Despite the raging harsh economic conditions, worrisome spate of accidents and growing insecurity, Nigerians have continued to travel at night when the need arises, leading to sustained boom in operators’ businesses. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes on the many reasons why it has remained a thriving business
Transportation–either for commuters or the operators, especially night travels in Nigeria–is not a tea party or for the faint-hearted.
This correspondent discovered that despite all odds, many Nigerians have continued to travel at night, the growing insecurity, and harsh economic realities, notwithstanding. For these Nigerians, the goodnight Lagos, and good morning at their destinations–Abuja, or wherever, be it the Southeast, or any towns in the Northeast, as far as Maiduguri, is an allure that cannot be traded for anything or wished away. It is the reason night travels will always trump day trips whenever the need for long distance trip arises.
Besides the convenience, many said the fear of insecurity is even abating now with the numerous checkpoints mounted by Nigeria’s security agencies which come alive at night on the country’s highways.
The Nation’s investigation showed that businessmen and women formed the bulk of night travellers. One of such, Ikechukwu Obiora has been a night traveller since 1993, even as a boy learning auto spare parts business.
Now, going to his home state in Anambra, or coordinating his growing business, in the past 31 years, have always been by night trips. He cannot remember when last he made a day trip, except if it is not an interstate.
Asked if he is not bothered by the growing insecurity, Mr Obiora said: “Even daytime travelling isn’t better as people still get robbed, abducted or killed or injured from serious accidents.”
Like before, over 80 per cent of nighttime travellers are still businessmen and women. Night trips, for some reasons, have been very favourable to businessmen; either for personal travel or logistics reasons for their businesses.
Notable operators who have continued to operate at night have to rely on luxury buses, many of which have seen better days, as many of them were bought in the early to late ‘90s. Virtually all operators spoken to during this investigation at Jibowu and Agboju, two of the over 100 major parks across Lagos State admitted that no operator bought new luxury vehicles to replace the aging ones in the past 25 years.
The result is that many of the buses due to age are no longer in good condition and cases of malfunctioning are rampant today, compared to early to mid-8‘0s when night trips gained popularity. This usually results in delays and unpalatable experiences by patrons as these could even happen in the dead of the night.
Mrs. Kate Onyeabuchi recalled such a nightmarish experience when their vehicle developed a major fault at night and they had to sleep overnight in the middle of nowhere until daybreak. Yet, such incidents won’t dampen her interest to travel by night.
Investigation shows that some of these operators are culpable of putting rickety vehicles on the road. Many of the passengers are hoodwinked by the longstanding names of the operators, while, for others, fresh dab of colour are used to mask the grievous state of a wearied engine they put on the road to service interstate roads. Due to age, many of the buses packed waiting for passengers at Jibowu and Agboju areas, two of the places noted as interstate hubs are rickety, with torn seats, poor interior lighting and other sundry issues.
But none of these reasons, including a poor network of roads which could make night trips worrisome, would deter commuters who said that night trips remained their preference. As more Nigerians embrace this mode of travel, it underscores a broader shift in transportation preferences and lifestyle choices.
They said rather than spend the day time on a boring trip with accompanied heat and traffic congestion which often causes delays and increases travel time, night time ensures a more comfortable ambience, a relaxed traffic and the opportunity to even take a deserving nap at night leaving you refreshed and ready for the day’s business by dawn of the next day.
Commuters have increasingly seen night journeys as safer and faster despite warnings by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and other relevant agencies about the dangers and risk associated with such trips.
Some commuters pointedly said that they had resorted to night trips because they could not afford the high fares since the removal of petrol subsidy last year by the Tinubu administration.
Dave Obibi, a Lagos-based teacher cited his Christmas trip back home last year with his family. He said he couldn’t afford the cost for day time and resorted to travel by night which is affordable. Obibi, who is heading back to check on his parents, said he would be able to take his ailing dad for medical checkup and nurse him back to health, before returning to Lagos at the end of the long vacation.
Many of the bus operators are also able to deploy GPS tracking solutions to track in real time their vehicles and secure up-to-date information about their location, making night travel more comfortable and efficient.
The rise of mobile apps and virtual money have also made it possible for passengers to book and pay their fare online; thereby making planning and managing night travel much easier. Travelers are able to book tickets, check schedules, and receive updates directly from their smartphones, adding convenience and reassurance to their journey experience.
