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• Gives 50 per cent fare reduction for PWDs
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From Scholastica Hir, Makurdi
In this interview with The Sun, the General Manager of Benue Links, Alexander Fanafa, disclosed that, while the federal government removed fuel subsidy, the Benue State government, led by Governor Hyacinth Alia, had introduced a transport subsidy to cushion the effects on citizens and other Nigerians living in the country. He also disclosed that the governor directed a 50 per cent reduction of transport fares for people living with disabilities (PWDs). He further enumerated several achievements of the company under his leadership as general manager.
Briefly tell us about your journey as the leader of Benue Links Nigeria Limited over the past few years, especially on what changes have taken place during your tenure?
GM: I came in on June 15, 2023, precisely. I took over as Acting General Manager for almost a year before I was confirmed in 2024. I came in shortly after His Excellency, the Governor of Benue State, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, was inaugurated, and I was one of his earliest appointees.
He gave me this job with a very strict instruction: Let’s explore the possibility to improve the fortunes of this transport company.
So I came in when the company was facing so many challenges, ranging from inadequate vehicles for fleet operations, a deplorable working environment and staff salary arrears to many other problems.
The governor invited us to brief him on the challenges confronting the company. So I outlined the problems for His Excellency, and without delay he started addressing them.
He started by tackling the deplorable condition of the company’s premises. He constructed a bus culvert to checkmate the perennial flooding within the premises and provided a drainage system.
Previously, whenever it rained, the premises were severely flooded.
He also ensured that the environment was improved, and he German-floored a reasonable part of the premises and asphalted the premises to completion. Then canopies were installed to provide shelter for passengers during both rainy and sunny weather.
The objective was to make the company’s premises more comfortable and to provide passengers with a decent environment.
His Excellency did not stop there. We met just 13 functional company-owned vehicles, while many others, about 400, were privately owned. The governor injected 100 brand-new vehicles into the company to enable it to bounce back to normal operations.
During this period, the governor also donated trucks so that we could introduce haulage services, which we have successfully commenced.
Within this period, we have been using these 100 buses and adding more to expand our fleet, thereby extending our scope of operation.
When we came in, we operated in fewer than 10 local government headquarters. Today, we are expanding our services to almost all the 23 local government headquarters in Benue State.
If not for security challenges, which remain a limitation in some areas, including Naka, I would have said we are moving to all LG headquarters.
Apart from this, we have been moving to every nook and cranny of Benue State.
We have also expanded our operations beyond Benue State. Previously, we had about 18 to 20 outstations in other parts of the country. We have now expanded our reach to nearly 32 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
So now we move to Maiduguri, Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina.
For instance, during the current mobilisation of prospective corps members to orientation camps, we arranged vehicles to transport them to camps across the country. We moved them to all the 35 states of the Federation, including Abuja.
This was not happening in this company in the past. It is part of the governor’s directive to ensure that these children, prospective corps members travelling for their service year and joining Benue Links, reach their destinations safely and are not abandoned halfway along the way.
Another significant achievement is the provision of permanent sites for the company. When we came in, the company’s assets were depleted. However, His Excellency has graciously bought us permanent sites in Abuja, Ihugh, Adikpo and Zaki Biam.
The sites in Ihugh, Adikpo and Zaki Biam have been developed and are being put to use, while in Abuja we have occupied a reasonable portion of our property.
Within this time, we have also developed a haulage business, established a solid operational haulage structure for it, and fully registered with the relevant postal authority, the Nigerian Postal Authority (NIPOST), to have permission to run courier services across the country.
This has been ongoing, and every year we renew our certification and run it legally.
Furthermore, within this period, the governor has directed us to revive the filling station within the company’s premises, which had been completely moribund.
The facility has been revived to make fuel available to our vehicles before they embark on their journeys. This reduces delays and helps improve operational efficiency. As soon as you load here, you fuel your car here and reduce the waste of time for the journey; then you enter the road until you exhaust your fuel before you enter another fuel station to add.
We have also introduced new technological innovations, because any organisation that fails to embrace technology risks being left behind.
We introduced online booking, which is operating smoothly. Passengers can now book their journeys from the comfort of their homes or offices through our website, provided they have internet access.
For about two and a half years, we have operated the online booking platform without any reported hacking incident. We developed the platform, and we are running a cybercrime-free online booking platform using our own staff, demonstrating the company’s growing technological capacity and commitment to modern transport services.
