The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Transporters

  • Businesses boom for traders, transporters as Imo goes for election

    Businesses boom for traders, transporters as Imo goes for election

    By Damian Duruiheoma, Owerri

    Businesses on Friday, November 10, boomed for transporters as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies concluded plans for Saturday, November 11, governorship election in Imo state.

    It was an equally similar development as traders in various markets within the state capital made brisk business when residents engaged in last-minute buying.

    Our correspondent who monitored development, observed that thousands of bus drivers were engaged by INEC to convey electoral materials and personnel to various Registration Area Centres (RAC) and polling units.

    It was also observed that more of that number were hired to convey security operatives to various locations in the state.

    At the government house roundabout, thousands of buses were seen getting ready to convey police personnel to various locations.

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    However, the development affected the cost of transportation in the state on Friday as a few available buses on the road, hiked transport fares.

    Passengers were also seen stranded as they made efforts to travel to different communities where they would cast their vote during the election.

    For instance, a trip from Owerri to Orlu which hitherto was N1,500 was hiked to N2,000 and N2,500 depending on the type of vehicle.

    A commuter, Chidi Uzoho lamented that he had been at the bus stop for over two hours waiting for a vehicle to convey him to Amaku in Isiala Mbano, where he intends to cast his vote tomorrow.

    A bus driver, plying Owerri-Okigwe, Jamachi Onwuchekwa told our correspondent that he had to increase the transfer fare because of the pressure on him by passengers.

    “Most of our colleagues were hired to do election duty and that left us with very few vehicles, particularly Siena. With that, we are having plenty of passengers on the road with many of them agreeing to stay four per seat instead of the normal three per seat even when the price is doubled. So, it’s not our fault”, he said.

    Also, when our correspondent visited Ekeonunwa, Relief and World Bank, Nkwor Orji, and Amakohia markets in Owerri, the state capital, residents were seen making last-minute buying to beat the 12:00 midnight deadline for the restriction of movement ahead of the election tomorrow.

    At Ekeonunwa market, a resident who identified herself simply as Mrs. Ijeoma Chikere, said she was at the market to buy food items that would sustain her family on Election Day and the day after.

    “As you know, the movement will be restricted tomorrow, the day of the election. And the day after the election is Sunday, a day set aside to worship God. So, it is important that those of us with family should prepare for the long weekend.”

  • Transporters support Emmanuel

    Transporters in Akwa Ibom State at the weekend declared their support for the re-election of Governor Udom Emmanuel.

    For hours, business activities in Uyo, the state capital, were shut down as they marched through major streets, campaigning for Emmanuel.

    They cited his fair taxation scheme that stopped them from fraudulent multiple levies of N4,500 to a single daily N200 levy, maintaining that the free tax days introduced on weekends and holidays also account for the massive profits in their kitty.

    Deputy Governor Moses Ekpo, who addressed the transporters on behalf of the governor, said there was no longer any facet of the society that has not thrown its weight behind the second term bid of the governor.

    Ekpo assured that the support would strengthen Emmanuel to carry out more people-oriented development programmes in the state.

    In his opening remarks, Commissioner for Transport and Petroleum Resources, Mr. Orman Esin, commended the transporters for their sincerity in appreciating the Governor Emmanuel, adding that the governor was their number one fan.

    Esin said they came out in their thousands to say thank you to the governor for the tremendous developments he has brought to the transport sector, which is a major sector of the state, particularly the declaration of free ticket days on Saturdays and public holidays for the transporters, as well as the regulation of the ticketing system.

    The transporters, which include motorcyclists from neighbouring towns like Ikot Ekpene, Eket, Abak, tricycle operators, bus drivers and heavy duty vehicles operators in their various unions such as the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Akwa Ibom Motorcycle Transport Association (AMOTA), drove round the streets, singing in appreciation to the governor, especially the good roads and other enablers that have encouraged them in their businesses.

    Speaking on behalf of the transporters, Etim said the reason they want Governor Emmanuel to return to the Hilltop Mansion come 2019 is because of the unity and improvement he has brought to the sector.

    The commissioner said that in past, transporters in the state would go out for the daily routine and return unsuccessful, owing to the outrageous ticketing system. He added that, since Emmanuel came into power, there have been tremendous development in the sector and as a result they return home with good and reasonable amount daily.

