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• Extortion by touts, motor park levies, fuel prices hike worsen situation
By Kehinde Aderemi
Commuters in Lagos are increasingly getting frustrated with the rising cost of public transportation in the state. A combination of factors, including high costs of fuel, vehicle maintenance and exorbitant motor park levies imposed on commercial bus operators by both the Nigerian Unions of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) have continued to make commuting in the state a huge burden on passengers.
The role of the NURTW members in pushing up transport fares in the metropolis, it was gathered, is a source of concern among angry passengers many of who vent their frustrations on bus conductors and drivers when tempers rise.
During a recent encounter, a bus came to a stop to allow some passengers disembark at Ijaye Bus Stop, along the Lagos Abeokuta Express road, when about five to six members of the transport union, popularly known in local parlance as Agbero, clustered round him to demand routine levies. The bus conductor, who was obviously not disposed to parting with any money at the time, informed the unionists that the bus was just on its first trip for the day, but promised to settle the levies on subsequent trips.
But as two of them yielded to his appeal and went after other vehicles, the rest would not budge. Two of them went after the vehicles’ wipers while the third hanged on to the bus, a development which forced the bus driver to halt the vehicle totally. Expectedly, the delay did not go down well with many of the passengers on board who expressed divergent opinions on the matter.
“Why not settle them and let’s leave?” a woman queried.
“But you people already know that this is an obligation you have to perform; so why don’t you just pay them once and save our time,” another added in an undisguised angry tone.
A few other passengers also yelled at the driver and the bus conductor, demanding that they settle the road union members so they could continue with their journey. Yet, there were others who queried the essence of the levies.
“What service do they render to justify being paid?” a middle aged man insisted.
The fuss ended and the trip continued minutes later with the lamentation of the bus conductor: “How much have I made today that I must settle Agbero at every bus stop,” he wondered in frustration, directing his question to no one in particular.
“I gave them money at the Toll Gate. Those at Alakuko Bus Stop also collected money from me. I also paid those at Kola Bus Stop,” he ranted on, with occasional calls on passengers at bus stops heading toward the direction of the bus.
The bitterness in his eyes and voice summed up the frustration that define the daily operations of public bus drivers and their conductors over the incessant harassment and extortions by the members of the NURTW.
Expressing her anger, Lagos-based business woman, Mrs. Folashade Jimoh said the levies charged by the Agbero contributed in no small measure to the hike in bus fare. She expressed concern that continued harassment of public transporters and the conductors in Lagos have become the norms.
Jimoh pointed out that efforts should be made by the state government to intervene in the public assault and harassment of bus drivers.
“Last Wednesday, I was on my way home after the day’s job and I saw how our driver was being beaten up and harassed because he didn’t pay the daily levy to the Agbero.
“Many of us on board alighted when the issue began to escalate. It is such a complete embarrassment when public transport drivers and the conductors became object of ridicule and harassment.
“It is also very unfortunate to hear that the state government gets a certain amount of money from the levies collected by the Agbero. And what that means is that the Agbero are at liberty to extort and harass bus drivers, the conductors and even commuters in the state,” she said.
For Mr. Prosper Nwali, a bus driver, whose daily route is Ikorodu to Maryland, the experiences on the road is an ugly one. The driver told Saturday Sun that the Agbero are exploiting Lagos drivers on daily basis, making life difficult for them. According to him, the Agbero have turned themselves into what he described as Kings of the Lagos roads, extorting without consideration.
He stated further that each bus drivers on Lagos roads pay more than N5, 000 daily for different levies at different bus stops. The levies, he said, are in batches and are compulsory for every commercial driver in Lagos.
“I feel so bad because the way the Agbero are collecting money from us is too much. At the end of the day, after you have paid those levies, it seems as if you didn’t work at all.
“Bus drivers in Lagos work hard but we are feeding the Agbero. It was not like this before. In the past, you only pay where you carry passengers but now, we pay at every bus stop, every corner. Whether you drop passengers or not they will collect money; whether you carry passenger or not, they will collect money.
“As they extort and collect levies from us at every bus stop, the LASTMA and the police also collect theirs. But they usually use those street guys to extort us. That is the situation in Lagos.
