As the rate of unemployment in Nigeria continues unabated, many unemployed graduates have resorted to riding motorcycle and tricycle to cushion the effect of poverty.
The Point investigation revealed that many tricycles and motorcycle operators are university graduates of different disciplines. Some of those who spoke with our correspondent said; “My name is Emmanuel Adole, I graduated at Olabisi Onabanjo University. I am a tricycle operator, not that I like it but because I don’t have any other choice. But to a large extent, it has helped to maintain my family and myself financially.”
For Yusuf Bello, it is the only sources of income, especially during this period of volatile economy in Nigeria. “If I continue to wait for decent or white collar job, I will just die of hunter. The only challenge is that both the tricycles and motorcycles are very expensive now. This is because of the influx of people into the business, the dealers also capitalised on the demand and supply mechanism to make double gains,” Bello said.
Responding, the Assistant Sales Manager of Wandel International Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mustafa Ayelegualo, told The Point that the use of tricycle and motorcycle in the country is a means to alleviate the effect of hardship in country.
Ayelegualo, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent explained; “it is imperative for people to ride tricycle and motorcycle because of unemployment rate. Every now and then, people are out of job and what comes first to their mind is the next line of business. They think of this, because it is easy to start through hire
purchase.”
Ayelegualo, however, explained that with motorcycles and tricycles, they find an alternative of getting their way out of traffic, adding that it is easy to maneuver heavy traffic on the road.
“If a route is congested with traffic, they will create a route for themselves, which is their source of income,” he said. He also said that the company is under Simba Group and has been in existence for over 30 years, dealing in TVS King motorcycle and tricycle. According to him, TVS king motorcycle and tricycle give great fuel economy and less cost to maintain.
“Firstly, when TVS came in, we were not having it easy because our own was four stroke cycles while Bajaj was two stroke cycle and what I mean by two stroke cycle is to mix oil with fuel in the same place, while TVS has it separately, a place where you put fuel and a separate place where you put oil.
“At a time when the federal government discovered that the carbon monoxide which the tricycle is producing is causing problem and endangering people’s life in the country, they decide to ban two stroke tricycles because they know that if you mix oil with fuel, it will produce smoke and they accepted four stroke cycles in Nigeria.
“Secondly, what made us to gain ground was that when we came in newly, we trained mechanics all over places so that once it has fault, you can have mechanics to put it in order. You know a situation whereby you buy a tricycle and there is no mechanic to fix it, so that is just the problem Bajaj has then,” he further explained.