We have also introduced Point-of-Sale (POS) payment systems at our stations across the country, including Benue State. Passengers can now pay with their ATM cards and are charged zero per cent, without incurring additional charges from the company.
These are some of the improvements we have made in the company.
During this period, we also revived our Marcapollos, which had been abandoned as scrap and left in a state of disrepair. They have been refurbished and returned to the roads to provide transport services within Makurdi town.
We have also introduced intervention services for commuters travelling from Makurdi to the University of Agriculture, now Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, and for students going to the school, who line up waiting for Benue Links.
We go from Makurdi town to Air Force Base, to Apir and to George Akume Way, so that people within the town who cannot afford other commercial vehicles and tricycles have Benue Links as an alternative.
The aim is to provide affordable transportation for students and residents who cannot afford other commercial transport options, including tricycles. Benue Links has been intervening.
Basically, we met a company that was abandoned, and the Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has revived the company, injected new life into it, improved its performance and enhanced the services that we are providing to the public. We welcome feedback from passengers because it helps us identify areas where we need to improve to serve them better.
Another improvement is the installation of solar-powered lights throughout the company’s premises. Within this time, when you come here at night, you see solar lights everywhere, providing illumination so that passengers who arrive late at night can now move around in a well-lit environment rather than finding themselves in darkness.
In addition to what we have, we have introduced other categories of vehicles, including coaster buses and Toyota Corolla cars, to give passengers more options depending on their needs and preferences.
We want to make different types of vehicles available so that passengers can choose the most suitable option for their journeys.
What challenges are you still facing?
GM: There are so many challenges, but we are gradually overcoming them because the governor has given the company so much attention that we do not like complaining about our challenges; we prefer to concentrate on how to improve our services.
When we came in, we met some outstanding obligations, including gratuities owed to retired staff. We have substantially reduced these arrears, bringing them close to the barest minimum. We met salary arrears; we have cleared that. We met outstanding gratuities; we have reduced that drastically. Our retired staff, those we met, we have liquidated theirs, and for those who are retiring now, we are making payments consecutively to ensure that we sustain them.
Another positive development is the increase in the number of privately owned vehicles operating under our partnership arrangement. As a private company, more people are coming in to lease their vehicles to the company in addition to what we have.
When we came in, we had fewer than 500 of those leased vehicles, now called private partnership. Today, the number has increased to about 1,200. This growth shows that vehicle owners have confidence in the company and believe their investments are protected.
Consequently, more people are bringing their vehicles into the scheme. So the traffic here at the park now is more than what we have.
However, the increasing number of passengers means that we need even more vehicles and, like Oliver Twist, we are asking for more vehicles to meet the growing demand and sustain ourselves.
On average, how many passengers does Benue Links transport daily or in a week?
GM: Based on the statistics available, in a day we move not fewer than 1,500 passengers.
For instance, our vehicles move out a minimum of 25 on the Makurdi–Gboko route and a minimum of 22 on the Makurdi–Otukpo route. We also have substantial traffic on the Makurdi–Abuja route, with about 40 vehicles, and Abuja to Makurdi. This is the traffic flow.
These figures give you an idea of the volume of passengers we transport daily to different destinations, about 1,500 passengers to their various destinations.
Within this time, the governor has also directed us to slash transport fares to the barest minimum. Our priority is not to maximise profits but to break even while providing affordable transportation services to Nigerians.
Furthermore, the governor, within this time, has also directed that, even with the reduced transport fare, People Living with Disabilities (PWDs) should receive a 50 per cent discount on their transport fares.
Therefore, wherever a person living with a disability boards a Benue Links vehicle, that passenger is entitled to pay only half of the applicable fare, courtesy of the Governor of Benue State.
In the prevention, rescue and reintegration of trafficked persons in the state, the governor also directed the company to assist in returning trafficked persons to their communities.
How many people have you brought back so far?
GM: Human trafficking is becoming rampant, and the governor has directed us to assist in returning victims to their communities and reconnecting them with their families.
Whenever law enforcement agencies, including the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the police, the Department of State Services (DSS) or other security agencies, or even communities, recover victims, and they are able to come out of the places where they were trapped and are legitimately discovered to have been trafficked, Governor Alia has directed that we provide transportation to help bring them back and reunite them with their families.
