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• Run cabs, keke empty as passengers disappear
From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Anger, hunger and frustration are boiling over among commercial drivers in Abuja as the biting fuel price hike continues to wreck their means of survival, forcing many to operate half-empty and, at times, at outright loss.
For Ahmed Ogah, who plies the Kubwa-Berger route, each day has become a gamble with little or no reward: “This fuel price increment has finished us. You leave the park hoping to load, but you end up carrying one or two passengers all the way. After buying fuel, nothing remains.
“What used to be a steady source of daily income has turned into a hopeless struggle. At times, we buy fuel and just run empty. You keep moving, hoping to pick people, but nobody is coming out. It’s like we are working for nothing.
“The situation has worsened with the sharp drop in human movement in the city, especially during school break. Nowadays, I don’t even know if civil servants are going to work. The roads are dry. People are not moving like before.
“Rising fares have forced residents to abandon physical visits, turning instead to phone calls and virtual interactions. In Abuja now, people don’t visit again. If someone wants to go to Nyanya, they calculate the fare and cancel the trip. They’ll just send recharge card and call you.
“Drivers now spend long hours stranded at parks without passengers. From Kubwa to Berger, you can wait for hours and still move with one or two passengers. What is the profit? There is none. We are just suffering.
“In Nigeria, anything that goes up never comes down. This thing is frustrating our lives. If nothing is done, many of us will pack up.”
Ogbonna Ike: “This fuel price hike has really crippled my business. Everything we were doing was just to make money for fuel alone. My car developed a fault and there was no money to fix it. I have been at home for four weeks now.
“The money I used was not mine, it was my wife’s. She kept giving me until she got angry. Now she regrets it because the vehicle is still not working.
“Passengers have also devised survival tactics, cutting trips short to cope with rising fares. Someone going for N500 will stop halfway because that same journey used to be N200. Salaries have not increased, so people can’t cope.
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“Movement within the city has dropped sharply. People now calculate every journey. If it’s not important, they won’t go. What we see on the road every day is heart breaking.”
David Ernest operates around Lugbe, Wuse Market and Area: “The business is dying. This work used to be one of the best. We made money daily. But now, everything has changed. The once-thriving ‘pick-and-drop’ system has collapsed. Commuters now prefer to trek short distances.
“From one junction, you go pick four or five people before your final stop. That was our profit. But now, those people don’t come out again. Survival on the road has become nearly impossible. The business is dead. It’s not easy at all.”
For Clement Yeti, a commercial tricycle rider in Kubwa: “I have resorted to waiting for people to call me before I come to the road. Each time you go out to hustle, you just waste fuel without getting passengers.
“The once-busy keke business has collapsed under the weight of rising fuel prices and dwindling passengers. It is not bringing any profit at all.
“I now stay at a pure water factory. When people come to buy water, I help convey it to their houses. That is how I make my money now. It is even better. I don’t waste time roaming again.”
“Many drivers have already abandoned the business. Most people have dropped out. The ones you see now are those whose vehicles are theirs. So somehow, they manage.
“In this situation, just pray your vehicle does not develop fault. We have stopped saving for a long time. If anything spoils, you will have to borrow to fix it. There is no money anywhere. It’s becoming terrifying every day. I just pray God helps us out of this situation.”
A Nyanya resident, Madam Grace Okofar, said the rising transport cost is not only affecting businesses but also tearing apart social ties: “Most of my friends, I cannot remember the last time I saw them. We now do most of our talking on phone.
“A round trip could cost between N10,000 and N12,000, making visits nearly impossible. It’s only serious matters that bring us together now. This is not really good. Something needs to be done.”