Peter Idahosa, an assistant station manager of a popular operator at Jibowu said rather than bothering about the worsening insecurity, operators are more concerned about the worsening state of highway roads across the country. He urged the Federal Government to fix the roads as this would give the needed fillip to those in the travel and logistics business.
Kenneth Odeh, a station manager with a transport company based in Bolade, in Oshodi, confirmed that unlike the last one decade security has improved significantly and insecurity is not top priority among the challenges for operators.
According to him, unlike before when all luxury buses are accompanied by policemen and Federal SARS, many operators no longer go with security details while those who still do now employ trained in-house personnel and even first aiders to accompany their vehicles in case of medical emergencies on the road. He said traveling with security men could expose the vehicles to attack from armed gangs prowling on the road.
“Largely today, because of the improved security, most luxury bus operators do not put security men on our buses. Most of us go in convoy and that provides some safety net and if any of our vehicles or any vehicle from our park runs into crisis, whether attacked or it breaks down, we will all wait to offer assistance and ensure the safety of all the passengers,” Odeh said.
Botched move
The Nigerian Senate, in 2011, had attempted to ban night travels. In a motion by Senator Chris Anyanwu, from Imo State, she had lobbied her colleagues to ban night travels to arrest the spate of carnage on the road and to curb the growing insecurity. However, other lawmakers argued that such a ban would infringe on the people’s right to free movement, but resolved to direct the Federal Government to speed up on road rehabilitation and to better equip the FRSC to perform their statutory functions of ensuring that the road is safe.
Scary statistics
But the FRSC would insist that road monitoring is a cumbersome exercise at night. It insisted on advising Nigerians to stop night traveling to avoid road carnage.
According to its road traffic crashes statistics, FRSC claimed that about 4,387 people were killed through road crashes between January to June 2023, across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), while 14,108 others sustained different forms of injuries within the same period.
Also, between December 23, 2023 and January 2, 2024, five crashes recorded across the country accounted for 58 deaths and all accidents occurred by night.
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While admitting that the rate of accidents had indeed dropped significantly, in recent time, yet, fatality rate anytime accidents are recorded is scary.
FRSC have consistently warned Nigerians and transporters about the dangers of night travel.
The agency also warned luxury bus owners to keep their vehicles in good condition always and not to use them at night in view of the risk involved.
However, despite the warning, night travelling is gaining popularity among commuters in the country, especially in big cities like Lagos and Abuja.
A top official of the FRSC told The Nation that night travel often comes with poor visibility and, in most cases; the drivers do not observe adequate rest in the daytime before embarking on the trips.
“That is why the level of fatigue is on the rise and many would not park to get some rest because of security reasons.
“We have deployed patrol vehicles, tow trucks, bikes and ambulances for rescue and emergency operations to our formations nationwide.
“This deployment is among others targeted at increasing visibility on the highways and also ensuring prompt removal of obstructions and enhancing effective patrol operations,” the official who spoke to our correspondent ii confidence said.
Lifestyle preference
But many who preferred night trips say the risk is worth taking if juxtaposed with the huge benefits derived from it. “I regularly travel at night because of my business, I supply goods to my customers in Aba and I can’t waste my time going in the day, the last time I tried it, I spent two days on the road.
“The many checkpoints and roadblocks on the Southeast roads are something else. These, coupled with bad roads, lead to traffic congestion making the journey a nightmare,” Isaac Okafor, a businessman, said.
Okafor stressed that he was not bothered about the security implications of night trips, adding that even the day is not safer. “There is more security on the roads at night than in the day,” he added.
Okafor may be right, at the Agege, Jibowu, Agboju and Oshodi parks visited by our correspondent, same pattern was recorded: Passengers merely strolled in up till 5pm to book their seats for the night journey to different parts of the country, especially Abuja, Southsouth and Southeast. The parks do not get busy until 7:00 p.m. when travellers who either had booked online or had earlier come to book come in and loading the buses with cargo begins. At around 8:00 p.m., passenger loading commences and by 9:00 p.m., the bus(es) are ready to leave the station en route to their destinations, Abuja or the East.
Though Abuja-bound travellers enjoy more compact and urbane Sienna cars or Hiace buses popularly called Hummer buses by locals, most transport companies dedicate luxury buses for night journeys because they are studier and rugged for the bad road terrain.
Logistics is a major business component of all transport operators. Traders and businessmen were seen thronging the logistics section to weigh their goods and ensure they are loaded, whether or not they are on the bus themselves. It is a huge business.
