Are Nigerian drivers on the ride-hailing app contented with being their own boss?

abiola

October 17, 2017 10:17 AM

It has become pertinent to find out given the topic getting raised out of Uber's embattled run in the city of London.

This piece comes in the wake of the Uber ban in London, with accusations leveled against the Silicon valley company being labelled unfit to run a taxi service.

Resultant issues coming from the London ban of the company highlighted the need for Uber drivers to be considered full time staff as against labelled self-employed independent contractors by Uber.

This begs the question as to what Lagos Uber drivers think about the nature of their working relationship with Uber.

Pulse goes on to ask a couple of them if they would rather be taken in as full time employees of Uber or are contented with being self-employed and independent, and being their own boss as it were.

A certain Mr Emma, an Uber drivers in Nigeria don’t mind becoming full time employees, though with some hesitation, all they seem to be really concerned about is earning more and Uber lowering their commission rates, but still expresses he is not fully working for himself as he is not the owner of the car.

“Yes I want to be a full time staff why not, but I’ll see how it goes,” he said.

He goes on to remark that Uber still is the best in the business for a number of reasons.

Another Uber by name Chukwuemeka, says he doesn’t mind being a full time employee or independent contractor as long as he is comfortable with what he gets, stressing on wanting Uber to reduce commissions charged.

He said he doesn’t mind them having control of his time, a likely thing to occur being a full-time employee

Emeka did commend the service of Uber, saying the app is easy to use, and likes the bonus incentive Uber gives to the drivers.

Another driver named Usman, who holds a BSc. degree in Accounting when asked simply said he is not happy. "I''m just doing this job because my country Naija has no job for me, I have to manage this job," he says, sounding entirely disconnected from the company even as an independent contractor.

This may perhaps go some length to say that the drivers, at least those in Nigeria are cool with being independent contractors and are only more concerned about getting their take home pay up as against worrying about fulltime employee benefits, which contradicts the notion that industry insiders are calling out Uber for – not treating drivers as part of the company.

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