BOLA BADMUS, TOLA ADENUBI, LEKAN OLABULO and SUBAIR MOHAMMED seek answers to the perennial agbero problem with commercial drivers in Lagos.
FOR the second time in less than six months, commercial drivers in Lagos, peeved by their alleged regular extortion by transport union members, popularly called agbero in the state, withdrew their vehicles from the road between Monday and Thursday and went on a public protest.
The drivers blocked the Alakuko end of the expressway and forced their members to join the protest
The move by the drivers reportedly turned violent when policemen and thugs, suspected to be transport union members, attacked the protesters in an attempt to disperse them. Many of the drivers sustained injuries.
The state vice chairman of Motorcycle Operators Association in Lagos State, Alhaji Nurudeen Adedunmoye, in an interview with Saturday Tribune, gave further insight into the crisis and how it is being resolved.
According to Adedunmoye, the chairman of the state’s Parks and Garages, Mr Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as Mc Oluomo, has sent a delegation to the protesters. Akinsanya’s peace team, he said, was also to meet with the chairmen of the affected zones.
Adedunmoye said: “The protest was held in Oshodi but it had nothing to do with Oshodi. They are commercial bus drivers plying Oshodi to tollgate and were affected by the daily toll collection.
“The drivers carried placards complaining about N13,000 they pay daily and in a swift reaction, the state chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya, instructed the assistant state treasurer, Koko Zaria, to wade into the matter and bring it under control.
“Arrangement has been made to meet with the chairmen of the affected zones to see how the toll will be adjusted to a bearable range for the commercial drivers.”
Oluomo wades in
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Lagos State Parks and Garages has distanced the agency from the excessive and exorbitant levies being collected on routes that triggered the crisis.
Following the public outcry that greeted the protest, Akinsanya, on Thursday convened a meeting of the affected parties.
Oluomo reportedly expressed displeasure at the increase in the levies at the meeting, held at the Agege secretariat of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and which had in attendance, the aggrieved drivers and members of the agency.
Saturday Tribune gathered from sources at the meeting that the union leader used the occasion of the meeting to announce a donation of N1 million for the treatment of those injured during Wednesday’s protest.
The transport union boss, according to sources, did not only dissociate the state leadership of the parks and garages from the increase but he also suspended one of the branch chairmen who allegedly introduced the increment in the levies.
MC Oluomo also reportedly dissolved the branches that form the stretch of where there were complaints of increase in levies between old Sango Tollgate and Iyana Ipaja.
One of the elated drivers, Adegoke Moshood, told Saturday Tribune that: “We have finally been set free by MC Oluomo. He was very surprised when we told him what we went through daily. Unlike in the past, when only the union members briefed him, he listened to all the sides and he was very disappointed.
“Right there in our presence, he announced the suspension of one of the branch chairmen in Iyana Ipaja. He also set up a committee that includes owners and different drivers to fine-tune how much we will be paying. Oluomo also cancelled some of the levies that we used to pay, which are not part of the union levies. He has also directed that we should not be paying during weekend and all those night levies.”
Efforts by Saturday Tribune to confirm these decisions were fruitless.
Why we protested –Commercial drivers
Moshood, while speaking with Saturday Tribune at the Agege secretariat of the NURTW, said the latest increment was unbearable for the drivers
He said: “We can no longer endure it. We are dying. We are just working for agberos. We are the ones working but they are the ones enjoying the fruits of our labour.
“We just need the world to intervene and fortunately, MC Oluomo has come to our aid. We hope this solution will be permanent.”
Another driver, who identified himself simply as Baba Ibadan, said: “At times, we find it very difficult to know how much we pay to agberos in a day. It is even worse than before, under the NURTW.
“It all started on Monday, when the agberos in Iyana Ipaja increased their ticket money to N1,500, excluding loading levy, which you pay at every pick-up.
