IT was very late in the night and he had just finished his last trip for the day. Ganiu Afobaje, a commercial bus driver, who shuttles between Old Sango Tollgate and Oshodi, caught a picture of a man whose hope had been dashed. He exchanged pleasantries with some of his colleagues who had parked their vehicles at a filling station in the area.
Afobaje, who grudgingly accepted to speak with Saturday Tribune, explained how life had become difficult for many commercial drivers and conductors in Lagos following the increase in the pump price of petrol and diesel. He called on the Federal Government to “do something very fast.”
He said: “I have just closed from work today and I cannot boast that I have up to N2,000 in my pocket. Almost all the money that I made today was shared to transport union members and spent at petrol stations. I feel very weak. I am supposed to get treated for malaria, but do I have the money to do that?
“When I get home, my wife and children will ask for money. They will do that again in the morning. I have to give them money, but how do I explain to them that I had used all the money I made today to buy fuel?
“My conductor and I had to share N5,000. I took N3,000 and he got N2,000.
“What we just do now is to pray against any illness or disease that may require us spending money. What we get now is not even enough for our daily needs. The passengers are not even ready to pay what we charge.
“Before, with about N4,000 worth of fuel, you could make a return trip between the Tollgate and Oshodi, but now, you have to spend N12,000 on fuel for just a trip.
“That does not include what we give to agberos and LASTMA officials. They are never bothered about our plight; all they are after is money.”
Another driver who identified himself simply as Olanihun told Saturday Tribune that: “The situation has become unbearable. It is just like we are only working to buy petrol and pay the union members. We now spend over 80 percent of our daily income on petrol and transport union members.”
He added: “Before the recent increase in petrol price, we were spending three thousand naira for a return trip, but now, the lowest we can spend on a return trip is N8,000.
“It is very bad now. We cannot increase the fare of our vehicles by more than 200 percent now. People are suffering. The government should find a way to reduce what we pay daily to transport union member.”
A bus conductor plying CMS to Ajah who simply identified himself as Emmanuel said conductor job stopped being profitable after the fuel price increase. This situation, he stated, had forced many bus conductors into tricycle-riding business.
Before the subsidy removal, the average conductor, according to him, earned N8,000 daily, but it had since dropped to N2500 daily.
He said: “Conductor’s work no longer pays. Before the fuel subsidy removal, the average conductor earned at least N8,000 daily but with the high cost of petrol, we are just working for the agberos and LASTMA officials.
“For those of us working along Lakowe and Ajah, we are paid between N2,000 and N2,500. All the money we earned has been spent on fuel and NURTW men.
“You can hardly afford to buy pelebe (alcoholic drink-bearing packet) or have a good time in any way while on duty because the conductor’s job is no longer profitable in the current fuel situation.
“Many of the conductors have turned into tricycle operators, but as a mechanic, I have had to combine the occupation and bus conducting.
“I do bus conducting when I don’t have patronage by customers. This is how I have been coping since the fuel price increase.”
Corroborating Emmanuel’s claim, Kassim Rafiu said commercial bus operation was no longer a business of choice in Lagos. According to him, with the increasing amount of levies paid daily to agberos, LASTMA and on fuel, public transportation business is no longer profitable.
He said: “From Marina to Ajah, a passenger pays N700. After carrying full load of passengers, the driver will pay N3,000 to the agberos for loading and another N1,400 for booking and N400 for King of Boys and N200 for ‘passenger shadowing’, totalling N5,000. This is for my first trip.
“On a second trip, you are expected to pay everything with the exception of booking. When you get to Jakande, you will pay N800 and VGC, N1,200. And for the first trip to and fro, N11,000 is spent on fuel, which means you have incurred debt in the first trip if there is no traffic congestion.
“We make our money during rush hours and that is when we increase transport fare. LASTMA also collect their tolls. The truth is that since the removal of fuel subsidy, commercial bus business has ceased to be profitable. We now work for the agberos and LASTMA officials with little left for us to take home for our families.”
Another driver, Mr Saliu, told Saturday Tribune that high price of petrol had turned him into a serial debtor. Mr Saliu, who claimed to have been a commercial driver since 1992, said the situation was so bad that he could not afford to pay his rent.
He said: “I have been driving commercially since 1992. My present route is Cele-to-Ikotun. But things have become very difficult for some of us. It is like we are just working for the fun of being employed; we are not making money anymore.
“Things have become so terrible that I cannot pay my rent again. We waste money on fuel and officials of LASTMA and Task collect more money from us.”
