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By Agatha Emeadi
Hikes in transport fare added extra pain that diminished the excitement of many Nigerians from enjoying the Christmas and New Year festivities. Majority of those who travelled to mark the festivity with their loved ones said the cost of moving their families to their respective destinations was more than double what it used to be a few years ago.
An early morning visit by the correspondent to the terminals of few popular interstate transport companies in Lagos – Iyana-Ejigbo, Ago, Okota and Cele-Express axis – revealed the anger of most travellers who engaged in hot exchanges with impatient and equally frustrated loaders. While the cargo handlers were preoccupied with the headache of managing the heaps and heaps of travellers’ luggage strewn around the bus terminals, the travellers’ frustration stemmed from the prohibitive cost of making the journey to their destinations.
From mid-December, when passengers traffic began to peak, this newspaper discovered that the cost of a passenger seat in a fully air-conditioned HiAce bus went for between N60,000.00 and N70,000.00 for passengers travelling from Lagos to Owerri, Onitsha and Aba, major destinations in the South-East noted for the eastern Nigeria Yuletide drift. Concomitantly, travellers heading toward Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and far north, had to share from the skyrocketed cost of transportation, leaving many travellers who could not afford such prohibitive fare with the most dreaded option of resorting to night trips despite the high risks involved.
At one of the terminals, as early as 4:30 am during the season when managers, ticketers, loaders and security officials of these transport companies usually have their hands full; and a time when the deafening chatters of grumbling travellers reached an unassailable decibel, a voice of an ostensibly angry manager thundered: “Don’t you know the season we are in? Ticket prices cannot be the same. Look at the load for just one person, yet you do not want us to increase the prices of tickets and loaders.”
“Is that why transporters collaborated to strangle their fellow citizens who want to travel to join their loved ones for the Yuletide,” an equally angry passenger retorted.
In the midst of the rowdiness at the terminal, the correspondent cornered and sought an explanation for the usual sudden hike in the cost of transport during the Yuletide season from the owner and chief executive officer of one of the popular transport companies who pleaded to remain anonymous.
“Apart from the fact that the festive periods normally witness an increase in the number of people travelling, it has become a practice for transporters to hike fares during the Yuletide,” he began.
“This is because people rarely travel from the east to Lagos for the Yuletide. Instead, the pressure is from the cities down to the rural communities, especially from Lagos to the east. So, any vehicle that loads from Lagos must go and come back with money meant for double road expenses. The driver who will do Lagos to the east with a full passenger load may come back to Lagos without any passenger yet the road expenses must be made for both journeys.
“Any driver that loads from any Lagos terminal to the east must therefore collect at least N200, 000.00 or more as road expenses. That money must be doubled for the driver to go and return to Lagos, and that is the main reason we hike transport fares during the Yuletide.”
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He confirmed that the cost of transport from Lagos to Onitsha, Owerri and Aba ranged between N60 and N70, 000.00 per passenger depending on the choice of vehicle the passenger wants to board.
“Some of the vehicles are fully air-conditioned while some are not. Some transport companies acquired brand new luxury vehicles to operate the season. It depends on the choice of the traveller and the one he or she can afford though the difference is not more than N10, 000.00.”
In addition to this, the chief executive also blamed the present economic situation, especially the removal of fuel subsidy for the high cost of transportation in Nigeria during the festive period. “How much do you spend to fill up the tank of your car? To fuel each of these vehicles to the east will gulp almost N300, 000 to and fro; or more during the days of black market.”
He also explained that the situation of the economy affects the transportation sector in no small way, saying high exchange rate poses a major threat to the survival of those operating in the sector.
“For instance, in the last five years, Toyota HiAce which we used to purchase for N24.3m, rose to N80 million presently, before it came down a bit to N77.5m. A fairly used grade 1 (one) engine also known as (Tokunbo engine) we used to purchase for N8m rose to N15m; even though it might be a fake one. The prices of spare parts of these vehicles have sky-rocketed badly that they are not easy to see in the market.
“Some transport companies bought vehicles for the season. Ordinarily, towards the ‘ember months,’ transporters usually bring in new vehicles in order to operate during the season without hitches on the road. The new vehicles normally complement during the peak period and still work through the year when the pressure would have reduced. Now, transporters are scared (from procuring new buses) because of the harsh economic situation,” he stated, adding that the situation might get worse unless the economic situation improves.
“For a transporter to raise over N80m to purchase just one vehicle is outrageous. Under the current cost of ticketing, that vehicle may not be able to raise the money in three years. This is the reason why some transporters go for old ‘China products’ .Bringing in China products gives concern because of the way they are constructed. I tried their buses myself and failed woefully. It almost collapsed my business. That is why I’m stuck with the brand of buses we use for our business here.”
Another transporter, Mr. Innocent Iwueze said passengers who prefer to travel in luxury buses are charged N50, 000. “A 50-seater passenger luxurious bus like those deployed by GUO, Okeyson, Young Shall Grow, Izuchukwu, Ekene Dili Chukwu motors costs N50, 000.00 for travellers who are going with the morning belt; while the popular night luxurious version costs N36, 000.00.”
He noted that the hike in transport fare did not start today. “It has been a tradition for transportation costs to go up during the Yuletide. With the present cost of petroleum products, a hike in the cost of transportation during the season is inevitable. One litre of fuel is now N810.00. There is no way the cost of transport will not be affected during the Yuletide.
“Even here in Lagos, the cost of transportation is not static. it changes frequently. Our business is on the road. Right before us here, fares from Cele to Ikotun, Egbeda, Surulere have increased. So there is no way the cost of inter-state transportation will not be hiked during the season,” he explained.