“Between the old Sango Tollgate and Oshodi, we pay at more than 10 points to the same union members under different branches and units. We pay at Ajegunle, Alakuko, Kola, Meran, Ijaiye, Ojokoro, Iyana Ipaja, Ikeja and Oshodi. All these are on the same route.”
Crisis not in Lagos –Omotoso
The state government also dismissed reports that park managers had increased fees payable by transporters in the state.
The increase led to protest by commercial drivers who withdrew their buses, leading to passengers being stranded at various bus stops on Wednesday.
The state government however said the crisis didn’t take place in Lagos.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, while speaking with Saturday Tribune correspondent, said what was reported in the media concerning the stranded passengers occasioned by union fee increase took place outside Lagos.
Omotoso, who said he had done his findings from the relevant ministry, described the report as negative, noting that some people were just trying to make something out of nothing.
“I have just spoken with the SA Transportation who said there was nothing like that. Why are people just trying to make something out of nothing?
“The parks where such disagreement took place are around Otta, not here in Lagos at all.
“All the reports you see flying about it are negative reports,” he said.
Commuters kick
The sudden increment in dues payable to transport unions in Lagos and the reversal to 100 percent payment on the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme in Lagos are taking their tolls on road users as many commuters accused the state government of deceiving them to get second term.
When Saturday Tribune got to the Abule-Egba terminal of the BRT, many commuters were seen lamenting in groups over how the state government allegedly deceived road users to win re-election.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune, some of the commuters wondered why the reversal to 100 percent payment on the BRT and the sudden hike in levies payable to the Lagos State Parks and Garages came after election.
Henrietta Osuji, a banker who works on the island, said: “We should have known better when the state government reduced the BRT charges by half before election that they wanted to play on people’s intelligence.
“In February, Governor [Babajide] Sanwo-Olu, while announcing the reduction in BRT fees, said his decision was based on the hardship that the naira scarcity and fuel scarcity had brought on the people.
“The fees were then reduced by half. This was even before the presidential election. Many applauded the governor and saw him as being sympathetic to the masses’ plight.
“But immediately after the elections, Mr Governor reversed the BRT fees reduction and returned them to 100 percent payment. Doesn’t that mean the governor used the naira scarcity issue to play on people’s intelligence?
“How come the BRT fees have been reversed even when the naira scarcity issue is yet to be over? The BRT fees were reduced majorly because Lagosians were going through hardship to look for cash.
“But the naira scarcity issue is barely over and the BRT price reduction has been overturned. Is it not obvious that Mr Governor only used the naira scarcity issue to lure Lagosians to vote for him?
“If truly the BRT fares were slashed because of the hardship that Lagosians were going through due to the naira scarcity, has the hardship stopped? Is naira available everywhere?
“We still pay exorbitant fees to get cash from Point of Sale (POS) outlets because the banks are not dispensing enough cash even though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said money has been made available to the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).
“The hardship is still very much around and Mr Governor has reversed the BRT fare slash because election is over. Have we not been deceived in Lagos?”
Also speaking, another commuter at the Abule-Egba BRT terminal, Koleosho Ajayi, asked the governor to reverse his decision to return to 100 percent payment on BRT because nothing had changed between February and now.
Ajayi said: “I urge Mr Governor to reverse his decision to go back to 100 percent payment on BRT because nothing has changed between February and March.
“The only thing that has changed is that Mr Governor has been re-elected. The people are still suffering from insufficient cash.
“When you enter a bank, the highest you can get paid is N20,000. How long does it take to finish spending N20,000? Certainly, such amount can’t sustain my family for a week.
“Except I keep returning to the bank every day to collect N20,000, in order to sustain my family, then there is trouble. The other alternative is to keep paying huge charges to get cash via POS operators.
“So, the hardship, which was the major reason Mr Governor reduced BRT fares in February has not left.
“I will like to urge Mr Governor to reconsider his policy on return to 100 percent payment on BRT buses because the masses are still suffering. If he doesn’t reverse this 100 percent payment decision on BRT, then he has taken Lagosians for fools.”
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