to fuel the bike and pay remittance,” he further explained.

He added that delays during the rainy season often led to complaints from customers.

“Sometimes when rain falls, it delays us and customers start shouting because the delivery is late,” he noted.

Ezra Shekoaye, who started dispatch riding last November, said the job exposed riders to several risks.

“Accidents on the road are part of the risk. Another problem is robbery; thieves sometimes attack riders,” he said, adding that riders also face danger while carrying packages they do not know their contents.

“Sometimes someone can give you a package and you don’t know what is inside. If security people stop you and discover something illegal, you will be the one in trouble,” he explained.

Shekoaye said the rising cost of fuel had further reduced what riders take home.

“If government can help reduce the price of fuel, it would help riders a lot,” he added.

Monday O. Akwayi, a graduate of Chemistry, said many educated youths turned to dispatch riding because jobs were scarce.

“Most of us are graduates but there is no job. That is why we humble ourselves and do this work to survive,” he said.

Akwayi said many riders did not own the motorcycles they use and must pay weekly remittances to the owners.

“Some people pay N30,000 or even N36,000 every week for the bike. At the end of the week, you may discover that all the money you worked for has gone into paying for the bike,” he noted.

He also recounted an incident in which a customer assaulted him during a delivery.

He said, “I waited for the customer and brought his food, but when he came out, he started beating me. Later, the security people in the estate blamed him and he apologized.”

Akwayi appealed to the government to reduce fuel price to ease the burden on riders.

“When fuel is very high, it looks like you are working only to buy fuel. We are pleading with the government to reduce the cost so that people like us can survive,” he added.

Across the city, dispatch riders who spoke to Weekend Trust said the job remained one of the few options available to many unemployed youths.