Community members who help rescue victims can also bring them to our attention for assistance, once their circumstances have been properly established.
So far, as of our last count, we have brought back 237 victims from different locations, including Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Abeokuta and Ilorin, to Benue State.
Most of the time, when some of these victims are returned, Her Royal Majesty, the wife of the Tor Tiv, Professor Mrs Ayatse, receives some of them at her palace.
She speaks with them, helps them overcome their trauma and supports their rehabilitation and empowerment. Some are referred for training and other forms of assistance to enable them to rebuild their lives.
It is idleness that made many victims be deceived into believing that they were travelling elsewhere to find greener pastures and better opportunities.
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A good number of them have given us their experiences: that they were promised jobs in standard restaurants, boutiques, companies or other establishments.
However, upon arriving at their destinations, some discover that the promises were false and what they saw is not what they were told.
They will tell you that it was when they got there that their phones were taken away from them and they were subjected to exploitation and other forms of abuse. Some eventually escape with assistance from others and return home to explain what they experienced.
So the wife of the Tor Tiv, as a mother, has shown concern for these victims, particularly young girls, by helping them recover from their experiences and supporting their reintegration into society. Through her NGO, she trains them and gives them a start-up so that they can go and stand on their own.
For the culprits, a good number of them we have handed over to NAPTIP, and they are properly prosecuting them, and some were handed over to the DSS.
Recently, Benue Links increased the price of transportation, and we were thinking that, following the presidential directive that from 1st October Nigerians would have reduced transport fares. Why is this so?
GM: The removal of fuel subsidy came with the hike in fuel prices, and that is when Benue Links came in with Fr. Alia’s intervention, ensuring that transport fares are reduced to the barest minimum.
So Benue Links Nigeria Limited has come in to intervene. In fact, when you look at the fee charged by Benue Links, it has become a control machinery, with this company controlling other independent operators in the transport industry. People look at what we are fixing and make sure they don’t go too far.
Because of the low transport fares we are charging, we have indirectly controlled transport fares from skyrocketing. For instance, Benue Links is moving from Makurdi to Lagos at N28,000; from Onitsha to Lagos is N40,000, but from here to Onitsha they are taking you for N40,000 for other transport companies.
Before now, it was N27,000, and that was when fuel was N1,030, to N1,200, to N1,300 and now N1,450. Within this period, Benue Links only added N1,000 across the whole of Nigeria and the whole of Benue State; we didn’t add N1. We still maintained the old prices because charity begins at home.
I don’t know about other states, but as far as Benue is concerned, the governor has put in the subsidy substantially. Benue Links is not looking at profit maximisation; we are looking at breaking even, and the people are happy.
At the federal level, the government has removed the fuel subsidy, but at the state level, particularly in Benue, government has reintroduced transport subsidy. The government of Benue State under Governor Hyacinth Alia has introduced government subsidy, and he has made transport services available at the cheapest rate for people, and that has controlled the skyrocketing of transport fares by other independent transporters.
Are we going to see CNG buses in Benue Links soon?
GM: CNG is a federal government policy that they asked state governments to key into. But it has to do with energy, compressed natural gas. So it’s a process, and we are pushing. We expect that, by our arrangements and partnership, a filling point will soon be established here in Makurdi. Benue Links has made a place available for the investors who are dealing with CNG to establish a filling place, and once that happens, we will have CNG buses.
Recently, the governor directed the Deputy Governor to meet with six commissioners and some other people in Abuja to fine-tune the supply of CNG buses to Benue Links and the filling point in Makurdi. It’s a process, and we would get there.
Again, we need technicians who know how to maintain the vehicles; you need to know the people who would supply the parts, the compressed natural gas, and where the vehicles will fuel. The state government is gradually keying into the federal government projects so that, gradually, it will come in.
Benue Links vehicles have previously been attacked on the roads because of insecurity, particularly during night journeys, although the situation has improved. What measures have you put in place to protect your vehicles, drivers and passengers?
GM: We are a transport company, and we are not in control of the country’s security architecture. However, we work in synergy with the relevant security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, the military, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the DSS.
These agencies have been cooperating with us. When we observed that attacks were occurring mainly at night, we reduced our night operations and adjusted our schedules accordingly.
Where security intelligence reports indicate that certain areas are unsafe, we avoid those routes at night. Our drivers are instructed to seek safe locations, such as military or police checkpoints and other recognised secure areas, where they can park and continue their journeys during the day.
