…..Vows to keep the Gokada dream alive
The Chief Executive Officer of Lagos-based motorcycle-hailing startup, Gokada Fahim Saleh has expressed shock and disappointment with the decision of the Lagos State government to ban all forms of motorcycle taxis including bike hailing-taxi start-ups such as Gokada. Saleh said that he is hurt by that decision because Gokada was a great outfit made up of an awesome team.
Speaking via a Twitter video, the CEO noted that Gokada met global best practices in safety and training and that they had one of the best team in the continent. He lamented the increasingly shrinking space innovative entrepreneurs are experiencing in Nigeria warning that “it is hard for entrepreneurs who want to contribute to the growth of this country to survive under such environment. “Gokada was everything to me, it was a mission not simply a business, that was why I put my time, resources, energy and everything I have got into Gokada to make a wonderful dream come true, and we were able to build a very special family” he added.
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He added that Gokada was founded on the passion to give anyone who is willing and ready to work within a disciplined system the opportunity to work and earn a living. According to him, Gokada was a stage in the lives of its drivers many of whom want to pursue their dreams in life but needed a stepping stone to earn money and make a living. Gokada he said was a very safe with the safest drivers one can get as its accident rate was quite infinitesimal at 0.1 percent which was about 250 out of 350,000 rides that launched out.
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“Our priority was not how much money we are earning but how safe we make the system for both our drivers and our customers” adding that Gokada imported helmets that met the highest safety standards and certified by the United States Department of Transportation. The decision by the State government he said has punctuated a blossoming dream of people who have passion to make a change in the society.
In an emotion laden voice Saleh said that “ If you want an amazing thing to happen, support those who want to make changes, and take risks to make it happen, those with passion for change in their society and go the extra mile to make positive impacts” he added.
While he promised never to give up, sources reaching Africa Heroes say that the company sacked all employees today. Launched in January 2018, Gokada raised a total of $5.6 million from two rounds and claims to have completed more than a million rides. However, amidst the fundraising and fanfare, there has always been a cloud of uncertainty within the start-up.
It could be recalled that a year and a few months after its launch Deji Oduntan who was CEO and co-founder stepped down for Fahim Saleh to take over. And again in August 2019, three months after raising $5.3 million series A and announcing Ayodeji Adewunmi as co-CEO, Saleh revealed plans to suspend all Gokada operations for two weeks. This according to him was part of an ongoing process to achieve a near perfect system as he complained many of the drivers were not adequately trained to operate the motorcycle-hailing service. This led to series of retraining exercises with brand new bikes and new Bluetooth helmets.
Aside from Gokada, other bike-hailing services such as Max.ng and Opay’s ORide are counting their loses with many Lagosians lashing out at the State government for not providing alternative transportation before embarking on such an action. Moreso, many are worried at the level of unemployment this decision will cause in a society that already suffers from huge unemployment figures.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry