The Kwara State Government has announced that Okada operators in the state would begin to pay road tax.
This was contained in a recently released statement.
According to the statement, the State Commissioner for Works, Suleiman Rotimi, disclosed that all factions of Okada unions in the state would hence wear a single uniform.
Rotimi explained that the new single uniform is necessary to beef up security in the state and screen out illegal elements who use Okada to perpetrate criminal acts.
He added that the government would introduce Identity Cards with barcodes for riders in the state.
The statement read in part, said, “The commissioner mentioned that as part of the strategy to improve security, a censor of all Okada riders would be conducted and population of registered Okada riders would be ascertained.
“Equally, the Commissioner stresses the need for road tax payment and urged the riders to fashion out a realistic amount and mode of collection.”
Responding, the President of the Joint Okada Union, Mr Ajewole Gabriel, expressed the union’s readiness to abide by the single uniform, road tax payment and ID cards with bar codes mulled by the government.
Ajewole urged the Ministry to check the influx of Illegal Okada operators in Tanke Oke-Odo and other areas to forestall security bridges in the State.