No plan to ban ‘okada’ in Oyo State, Makinde says as MAX opens assembly plant

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said his government has no plan to ban operations of motorbikes, popularly known as ‘okada,’ in the state.

He said this on Tuesday at the official opening of Metro Africa Xpress (MAX)’s assembly plant for motorcycles and tricycles at Eleyele, Ibadan. The plant will also assemble electric-powered motorbikes in the future.

Represented by Rev Idowu Ogedengbe, his executive assistant (Administration), the governor said that situating the assembly plant in Ibadan was a welcome development as Oyo State has been known to be an industrial state.

“We are delighted you chose Oyo State as a base. In the past, we had the likes of Exide Batteries, Leyland Autos in Oyo State. Over the years, many of them have gone down. Our desire is to have a renaissance of our industrial heritage.”

He added that “We see a future where all the motorcycles, tricycles and possibly the electric vehicles operating in Oyo State will be coming right from our city here. We will produce them and deploy them here.

“So we are not in any way going to stop motorcycles or tricycles from operating. We will only ensure they organised and regulated, and ensure that they do not pose any security threat.

“We see this as a wonderful partnership and we are committed to make it work.”

Adetayo Bamiduro, MAX CEO and co-founder said, “We are happy to be here in Oyo State and we remain committed to not only providing job opportunities not from the point of view of providing vehicles to prospective riders, but also to building the industrial capacity of the state. This includes training people, providing them with strong technical skills to be able to even set up their own workshops to provide high quality services in the two/three-wheeler space.

“Second is to continue to drive innovation. We know climate change is real. We believe that through the contributions that we will deliver, Oyo State will be at the forefront of clean energy mobility when we begin to produce electric vehicles, motorcycles and three-wheelers for both private and commercial use.”

Chinedu Azodoh, MAX co-founder, noted that MAX had empowered over 3,000 riders in the state already.

Also present at the event were representatives of CFAO and Yamaha that have partnered with MAX since 2018.

MAX, popularly known as MAX Okada, is a mobility finance and technology company with operations in Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, Ekiti, Kano and recently, Ogun State.

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