Friday, 27 November 2015

How to be a successful Okada rider in Nigeria

    If you say you are Nigerian and you have never flagged down a bike then I really don't know what to make of you. The okada man is a professional bike rider who people pay to take them to their various destinations. The bike men have been around for as long as I remember.
         I remember the really noisy bikes they called them "vespas" the lady machines favoured by female bike riders, then came yahama and now the jincheng(the one that says welcome to bla bla bla...no wahala and left,left, left when the bike is turing)
        The okada business is no walk in the park so one wonders why okada men are a dine in a dozen in any part of the country.To be an okada man, the job requirements are simple no need for a university degree or professional certificates. All you need are a bike(obviously), sunshades, a thick cardigan and an umbrella(for those in the south) and viola! you are an okada rider.
         To thrive in the business you must be very good at bargaining and negotiating especially during feul scarcities, having a bad temper as I have come to understand should also be part of your charm.
           You must also be very prayerful or diabolical as you will be needing a lot of spiritual backing considering the fact that the line of your job entails that you meet all sorts of people from all works of life and of your customers might be a warlock or an escapee from yaba left.
              Last and not the least you must always have smaller denominations of the naira on you. Change as they are popularly called must always be handy, you do not want to know the extent of damage not being able to give a balance of #10 change to your customer can cause

Good luck, from here onwards its not so smooth sailing and a life of  unabashed mediocrity.

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