Journeying on an expressway or taking a walk, the sight of fully-clad bikers with a branded leather or plastic box strapped to the back of their bikes is a common sight in major cities. They go from one point to the other to deliver well-packaged goods to recipients. The dexterity at which they wriggle in and out of traffic could be daunting. It’s like they hold on to the ancient axiom that, ‘King’s business requires urgency.
“My reason for leaving the business was because of government policies with regards to the LG numerous permits. The LG boys known as ‘agberos’ disturb the riders, hold them for hours, ask for every document and despite producing them, they still find something to say. They tell the rider that they no longer use certain documents despite showing them all,”Ogunsi noted.
Also, Christiana Akinlose who became an entrepreneur and director of Tiana Courier Services in 2019, said she stopped the business due to the “continuous disturbance of the riders by the local government boys on the road,” She stated that they constantly extorted, searched and requested certificates, permits and stickers of their association.
NIPOST also currently operates as a regulator for courier operations in the country while also being an operator.reported on December 3rd, 2021, that the NIPOST bill at the National Assembly would “revolutionalise the postal system” adding that “the new bill passed is to bring NIPOST into international best practices by separating NIPOST as an operator from being at the same time, a regulator.
In Nigeria, a global database platform that tracks startups, Tracxn, reports that as of December 25, 2021, there were 101 logistics tech startups. As of January 14, 2022, there were 2032 tech startups in the country. He added that NIPOST requested evidence of tax payment as a prerequisite for obtaining a licence, pleading that courier start-ups be given time for the business to generate income and resources needed to meet the requirement for licensing.
“The local government officials don’t know what they are looking for. They check through the documents one has and still try to find a means to scrutinise everything and make it look like some things are missing. But if one has the papers and other necessary documents, they become powerless. In some areas, like Ikorodu, the situation is worse and the owner would have to be at the concerned LG to secure release of the rider.
Joseph Adedeji is another dispatch operator who gives out his bikes on hire purchase to independent dispatch riders. But two out of his seven riders refused to pay the agreed weekly price of N12,500 for more than a month, forcing him to collect the bikes from them. He stated that some riders’ irresponsibility had left a bitter taste in the mouths of their bosses.
He added, “Touts don’t molest us but the LG task force who check for documents and ensure enforcement.” Adedoyin said, “We have issues with the local government regulations. We have this body, Abuja Municipal Area Council that is not well structured such that to get the operational permit and mobile adverts permit is a challenge. At times the documents of riders at a particular location would be acknowledged as original, while at other places, the paper is termed fake.”
Ayotunde added, “To be a dispatch rider in Nigeria is not easy because the employers give the riders a particular target and any infraction would be met with salary deduction. Being on the road is not an easy thing because one would want to meet up delivering a customer’s parcel on time. In that instance, one would have no choice but to drive above the speed limit.”
For a one-man bicycle delivery business operator in Ibadan, Oyo State, Mr Paul Dibia, the challenge of navigating unnumbered and unfamiliar streets was a task he faced during delivery of parcels to customers. Last year, the Lagos State House of Assembly ordered Local Government councils and Local Council Development Areas in the state to stop extorting and harassing operators of logistics services in the state.Some clients of eCommerce and logistics businesses shared the stories of their regular encounters with riders during deliveries of packages.
“Some of them are good with their jobs and polite about it. This often determines how one relates with them. There are rude ones too. Some of them would request tips and that can be annoying and makes one uncomfortable. There is a particular delivery operator that usually delivers late while riders from the post office would expect one to grease their palm,’’ she said.
One of the examples of government failing its people. You can't create job, inadequate access to credit facility. When the people overcome all these & create jobs, you cripple the businesses with multiple levies that end in the pockets of corrupt govt officials. A pseudo nation
قال محمد قاسم: 'أنا أحترم المهدي عليه السلام ولكن أحلامي لا علاقة له به. هذا فقط لأنه لم يظهر لي ولم يذكر في أي مكان في حلمي. أنا فقط أشارك أحلامي كما أمرني الله ورسوله صلى الله عليه وسلم'. '. قاسم نفسه مهدي!
This is harassment. What are they doing with all these money they are collecting?
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