Abuja’s disappearing subsidy buses
A bus conductor on one of the numerous subsidy buses is engaged in a heated argument with a stern-looking male commuter, whose aggressive bearings point to the start of a physical confrontation. The presence of another commuter, a buxom female, seems to be the only barrier to a certain assault on the conductor, who is […]
A bus conductor on one of the numerous subsidy buses is engaged in a heated argument with a stern-looking male commuter, whose aggressive bearings point to the start of a physical confrontation. The presence of another commuter, a buxom female, seems to be the only barrier to a certain assault on the conductor, who is equally spoiling for a test of muscles with his irate customer. The bone of contention seems to be centred on the correct fare to be paid. As usual, other commuters break into the crisis and, in a matter of minutes, the frayed nerves of the would-be combatants are calmed but not without occasional verbal missiles between the duo. The commuter’s last verbal volley, however, leaves many in helpless mirth, even as it resonates the general feeling among the city residents concerning the numerous mammoth buses that daily ply its streets.
“These subsidy buses belong to us,” he said. “Where were the likes of you (bus conductor) when we were marching through the streets demanding that subsidy should not be removed.
“We were the ones who forced (President) Jonathan to provide us with these buses. We will decide how these buses are run because it is the fruit of our struggle. Even if I decide not to pay, you cannot do me anything (sic),” he rambled on even as the occupants of the bus erupted in laughter.
The subsidy buses were introduced in the city early this year after a round of protests by Nigerians across the nation over the removal of petroleum subsidy. Out of the over 1600 of buses procured by the Jonathan administration, 300 were given to the FCT administration to use in order to enhance the tranport sector in the capital city. Out of the number, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) were given 100 buses to manage. Immediately after the impressive launch by the FCT minister, the buses started appearing on major streets of Abuja. The buses were in two broad categories, the long luxurious ones, capable of hauling over 70 passengers in one swoop, and the smaller coaster buses.
The bus rapid transit operations were initially arranged in such a way as to cover large swathes of the city so that residents could easily commute. For instance, there was to be a route extending from the Eagle Square to AYA Junction and Nyanya–Masaka enclaves. Other routes to be plied were the Central Business District through the Airport Road to Gwagwalada, through ONEX in Zuba and to Suleja in Niger State. But 11 months down the line, many commuters in the city say the buses that ply these roads are much fewer than the initial number released in the heat of the subsidy protest. A visit to most major bus stops around the city still shows a palpable daily challenge facing commuters as they battle to transport themselves to work.
A few months earlier a crisis had erupted between the government and six of the automobile dealers approached by the government to supply the mammoth buses. They had cried out that they had not been paid an outstanding sum of N8.9 billion for the buses five months after their supply. The buses were to be made available to transporters under a N15 billion revolving loan to be managed by the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria (UDBN). However, the six automobile dealers – ANAMCO, Berbedos Motors, Stallion Motors, Globe Motors, Elizade and Innoson Group – had vowed to recover the buses from the transporters if adequate payments was not made for their supply. It could not be independently verified as at press time if the crisis had been fully resolved.
A commuter, Hamed Adeniyi, who works at the Federal Civil Service Secretariat, told Sunday Trust that initially he was overjoyed when the buses were put on the roads but that the initial euphoria has now dwindled.
“I prefer to take the ‘araba’ buses now. At least those ones are readily available if only expensive,” he said. “The buses that ply the Nyanyan Mararaba routes, for instance, have disappeared into thin air. You only see very few of the buses today. It is only those that have no choice because of the smaller fare that wait for the subsidy buses or the el-Rufai ones nowadays”.
One Priscilla Obiora, said that apart from the fewer number of such buses in circulation today the ones operational are in bad shape. “It is very sad that just few months after their introduction into the roads they have become rather obsolete. You can hardly find them now and even when you find one to board you have to pray that it gets you to your destination,” she complained. “It is sad that the subsidy protest we fought and won seems to have been lost today.”
Another commuter who does not want his name in print said that the maintenance culture of the buses is low especially by the NURTW. “If you go to the Area 10 section of the town right beside the old Parade Ground you will find many of these buses that have broken down. They have been abandoned by the authorities. How do we expect to grow in this country when we have a bad maintenance culture,” he queried.
But in a swift reaction, the Head of Media and Communications, AUMTCO, Tunde Akintola, denied claims that the buses have disappeared from the roads. He said instead that while some are undergoing routine maintenance by their team of auto engineers, the majority are plying the roads. “Yes we received 300 of the buses provided by the government under the subsidy re-investment programme and I can tell you that all of them are fully functional except a few that are undergoing routine servicing and maintenance,” he said.
“Abuja, you will agree with me, is a fast growing city. Many people are moving in on a daily basis. And you have to consider the growing needs in terms of effective transportation. But we at AUMTCO are riding the storm in that regards.
“We get complaints regularly about the need to supply more buses for certain routes and we always look into such requests speedily after considering our strengths. In the routes at the outskirts, for instance, Nyanya-Mararaba-Masaka routes and the Jikwoyi-Kurudu routes we have about a hundred buses dedicated to the routes because we know that many commuters live in such areas. The truth of the matter is that going by the number of buses we currently have in our fleet we are indeed doing our best to spread them over the city in order to meet the need of residents,” he added.
When his attention was called to the large number of buses (which had apparently not been released for transportation), parked on their premises, he said “these are the new buses we have procured and they will be allowed on the roads after new drivers are trained to use them. We are working with the FRSC and other relevant agencies to train these drivers before we release them.
“We are equally opening up new routes such as Gwarinpa-Federal Secretariat, Gwarimpa-Wuse and AYA-Asokoro via Eagle Square routes linking NICON Junction. These are innovative steps to capture newer commuters and all at a reduced price-N50. By January these buses that are parked at our garages and premises will be released to ply all the routes”.
On the broken down buses that abound in the city, he said “the ones around the old Parade Ground are not ours. You will recall that we are not the only ones the subsidy buses were given. We always make sure that we remove our own broken down vehicles to our garages where we have competent mechanics to take care of them”.