These are some of the measures we have introduced to ensure that passengers travelling from Makurdi or other parts of the country reach their destinations safely.
There are additional security measures that we cannot disclose publicly because doing so could give criminals information they might exploit.
We have established operational cooperation with security agencies, which monitor the movement of our vehicles and assist us when necessary.
For instance, when a protest recently disrupted movement in the Tiomu community over the reported abduction of residents, security agencies mobilised and restored access to the road. Normal vehicular movement resumed in less than an hour.
On another occasion, when some of our passengers were abducted, vigilante groups also mobilised to assist in their rescue. A number of suspected kidnappers were arrested and handed over to the police, who are handling the case.
These collaborative efforts have contributed to the reduction in attacks involving our vehicles.
Road safety and speed-limiting devices
We have engaged a technician who specialises in speed-limiting devices.
Every company-owned vehicle has a speed-limiting device installed. Privately owned vehicles operating under our partnership arrangement must also install these devices before they can be registered with the company.
Our technician periodically checks the devices to ensure that drivers have not disconnected or tampered with them to exceed the approved speed limits.
We are committed to ensuring that our vehicles operate within the prescribed speed limits.
The Federal Road Safety Corps has also been very cooperative. Its officials visit our premises periodically to educate our drivers, conduct training and provide recertification.
This month of November, we just had another major training programme for drivers and staff. It covered road safety, security awareness and other relevant issues.
We are approaching the busy end-of-year travel period, when many people are in a hurry and traffic volumes increase. We are also preparing for the heightened activities associated with the forthcoming election period.
We therefore want to sensitise our drivers and staff to remain vigilant, observe safety rules and be conscious of potential security threats.
We have also received security briefings from personnel of the DSS, the military and Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), among others.
We appreciate the leadership of the FRSC sector command in Benue State for its continued support and cooperation.
Recruitment, discipline and monitoring of drivers
We carry out normal disciplinary measures where necessary. We do not tolerate misconduct.
We do not employ drivers without proper screening and interviews. Driving is one of the positions in the company for which candidates must pass through a rigorous recruitment process.
When the governor provided the 100 new vehicles, we recruited drivers and involved the FRSC and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) in the screening process. Their names were also submitted to security agencies for verification.
The objective was to ensure that those employed met the required standards and had been properly screened.
Any driver who fails to comply with the company’s rules may face disciplinary action, including dismissal.
We also conduct routine checks on drivers before they leave the premises. Every driver is tested for alcohol consumption before departure. We use testing instruments to establish whether a driver is fit to operate a vehicle.
If a driver tests positive for alcohol, that person is prevented from driving. Where necessary, additional tests are conducted to confirm the result.
We prioritise the safety of our passengers, and we will not allow a driver who is unfit to operate a vehicle to embark on a journey.
Vehicle tracking and passenger feedback
We have also introduced a system for monitoring our vehicles while they are on the road.
Management and operational staff have access to the tracking platform, which enables them to monitor the movement of vehicles travelling to destinations such as Lagos and other parts of the country.
We periodically check their movements to ensure that drivers comply with operational requirements.
In addition, we have introduced a passenger feedback mechanism.
Each vehicle has a sticker displaying its specific vehicle identification number and the company’s contact details.
Passengers can use the provided telephone contacts to report concerns or complaints about the services they receive.
When a complaint is received, we investigate it and, where necessary, contact the driver to caution or discipline them.
The identity of the passenger who submits a complaint is not disclosed unnecessarily.
No driver has the right to shout at or mistreat a passenger.
Benue Links is a company that exists to serve its customers, and we expect our staff to treat passengers with respect.
Expansion of haulage services
The governor provided haulage vehicles to enable us to expand our operations and respond to the growing demand for the transportation of goods.
We are gradually expanding our capacity to serve more routes and customers.
Our trucks currently operate on routes including Lagos, Abuja and Calabar, depending on the availability of goods and customer bookings.
For example, one of our trucks may transport goods from Calabar to Benue, proceed to Lagos and then move to Abuja, depending on the available consignments.
We advertise our planned movements to enable customers to know the routes our trucks will cover and make bookings accordingly. This allows people with goods to arrange transportation with us and track the availability of our services.
We are committed to expanding our operations so that more customers can benefit from our haulage services.
