The Minister of Solid Minerals Development and Chairman of the Presidential inter-ministerial committee on subsidised yuletide Inter-state transport, Mr. Dele Alake, has assured Nigerians that logistics for the 50 per cent discount on road transport on 22 major routes across the country from December 21 2023 has been finalised.
Alake in the company of Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali; Minister of Information and National Orientation Minister, Mohammed Idris; and Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had announced on Wednesday a presidential intervention to reduce the cost of inter-state road transport by 50 percent while commuting on railways will be free from December 21, 2023 to January 4, 2024.
Addressing the press after a follow up meeting, alongside the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and his Transportation counterpart, Alake reiterated that all was set for the effective implementation of the initiative, which he emphasised is aimed at easing the burden of high cost of transport on Nigerians this festive season.
Also, the spokesperson for the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Segun Falade, said the union would commence the implementation of the fare subsidy on Thursday (today).
Giving further explanation, Alake said the 50 per cent reduction in the fares was arrived at in conjunction with companies operating luxury buses.
He added that President Bola Tinubu had directed that commuters on all train services would get free rides from Thursday (today) to January 4, 2024.
But the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress faulted the initiative, describing the Federal Government as confused.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, however, lauded the package as a welcome development.
Alake, flanked by his counterparts in the Ministry of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while briefing the State House correspondent, explained that the President okayed the directives in the spirit of the season given the economic realities facing Nigerians.
Inter-state transportation
He said, “President Tinubu wants Nigerians to travel within Nigeria to wherever they want to meet their loved ones without the extra burden of paying exorbitantly for inter-state public transportation.
“It is in this wise that the Federal Government is announcing, beginning tomorrow (today), a special discounted holiday season fare on road transport and zero-fare by rail across Nigeria.
“This means that from tomorrow (today), Nigerians willing to travel can board public transportation via luxury buses at a 50 per cent discount on current cost and all our train services on the routes the trains currently serve at zero cost to and fro on their travels this holiday season.
“This special presidential intervention will commence tomorrow, Thursday, December 21. It will end on January 4, 2024. The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Transportation, will be working with transporters, road transport unions, and Nigerian Railway Corporation to seamlessly deliver on this special presidential initiative,” said Alake.
He added that from Thursday, Nigerians wishing to embark on inter-state travel to any part of the country—Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Ibadan, Akure, Maiduguri, Sokoto, and other major inter-state transportation—hubs will be able to do so at half the cost.
On the operability of the scheme, Alake said, “I can tell you that all the relevant stakeholders in that industry have been engaged and all the parameters laid out and the Minister of Transportation has the full details and it’s on top of the game.
“In fact, we have met the presidents of the various transport unions …They have given us their own side of the case. We have had to haggle and negotiate, and everything is in top shape in terms of execution.”
“This idea did not emanate today. It had been in the works and before we now came to this conclusion of publicising it, all the I’s were dotted, and all the T’s had been crossed. And we have gotten the understanding of the various stakeholders, especially the transport unions.”
He assured Nigerians that there would be no price hikes at the expense of the passengers because the costs had been determined during the negotiations.
However, Alake declined to mention the total amount of rebate the government would give for the project, arguing that cost counts little given the priority of the intervention.
He explained, “Somebody asked what is the cost of all of these. Now, the cost is not important when you want to give succour to the masses, especially when it’s not an ad infinitum kind of policy.
“It is for a couple of days. So, the cost is not prohibitive, beyond the affordability of the government.”
Meanwhile, the Transport Minister, Alkali, who stopped short of mentioning how much would be spent on the 15-day project, explained the FG’s rationale for engaging luxury bus unions.
He said the transport companies operating these kinds of vehicles were preferred for their well-organised structures nationwide.
“Why we decided to use luxury buses union is because they are more organised and more structured.
“So, we held a meeting with the President of the union and they gave us an idea of how much they charge on a normal day but during festive when the buses travel, they return empty and it is on that account that they have to increase the fair during festivities.
“That has been taken into account. We held several meetings with Mr President,” Alkali stated.
He explained that the government prioritised security in its choice of a 50 per cent fare reduction in road transport.
“Why we decided to have 50 per cent for the land transport, you see, when you have this kind of initiative or programme to implement, you have to be mindful of the security situation.
“If you say it’s for free, even those that did not intend to travel will just go to the park and say I want to travel. But with this 50 per cent, they have the ticketing system.
“So for those who intend to travel, the Federal Government will provide 50 per cent for them. They do one trip daily; we are going to maintain that,” the minister added.
The Transportation Minister also noted that the existing train services of Lagos-Ibadan, Warri-Itapke, and Abuja-Kaduna would maintain their current schedules throughout the period.
The NURTW spokesperson, Falade, confirmed that the union had resolved to commence the price slash from today, following the directive by the Presidency.
He said the decision came after deliberations by the executive members of the NURTW on modalities for the smooth operation of the directive.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria through the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has issued a directive and the modality towards implementing that directive is what we have been discussing in the NURTW Executive Committee. So basically, the 50 per cent slash will take effect from tomorrow (today) as directed”, he said.
But the organised labour comprising the NLC and the TUC expressed disappointment with development, labelling it as “a show of confusion” on the part of those in government.
Speaking in an interview with one of our correspondents, the National Deputy President of the TUC, Tommy Etim said, “The government is getting more confused. Slashing interstate transport prices can lead to a crash in economic growth. Why not simply announce a slash in the pump price of petrol which has been responsible for the crisis Nigeria is in today?
“Let’s even say you slash the transport fare and people travel, what do you think they will eat?
“There is a poverty situation in the country and instead of looking for ways of tackling it, the government has just been dancing around and this is rather unfortunate.
“The government should know that Nigerians are too wise. It is highly laughable because out of all the problems facing Nigerians, how is this our major problem? So people should travel, come back again to the poverty?’’
Continuing, the union leader noted, “He (the president) needs to up his game and allow those who understand how the economy grows to come into play. The wage award that they promised and agreed to has not been paid. They only paid for one single month and stopped.’’
Also speaking, the Head of Information of the NLC, Benson Upah, said, “Government is killing a cow with its mouth and we Nigerians are eating it with our ears.”
Meanwhile the list of participating companies and routes covered are listed below:
Participating companies:
1. GIG (God is Good)
2. Chisco Transport
3. Young Shall Grow
4. God Bless Ezenwata
5. Area Motor
Routes covered:
1. LAGOS – KANO
2. LAGOS – ABUJA
3. LAGOS – KADUNA – ZARIA
4. LAGOS – JOS
5. LAGOS – ENUGU
6. LAGOS – ONITSHA
7. LAGOS – OWERRI
8. LAGOS – ABA
9. LAGOS – ABAKALIKI
10. LAGOS – NSUKKA
11. LAGOS – UYO
12. LAGOS – PORT HARCOURT
13. ONITSHA – KANO
14. ONITSHA – LAGOS
15. ONITSHA – JOS
16. ONITSHA – ABUJA
17. ONITSHA – SOKOTO
18. ONITSHA – GOMBE
19. ONITSHA – ZAKIBIAM
20. PORT HARCOURT – OWERRI – ABA – KANO
21. ABA – OWERRI – ABUJA
22. ABA – LAGOS
23. ABUJA – SOKOTO
24. ABUJA – LAGOS
25. ABUJA _ ONITSHA – OWERRI – PORT HARCOURT
26. ABUJA – ENUGU/ABAKALIKI
27. ABUJA – GOMBE
28. ABUJA – KANO.