    He added: “Gone are the days, when Keke operators would buy tickets from 15 local governments at about N4,500 daily, whereas they could not boast of N5,000 and they would return home with only N500.”

  • Students, transporters to Obiano: fix road or forget second term

    Students, transporters to Obiano: fix road or forget second term

    The second busiest road in Anambra State is in such disrepair that students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), commercial bus drivers and motorcyclists who ply it have told Governor Willie Obiano to repair it or risk losing their vote in the forthcoming governorship election.

    The Ifite-Awka-Amansea Road, which had a facelift under the Peter Obi administration, has apparently been abandoned by Obiano’s government. The road links the NAU.

    As a result of its disrepair, many students haved been involved in road crashes on the road. Drivers lament the toll on their buses.

    The motorcycle operators otherwise known as okada, told The Nation that they no longer operate the route as it has become impassable, thereby denying them the opportunity of making money.

    The Ifite-Awka-Amansea Road appears to have been abandoned by the state government of Obiano, though it had a facelift during the regime of former governor Peter Obi.

    The 5km road has continued to give residents of the two communities of Ifite and Amansea sleepless nights, while businesses had equally collapsed in those areas because of the bad road.

    The worst affected portions include such areas as Miracle, Chioma, God is Able, Saint John Lodge that link hotels housing thousands of students of UNIZIK.

    Ifite-Awka Road is the second busiest road apart from the popular Zik Avenue in the capital city and a few poles to the state Government House.

    It links the Amansea community and is the shortest route for the students, which has a population of over 40,000.

    However, the dilapidated condition of the road has reduced traffic as well as increased transport fair from N50 to N150.

    The deep pot holes have made it impossible for vehicles to take the route, while the drainages have equally collapsed, leading to flooding in the areas.

    When The Nation visited the area, it was a pitiable site to behold, as one of the commercial bus drivers, Mr. J. C Okonkwo was seen carrying stones to fill some portions with his conductor.

    One of the Unizik shuttle drivers, Okechukwu Chukwudi pleaded with the state government to come to the aid of the students and commercial bus drivers as they have no other means to survive the economic recession in the land.

    He said most of the business centers and traders had packed up, as nobody was coming to patronize them as a result of the bad condition of the road.

    Another driver, Chinedu Onwudiwe expressed sadness that he visits his mechanic on daily basis because of the damage the road has caused on his bus.

    A student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Kingsely Tobias, lamented that drivers of the few buses that ply the route now had increased their fairs to about 100%, which according to him, had been difficult for students to cope with.

    For Miss Sandra Emenike, another student of Unizik, the deplorable road is posing a serious threat to human habitation in the areas.

    Mrs. Sandra Ulachi, a civil servant in the state, told The Nation that the condition of the road is hampering socio-economic activities.

    When contacted, the state commissioner for works, Lawrence Chinwuba, refused to comment on the road, after the state government had lied on a local radio station that the road had been given a face lift by pouring stones on it to make it passable.

    When The Nation asked him what actually was going on as it concerns the road from the state government, he told the reporter that he would call back which he never did.

    The commissioner is a kinsman of the state Governor and had been known in the state as more of a talker than a doer.

    He takes delight in the sufferings of the people, the reason most of the roads had been abandoned in the state and majority of the people including his party members believe he is incompetent to handle works ministry.

    Speaking with The Nation in anger, a 22 year old student, who did not want his name in print vowed that students, motorcycle operators and commercial bus drivers would make it impossible for the current administration to return to power.

    He said, “This present administration led by Governor Willie Obiano has failed to follow the footsteps of former governors Chris Ngige and Peter Obi.

    He asked, “Is that how they want to come for a second term?”

     

  • Inter-state transporters plan 70 per cent fare hike

    Private transport companies have said they may have to increase fares by as much as 70 per cent to stay in business.

    This, they said, is due to the economic challenges and poor infrastructure.

    The transporters disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, put together by the Association of Private Transport Companies of Nigeria (APTCON).

    They lamented that high cost of maintaining their fleet and poor state of roads among other challenges, have greatly increased their cost of doing business and are threatening their ability to stay afloat.

    The transporters agreed that to survive,  transport fares increase by 70 per cent is inevitable, beginning from the end of third quarter, if no immediate help or support comes from the government and its agencies”.

    A communiqué at the end of their meeting noted that: “the road transport sector has, over the years, suffered severe neglect with poor attention paid by successive governments to the development of appropriate infrastructure.

