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Okada Ban: Gokada Sacks Employees In Lagos
Okada Ban: Gokada Sacks Employees In Lagos
Lagos-based motorcycle-hailing startup, Gokada has laid off most of its workforce.
The company was founded by Fahim Saleh and launched in January 2018. It was founded to solve Nigeria’s largest city traffic problems.
According to a TechPoint report, since its launch, Gokada has gone on to raise a total of $5.6 million from two rounds. The platform also claims to have completed more than a million rides.
In August 2019, three months after raising $5.3 million series A and announcing Ayodeji Adewunmi as co-CEO, Saleh revealed plans via a Medium post to suspend all Gokada operations for two weeks. This was due to the unpleasant experience he encountered when trying to use the motorcycle-hailing service some days before.
Consequently, Saleh said the company would undergo an overhaul to ensure that drivers were retrained as well as launch brand new bikes and new Bluetooth helmets for Lagosians. Keeping to its promise, Gokada did just that.
However, there are unconfirmed reports that this new change in operations might have cost the two-year-old startup a lot.
Consequently, Saleh said the company would undergo an overhaul. This is to ensure that drivers were retrained as well as launch brand new bikes and new Bluetooth helmets for Lagosians. Keeping to its promise, Gokada did just that.
However, there are unconfirmed reports that this new change in operations might have cost the two-year-old startup a lot.
The source also claims that Adewunmi, the co-CEO hired in May 2019, left the company last month.
Okada Ban In Lagos
In addition to this, another source claims that Gokada laid off most of its staff two days after the announcement of the ban.
Gokada CEO, Fahim Saleh has confirmed that Gokada Sacks Employees, via a tweet to Techpoint reporter, Tage Kene-Okafor.
Just a week ago, on the 27th of January, the Lagos state government announced the ban. The ban affected all forms of motorcycles and tricycles in major parts of Lagos. Motorcycle-hailing startups like Gokada and MAX Okada were not exempt.
This caused the startups to engage in a protest against the new regulation. Also, CEO, Saleh released a video addressing the ban, so it comes as a surprise if the green-branded motorcycle-hailing service has taken this course of action.
