There is an atmosphere of normalcy after days of tension between Nigerians and South Africans with nationals of both countries, using the ride hailing platform, Bolt to prank at one another, Daily Trust can report.
It started like a social media war after former Miss South Africa contestant, Chidinma Adetshina, who recently landed in Nigeria to compete in the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant. Adetshina has a Nigerian root and her arrival in Nigeria sparked social media row.
A days after, the rivalry degenerated through the ride-hailing platform, Bolt as prank orders were initiated both in Nigeria and South Africa, leading to frustration and losses for drivers.
Several clips went viral over the weekend showing the volume of fake orders initiated from both countries.
Daily Trust reports that it was the South Africans that first started with prank orders initiated while they cancelled the order after the drivers might have arrived.
In retaliation, Nigerians also started the war amidst the rising tension.
The development forced the ride hailing platform to halt inter-country booking between Nigeria and South Africa.
A driver based in Lagos told our correspondent yesterday that he was a victim of the social media war.
He said, "I got a request on Thursday from a passenger who claimed he was going to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport from Ketu. I got to the said destination and started calling the number but only realised after about 30 minutes that it was a fake order. I was really pained because I bought fuel at N950."
There are calls for the compensation of drivers who suffered losses as a result of the rivalry.
A X user, @ImEriOluwa lamented the development, saying the drivers struggling to earn decent living were made to suffer unnecessarily.
He said, "Yes, two can play the game. But when two elephants fight, it's the ground that suffers. Now, poor Bolt drivers have to suffer for some people's childish behaviour. When other people's livelihood becomes the casualty of your game, there's no fun in that. I don't know what the smart guys who started this madness in South Africa were expecting.
"They should clap for themselves for letting Ubuntu out the window just to spite Nigerians. No one wins in a war; everyone loses. Some just suffer more casualties than others. This is not what we need in Africa. We should be building each other up, not destroying one another. We surely can do better and we should."
Following the development, Bolt stopped inter-country requests to mitigate the huge financial losses.
Giving an insight into the development, the country manager of Bolt in Nigeria, hinted about paying compensation to the drivers which were affected following the social media trolls.
"Currently, we are carrying out an in-depth analysis of the rides that were booked, and then the kilometres that the drivers wasted, and then seeing whether there's room for that (compensation)," the country manager, Yahaya Mohammed said.
He stated that the inter-country booking was made possible in the app to enable to help customers around the world.
While featuring on Arise News, Mohammed said, "It's a future that has helped a lot of customers around the world. We're available in 50 countries and up until recently when we had this abuse, it has been a feature that has worked very well for a lot of people," he said.
"At the moment, it's something that is currently being discussed, and my communication will go out to drivers in the next few days."
He stated that the response by Bolt was aimed at mitigating losses occasioned by the prank orders, adding that those responsible for the activities had been identified and blocked from the app.
"What we did was to block the high volume of orders coming from both Nigeria and South Africa. And then the second and more permanent solution was then to just trace IP addresses from both countries and restrict them from ordering outside these countries," he added.
'Lack of protection for entrepreneurs'
Speaking with our correspondent yesterday, a foremost entrepreneur and Lagos State Chairman of the National Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Prof. Adebayo Adams decried the development, saying the rivalry, which resulted in huge financial losses for both the Bolt management and the drivers, exemplifies the lack of protection for entrepreneurs and those in the informal sector trying to eke out a living.
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He said the government was strengthening relations with South Africa through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Adams also called for the regulation of social media against misuse and abuse which could be inimical to the people.
"The government, especially the Ministry of Information and National Orientation is at fault for failing to manage the crisis very well. The government should put its house to order to see that the citizens do not suffer unjustly.
"What is happening is an extension of the diplomatic issue between the two countries, which has been there and they are unable to manage it. How the entrepreneurs that are managing to survive, they want to kill them.
"If we are not careful very soon now most of the entrepreneurs would not have anything to do again. Because very soon now when people are losing money, they would be left with nothing to do.
"Again, there must be consequences for people that are sitting down and perpetuating lies that are not true. Against there must be data protection. Government has to enforce it. So I believe it is the fault of the government that this thing degenerated."
