Bidding goodbye to lucrative venture

Bidding goodbye to profitable venture
| credits: File copy

Helmet dealers share their experiences with SIMON EJEMBI since the Lagos State Government restricted the operations of commercial motorcycles in the state.

For many years, Mr. Obi Emmanuel made his living by selling motorcycle spare parts in a small shop close to Marine Bridge, Apapa in Lagos. While the profit he made from the business was not much, he says it was enough for him to get by. Things remained that way for him until January 2009.

On January 1, 2009, the Federal Road Safety Corps began the enforcement of directives on the compulsory use of safety helmets by motorcyclists.

The decision presented Emmanuel with an opportunity to transform his fortunes and he seized it.

In addition to his spare parts business, he started selling safety helmets. With FRSC breathing down their necks, it wasn’t long before motorcyclists turned up in their numbers at his shop. They didn’t just show up to buy a helmet, they needed at least two; their passengers were required to wear helmets as well.

“We used to sell more than 2,000 pieces of helmets in a month then,” Emmanuel recalls.

Mr. Abel Ekemoha, a wholesaler at Oyingbo, who supplies helmets to retailers such as Emmanuel, agrees that it was a profitable business.

Ekemoha says, “Back then one can make like N100, 000 and, at time, N50, 000 in a week.” He explains that despite the patronage, like every business, there were days when you could sell ‘enough’ and there were days when you sold little.

Like Emmanuel, Mr. Ejike Ekwenzu, who has a shop in Isheri, Ogun State started out by selling motorcycle spare parts before turning to helmets.

Ekwenzu, however, stresses that he started selling helmets before the government decided to make its usage compulsory for motorcyclists. Consequently, he explains that he was one of the first beneficiaries of the directive.

He says, “When they started disturbing okada (motorcyclists) helmets, we really had increase in sales and we could sell up to 20 or 30 helmets in a day.

“I couldn’t count the number of helmets I sold in a month. I used to fill my vehicle with helmets and finish selling them within a short time. In a week, I could go twice to buy helmets, mostly for up to N50, 000.”

According to him, initially, helmet sellers could make N1, 000 or N2, 000 on a helmet, depending on the type.

“But later, when it became common, we made around N100 and, at times, N200 on each. But even then, before the end of the day I could make up to N5, 000.

“When I bought up to 50 pieces of helmets, I could make up to N30, 000-profit when I sell them,” he said.

Soon, the boom came to an end as more people got into the business of selling helmets.

While the level of profit they made per helmet was already declining, they were unanimous in pointing to 2012 as the year when the business lost its attraction.

Late in 2012, the Lagos State Government banned commercial motorcycles from operating on 475 roads in the state.

These saw security agencies and traffic officials take to the roads to enforce the ban. After a series of arrests and the confiscation of many motorcycles, okada riders grudgingly withdrew from the roads. This was a huge blow to the helmet dealers, who said that in addition to the reduction in the number of motorcycles on the roads, efforts to enforce the use of safety helmets were relaxed.

“We still sell the helmets, but the problem is that the business is not moving (profitable) now. Helmets are sitting in many shops but nobody is buying them because of the okada ban and government is not forcing them to use helmets again

“It is mainly military people that use helmet now. They are the people that buy because they know the law,,” Emmanuel said.

Mr. Godwin Gad, who has a spare parts shop close to Ojodu-Berger, has a similar observation.

He said, “I have stopped (selling helmets) completely. You can’t see them here (in the shop) and I don’t see it anywhere because they no longer enforce (the use of) helmets. Without enforcing their use, they (okada riders) won’t want to wear it. So, we ourselves will not buy.”

Concerning the effect the development has had on their business, Ekemoha said, “Really, it affected us badly. I say badly because over 30 per cent of our customers (retailers) had to change their line of business. Some of those that have their shops in Lagos had to move to other states. Some have moved to Sango-Ota (in Ogun State). Some others had to sell their goods and go back to their states.”

Ekwenzu, while stressing that the business is no longer lucrative, said he and his counterparts had no choice but to move on.

“You know I’m a businessman, so when the business failed I moved to another business, but it seriously affected us. But if you let it hold you back, then you will be out of business. That was why I used the money to start selling tools such as spanners which I didn’t sell before,” he stated.

Moving on may have been easy for Ekwenzu, but for the likes of Emmanuel, who still have many helmets in their stores.

He says in order to move on, he would have to sell off his remaining helmets. He admits that achieving that does not seem likely anytime soon.

“I have not sold even one helmet in a month. If things do not change, we might go to another country, like Benin, and sell. The government of that country is forcing motorcycle riders to use helmets so they are buying,” he laments.

Even that is no small feat, he says, adding, “For me to carry helmets from here to Cotonou to sell, involves a lot of things.”

Even Ekemoha, who says he caught a lucky break, as people from Cotonou came and bought off his remaining helmets, is finding it difficult settling for another line of business.

Having sold helmets for eight years, he says it has been tough coming up with something else.“It is not always easy to change market, especially when one has been into the business for a very long time,” he insists.

While Ekemoha battles to let go of the past, Ekwenzu and Gad are focusing on their spare parts business. Emmanuel, for his part, says he is not just waiting to sell of his remaining helmets.

He is putting some money into the sale of engine oil, which he says is a good business as vehicles and generators require it. If he succeeds in the sale of the helmets he has in stock, he plans to invest the money in engine oil, and car spare parts such as batteries.

He adds that he secretly hopes motorcyclists will be allow to ply all roads once more, so he can face a line of business that made life a bit easier for him.