Big cash business
At Jibowu, a manager in one of the parks, simply known as Mr Gabriel, said all the parks are under the same umbrella and they operate the same fare either for Abuja or the Southeast.
Gabriel, who disclosed that 15 stations are in Jibowu, said on a good day, seven 57-seater buses are loaded from Jibowu alone. Similar experiences may be recorded across all the over 100 parks scattered across the state daily.
Calculated at N25,000 per passenger, to either Abuja, or the Southeast or Southsouth, an operator could rake in N1.350 million per day, while all operators on a good day could make N17.5 million, or about N87.5 million weekly on ticket sales alone. This is apart from what they raked in from cargo fares. With over 100 such stations scattered around the state, Lagos and many urban centres across the country are sitting on a billion naira economy weekly, just on night travels.
Chukwudi Okoro, an auto parts seller in Anambra, said that he frequents Lagos weekly to restock parts and other equipment and said he prefers night trips by luxury buses because it is less stressful and affords him the opportunity of going with his goods.
“I take a night journey because it is faster and more convenient for me to move what I have. People say there is danger, but I have never experienced any problem.
“For businessmen, daytime is horrible for business as security operatives could extort the hell out of you and if you do not give them money, they would seize your goods no matter how much it is worth,” he said.
Another night traveller, Josephine Akor, said she is a frequent night traveller as she shuttles Abuja at least twice a month for business.
Though she said she realized it was risky, the option of going by flight had dimmed since last year when flight tickets began to rocket.
“I understand that a night journey could turn awry, but I have no choice. I have so many things to do in Abuja, and at least twice a month, I hit the road en route. Until I rent a place there, I might have to resort to these trips,” Akor said.
Yusuf Tanimowo, an unemployed graduate who confessed some trepidation at the prospect of the trip to Abuja, said he had no choice as he had even to borrow some money to add to what he had, to buy the ticket for the trip. He was going to Abuja for an interview at the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC). Though his chance may look slim, he, nonetheless, decided to seize it and pray it leads him somewhere.
“Though I am a bit afraid, I’m prepared for this journey, though it is my first time going to Abuja, my brother; forget, it is only God that is guarding us.
“I can’t travel by plane, because I don’t have money for a ticket; perhaps if railway had been extended to Abuja, I could have considered it but our government had made things difficult and left the people with no choice than to expose themselves to avoidable risks because alternatives are limited for the masses of the people,” he added.
But Berth Chukwu, a loader with one of the transport companies at Agege Park, listed the many reasons he felt night travels continue to thrive. Ranking high in his reckoning is the low fare attraction. Besides, road accidents are becoming rare since the federal government decided to work on many of the roads; turning them from single to double lanes.
“Since 2023 till date, we have not recorded any accident unlike before. This reinforces the confidence of people and this reflects on the boom we are experiencing.
“Significantly, the temperature at night is cooler making travelling better and more enjoyable. Before day break you have reached your destination. There is also no disturbance or traffic congestion during the night,” he said.
Chukwu added that the deployment of technology which has seen a rise in cashless transactions is a major boost to the business as it has discouraged armed robbers and other criminals from attacking night buses knowing people don’t carry cash any more.
“We now have cashless transactions, so robbers know that people don’t carry money again; there is no point attacking buses and commuters.
“Also, the country is hard now; the night bus fare is low when you compare it to buses that move during the day.
“Day buses can charge N29, 000, N27, 000 for a journey to any South-East states and night buses can collect N18, 000 or less to Abuja and about N25, 000 to the Southeast.
Conclusion
The advantage of luxury buses is that they are more stable, especially on rough roads than smaller buses which are susceptible to accidents. This is even more because the luxury buses are driven by professionals who are proficient in defensive driving.
He stressed that the high cost of diesel and gas has also affected fare and transport business in recent times, urging the government to intervene.
“Even if the government cannot reverse the subsidy, they could subsidise transportation. They did it in the yuletide season and Nigerians were happy. Let them devise a way to give relief to operators as this would lead to a significant drop in the cost of transportation and this would cascade down to everything as transportation cost would be reflective.” a traveller said.
But whether or not the Federal Government did anything to bring down the cost, travellers would continue to make night journeys their preference.
“The benefits far outweigh its risks,” was how Mrs Ojuawo, another traveller heading to Abuja sums it.