    “That the absence of decent infrastructure has been a major setback for efficient delivery of service and value in the road transport sector.

    “That, being in the throes of economic recession, road transport operators have seen their little margins completely wiped away by inflation, rising cost of funds, double taxation, unstable value of the naira as well as unnecessary harassments and extortion by security operatives.

    “That the prostrate state of the automotive industry has made importation of passenger buses not only prohibitive, but unsustainable.

    “That, in the face of poor Return-on-Investment (ROI), the road transport business is in danger of imminent collapse with attendant job losses and damaging impact on the economy.”

    The group urged the Federal Government to immediately intervene by way of a bailout to cushion the harsh business climate and return the industry to sustainability.

  • Akwa Ibom transporters protest

    Akwa Ibom State transporters, under the aegis of Transport Operators Movement, yesterday condemned the 25-year lease of the state’s Transport Corporation (AKTC) to Nsik Motors.

    The union’s Chairman Kingsley Akpan spoke on behalf of the members at a media briefing in Uyo, the Akwa State capital.

    The union leader warned that there would be no peace in the state, if the government refused to revoke the new contract.

    He said the 25-year contract was a bad arrangement between former Transport Commissioner Godwin Ntuk Udeh and top officials of Nsik Motors.

    Akpan said the contract was illegal and unacceptable because other people in the Transport sector were not contacted before its decision was taken.

    The union leader noted that even the stakeholders in the Transport Ministry were also not contacted when the contract was signed.

    He added that it was wrong for Nsik Motors to be given another term of leasing, following the expiration of the one it had for 16 years, which expired in 2014.

    Former commissioner for Transport Godwin NtukUdeh and MD, Nsik Motors, Nsikak Johnny could not be reached at the time of filing this report yesterday.

    Calls made to their mobile phones were not answered.

  • Transporters seek national policy on transport

    Transporters seek national policy on transport

    THE Transport Society of Nigeria (TSN) has called on the incoming administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to take affirmative actions on road transportation

    The society said this should be done through an all-inclusive National Transportation Policy (NTP), which will make provision for the creation of transportation boards at the national and state levels.

    It said this at an emergency session in Lagos, which was aimed at setting an agenda for the incoming administration on transportation.

    President of TSN, Mr. Francis Ehiguese, noted that a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, had in his inaugural speech in May 1999 said:”Transport is the life wire of the economy and useful for social interaction. The inefficient transport system implies stagnation in all sectors”.

    Ehiguese, therefore, wondered why the nation’s leaders, who when on foreign missions to Western nations, “experienced with ease the level at which mobility was enhanced through a unified system that worked perfectly and was backed up with legislation, but never cared to implement such models in Nigeria.”

    “The Nigerian road transport subsector accounts for over 90% of all domestic passenger and freight movement and if properly harnessed, can contribute immensely to the Nigerian economy by creating over four million direct and indirect jobs.

    TSN appealed to the incoming government to make provision for the creation of the National Road Transportation Board, State Road Transportation Board, National Express Coach, National Freight Service, Intra-state Bus Service and Intra-State Freight Service.

  • Marketers: we are owing transporters N20b

    THE Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) is owing petroleum products’transporters N20billion, its Executive Secretary, Olufemi Olawore, has said.

    The debts, he said, arose over the marketers’ inability to get subsidy arrears from the Federal Government. The marketers are Mobil, Forte, Total, MRS, Conoil and Oando.

    Olawore said at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos that the association was planning to offset the debts soon.

    The matter, he said, was presented before the marketers by transporters, adding that his body would investigate the claims.

    He said: “Transporters have told us (oil marketers) that we are owing them N20 billion for helping us to move petroleum products across the country.These are claims, which we are planning to investigate. By the time we reconcile the figures the transporters have with our own, there may not be any difference.”

    He said the debt is a confirmation that marketers are in a dire situation, adding that the problems facing marketers are many.

    “Marketers are talking about difficulties in getting money to import fuel into the country, while at the same time, battling with debts. The money the government is owing marketers is huge, making it difficult for them to operate optimally. We would get over our problems as soon as the Federal Government fulfills its financial obligations to us, he said

    According to him, it is becoming difficult for marketers to work, stressing that marketers are mulling pruning their activities to cut costs.

    He said stakeholders would be affected if the association embarked on cutting its operation.

    It would be recalled that the issue of petroleum subsidy has generated controversy, pitching the Federal Government and the marketers against each other.

