‘Why Okada riders require health insurance scheme’

At least 45 percent of road crashes in Ogun State involved motorcycles, the chairman of Abeokuta South Local Government Area, Lanre Oyegbola-Sodipo, has disclosed. This, he said, underscores commercial motorcyclists, aka Okada riders, as the most critical group in terms of safety measures. Oyegbola-Sodipo spoke alongside his Abeokuta South counterpart, Hon. Afeez Balogun, in Abeokuta, […]

At least 45 percent of road crashes in Ogun State involved motorcycles, the chairman of Abeokuta South Local Government Area, Lanre Oyegbola-Sodipo, has disclosed.

This, he said, underscores commercial motorcyclists, aka Okada riders, as the most critical group in terms of safety measures.

Oyegbola-Sodipo spoke alongside his Abeokuta South counterpart, Hon. Afeez Balogun, in Abeokuta, on the newly introduced daily health insurance scheme for commercial motorcycle (Okada) riders and passengers.

While Abeokuta North LGA has already launched the scheme, Abeokuta South LGA Local Government began onboarding Okada riders onto its own health insurance programme on Wednesday.

Daily Trust reports that the initiative has generated controversy with the Riders and Owners of Motorcycles Organisation (ROMO) condemning and demanded for its suspension.

The Chairman of ROMO, Sotayo Rasak, aka Sholebo, in a statement in Abeokuta on Tuesday, described the scheme as “ill-advised and counterproductive”, stressing that it unfairly punishes hardworking riders who are already burdened by the harsh economic climate.

But Oyegbola-Sodipo described the scheme as a life-saving initiative aimed at protecting the vulnerable in the informal sector.

He said the scheme was not only in line with Governor Dapo Abiodun’s directive to deepen his legacies at the grassroots but was also designed to tackle the safety and welfare challenges facing operators and commuters.

He explained that the informal health insurance programme, in existence for over two years, had already benefited more than 2,000 elderly and indigent residents in Abeokuta North and South, providing them with a full year’s cover at no cost.

The Chairman hinted that the next phase, was to capture Okada riders as the most critical group in terms of safety, given that 45% of road crashes in Ogun State involve motorcycles.

His words, “To address this, we saw health insurance as a good means to at least establish a profiling system to know exactly who is riding Okada. On top of that, we decided to bring more value to these informal sector operators. In the event of an accident, both the rider and the passenger will now be covered.”

Oyegbola-Sodipo dismissed allegations of exploitation, stressing that the scheme allowed riders to pay daily and still enjoy full one-year cover, even if they had only contributed for a single day before an accident.

“The next level is to focus on those in the informal sector who earn a certain level of income. Our first priority is to identify the most critical group, particularly in relation to safety, and that is the Okada riders.

“As we speak today, there is no record of Okada riders in any part of Ogun State. If anything goes wrong, you cannot track anybody. That is why crime and criminality have found a platform through their operations,” he said.