Abuja:Touts attack new palliative mass transit buses BY CHUKS EHIRIM  Posted Wed Jan 18,2012

The new buses purchased by the Federal Capital Territory[FCT] administration, to cushion the hash effects of recent fuel price hike, were under attack  today at Lugbe, a suburb of Abuja, by some persons suspected to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers[NURTW], popularly called Agberos.
The long buses mass transit arrangement, introduced a few days ago by the FCT administration, is part of measures being put in place by the government for cushioning the harsh effects  of the fuel subsidy removal, introduced by President Goodluck Jonathan on new year eve. The policy, tagged as anti-people, sparked off the week long protests and nationwide strike by organized labour and civil society groups in the country.
Introduction of the buses is said to have started having some palliative effect as commuters using them are made to pay far less than what the private vehicle operators collect from them. For instance, the vehicle charges NIOO from Kuje Area Council to either Berger, Area One or Federal Secretariat. The private operators charge as much as N3OO per commuter for the same distance. Before the fuel price rise, taxi cabs used to charge N200 from Kuje to either Area One or Jabi.
 

It is said that this lower charges are what  the motor park touts are  kicking against at Lugbe. It was gathered that the touts were the ones who influenced the increment in transport fare the moment the new fuel price regime took effect. A taxi driver who spoke to this reporter at Kuje yesterday, said for each trip a driver makes, he pays as much as N150 to the union. ‘’The N150 we are paying is to enable us charge passengers N300 each. So they fixed the price. If we don’t pay that N150, they will ask all the passengers to come down’’.
It was gathered that because the touts could not make money from operators of the new mass transit buses which may likely put the private operators out of business, even if temporarily, that is the reason they are fighting to stop the new initiative to take root.
Commuters who stand to benefit from the government’ mass transit programme in the FCT, are already calling on the authorities to intervene before the new programme is messed up. One of them who spoke to this reporter had this to say ‘’if the government’ palliative in the transportation sector is to make any meaningful impact, then there is an urgent need for the authorities here to descend on these touts. .Something must be done to stop them from interfering with the operations of the mass transit bus drivers’’, he said , adding that a situation where they have the effrontery to attack the mass transit drivers or threaten to stop them from working as they did in Lugbe this morning, must not be allowed to go unpunished’’ .
He suggested that government should fish out those behind the Lugbe incident and push them adequately so as to serve as deterrent to others who may want to do the same thing elsewhere. ‘’If such persons are not used as guinea pigs by government to set example, you will soon state seeing similar incidents spreading’’, he posited. Meanwhile it was revealed that the buses are not just new. A source told us that the buses had been ordered during late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua days. According to the source, the buses were brought in and packed somewhere in Abuja where they have been gathering dust ever since. Sources hinted that Yar’Adua’s administration bought the buses as part of his efforts to boost mass transit.The buses were packed behind the banquet hall at the presidential villa. Shortly after the removal of subsidy, Jonathan announced some palliatives. They include the purchase of 1600 buses for the mass transit program. The administration said the buses would be on ground on January 9, 2012.  Shortly after, Trade and investment minister, Segun Aganga, debunked speculations that the buseswould not be in Nigeria less than six months. He said they would be on ground before the January 9, 2012.
 
The speculation was based on the fact, that importation of that volume of buses will take more than one week. Now some of the buses are not even in good shape as they have started breaking down even before being put into full operational use. One of them actually broke down very late Tuesday night at the Kuje junction of the Airport Road, which confirmed the story that they were not entirely new buses.

Chuks Ehirim also reports for National Accord Newspapers