“For instance at Agric bus stop along the Lagos-Ikorodu road, whether you carry passengers or not as long as you pass through the bus stop, you must pay N4,500 daily levy. It is getting too much and we don’t even know what will happen in the next few years.
“The daily levies bus drivers in Lagos pay include the ones they call federal money, security money, welcome money, and Otunba’s money among others. I don’t know where all these levies are going to. But the painful aspect of this is that the Agbero cannot help you as drivers because if anything happens to your bus on the road, you are on your own.
“Some drivers are now joining Legion, Spy Police, Neighbourhood Security Watch or Onyabo and other security outfits to avoid paying unregulated amount of levies to the Agbero. That is one of the ways the drivers use to avoid paying the Agbero because once they are in uniform they would not pay the money again.
“The Lagos State government should help us look into this. I didn’t say they must not collect the levy, but it should be reduced. Even if you didn’t pay at a particular trip, drivers should not be harassed because we are stakeholders in the public transport sector and we should be respected as responsible family men,” he appealed.
Like Nwali, Mr Segun Philips also expressed concern over the high levy paid by bus drivers in Lagos. Philips, another driver who plies the Oshodi to Mile 2 route told Saturday Sun that the issue of extortion in the transport sector in the state has the backing of the state government.
“Do you think the Agbero are collecting money without the support of the state government? The Agbero are working for the state government; that is why they can subject bus drivers and their conductors to all sorts of ridicule and harassments.
“It is sad that Agbero are so powerful in Lagos and they get away with lawlessness because they have the backings of the state government. So, no matter what you say or do, it would not have any effect on them because they enjoy the support of the government,” alleged.
Alhaji Yinusa Nafiu popularly known as Shukura is the First Trustee of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria in Lagos State. He said the hike in the transportation fare is as result of increasing price of fuel.
“We know how much we used to buy fuel and how much it is sold now. There are no two ways to it because the effect of an increase in fuel prices is automatic and immediate on commuters that use the public transport system and the drivers too will feel the pain. However, public transport owners on their part have no options than to use the prices of fuel as measure for maximising their gain and that is the reason for the increase in the prices of transport fare,” he stated.
Alhaji Shukura said apart from the loading fee, the NURTW in Lagos also collects the N200 levy daily from bus drivers in 14 Local Government Area and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state, while the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria collects the same amount daily in six Local Government Areas and LCDAs.
He explained further that the collection of bus levies is based on one day on, one day off between the two associations in six Local Government Areas while the NURTW operates in all the local governments across the state.
The daily activities of the unions, he said, made the leadership of the NURTW, a major stakeholder in the running of the Lagos State public transport sector.
“As a stakeholder in the public transport sector in Lagos State, I urge the Federal Government to help reduce the prices of fuel. That is the only way to reduce transport fare in the state. Once fuel prices reduce, transport fare will surely be reduced,” Alhaji Shukura assured.
Meanwhile, Comrade Isiaka Kehinde who is also a top member of the RTEAN in Ikorodu, said contrary to the belief that the unions are the ones that are making things difficult for the drivers in the state, the unions charge what he described as loading levies from bus drivers.
Kehinde pointed out that the money being collected from drivers are development levy, and it is different from the N800 being collected by the Lagos State government.
“What we take is the loading levy. If a driver charges N700 as transport fare per passenger, such driver will pay the same amount as loading fee. That is what we collect from each of the drivers. This is what we call ‘load and pay’ in local parlance.
“This loading fee is different from the daily N800 consolidated daily ticket collected by the Lagos State Government. The union also collects N200 Building Development Fund from drivers once in a day.
“Those of us that are union leaders also suffer the same fate with the drivers. I have a bus that operates in Lagos and I buy fuel like every other driver. So, the increase in prices of fuel bites every one of us in our different areas of life. As it affects the drivers so it affects us too. I am appealing to the Federal Government to assist us by reducing the prices of fuel,” he said.
Efforts by Saturday Sun tried to reach the Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State, Hon Oluwaseun Osiyemi and one of his aides in the ministry to seek their views on the increasing public bus fares in the state were unsuccessful, as they never returned calls nor responded to messages till the time of filling the report.