    This has resulted in the plans, by the government to withdraw subsidies in January 2013, a development which led to protests nationwide.

  • Transporters fault Akpabio on donation of buses

    Transporters fault Akpabio on donation of buses

    The Akwa Ibom chapter of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has decried Governor Godswill Akpabio’s donation of 70 buses to the Progressive Commercial, Tricycles, Taxi and Motorcyclists Association (APCOTMA)  .

    The governor at the wake of the 2015 campaigns, donated the buses to APCOTMA in fulfillment of his promise to the union in 2011.

    But NURTW, after its meeting yesterday in Uyo, the  state capital, urged Akpabio to stop the distribution of the buses.

    The union threatened to shut down its operation and allow only APCOTMA to operate if the governor went ahead to distribute the buses.

    State chapter Chairman Uwen James described the donation as a slap on the integrity of the union and called for calm in order to resolve the matter.

    The chairman said: “It is no longer news that the Akwa Ibom State has released the 70 buses to APCOTMA. We learnt that the buses have been given to the Chairman, Udo Okpong. Tempers have risen and reactions have come from various angles.

    “We have considered that there is a missing link, it is either that the commissioner of  Transport is not doing his work or his hands are tied in this matter and as such has allowed the governor acted the way he did.

    “The fact is that we are not coming here for a protest against the government because we know the governor reserves the right to give to whoever he pleases, but we have to use this means to impress on the governor to reconsider the issue of the  of the buses.”

    He also said Akpabio deceived his members to open accounts with the First Bank  for the release of the Federal Government’s subsidy fund meant to cushion the effect of the hike in prices of fuel in 2012, which he regretted never came till date.

    APCOTMA Chairman  Udo Okpong dismissed the threat by NURTW to shut down its operation in the state as empty.

    His words: “That is a mere political talk, which is not going to work. We control all the motor parks, and we have our members all over.”

    He said the release of the buses was to fulfill the governor’s priomise to the union in 2011 after announcing the ban on the operation of motorcycles.

     

  • Council chief, party leaders, transporters meet

    Council chief, party leaders, transporters meet

    To seek the votes of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and its affiliate union, Motorcycle Riders’ Association (commercial motorcyclists), otherwise called Okada riders, in next month’s general elections, leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State, have met.

    The meeting, which held at the premises of the union’s chairman, discussed various issues bordering on the critical roles that members of the union can play in the election and the need for them to vote massively for the ruling party in the state in all the elections.

    The Chairman, APC in the area, Mr. Adewale Bello, said his party has high regard for the motorcyclists and urged them to vote for his party.

    He said Lagos State Government and APC consider the operators as critical players in the development of the state, adding that their contributions to revenue generation, employment and transportation were remarkable.

    Executive Secretaryof the Ojokoro LCDA, Alhaja Fausat Hassan-Olajoku, praised the union for its support and contributions to the development of the area, assuring its members that she would channel their complaints to the state government for action.

    Alhaja Hassan-Olajoku said she would meet with police divisions in her domain with a view to urging them to addressing contentious issues relating to their operations, by talking to their subordinate officers and men to exercise caution when dealing with commercial motorcyclists.

    She urged them to exercise their civic duties by registering and collecting their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    Mr. Rasheed Makinde, the Lagos State House of Assembly APC candidate in Ifako Ijaiye Constituency, promised to seek the support of other APC leaders in the area to address some of the challenges facing the Okada riders in the zone, adding however, that the government’s restriction order had drastically reduced accidents’ rates, and their fatalities, including deaths, over the years.

  • FRSC sues 10 transporters

    The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) yesterday sued 10 transport companies at an Oredo Magistrate’s Court in Benin City for failing to comply with requirements of the Road Transport Safety Standardisation Scheme(RTSSS).

    The companies are Muyi line, Agbonifo line, Crystal line, Oghogho Express, Afemai line, Rod motors, Genesis motors, Comfort line, Osa’s motors and Unity motors.

    The transport companies allegedly failed to comply with the seven-day notice given before commencement of legal action served on them by FRSC on March 12.

    Afemai Motors, Benin branch manager Saliu Umoru and General Manager of Genesis Motors Henry Isibor pleaded not liable to the offence.

    They said they were not served any notice until Wednesday.

    The Magistrate, Nosa Igbenosa, directed that the court processes be served on the defendants and adjourned hearing till July 3.