FCT residents bemoan city’s transportation problems

The city is gradually becoming cosmopolitan, as many people love to reside there because of its modern social facilities. Abuja’s aesthetic features are incomparable to those of most Nigerian cities, as the city has wide and smooth roads, good street lightings, high-rise edifices, recreation parks, shopping malls, among others. Observers note that while the affluent […]

The city is gradually becoming cosmopolitan, as many people love to reside there because of its modern social facilities.

Abuja’s aesthetic features are incomparable to those of most Nigerian cities, as the city has wide and smooth roads, good street lightings, high-rise edifices, recreation parks, shopping malls, among others.

Observers note that while the affluent residents of the city move about in posh and exotic cars, others cruise around in chauffeur-driven official cars and limousines.

Ironically, however, a larger segment of Abuja residents have to move around in rickety commuter vehicles popularly referred to as “araba”, and the fast-dilapidating FCT Administration (FCTA)-operated luxury buses nicknamed “el-Rufai”.

“Moving around in Abuja is a big problem. If you have a car, it is a problem of `go-slow’ (traffic holdup); if you don’t have a car, your problem is compounded by the scarcity of comfortable commuter vehicles to ride in,” says Joseph Bulus, a federal civil servant.

Observers, however, say that the population distribution in the different neighbourhoods of the FCT, largely dictates the type of transportation problems associated with such areas.

While it is true that many workers in Abuja live within the territory, it is also true that a larger proportion of the workers live in satellite towns in and around the FCT and these settlements include Mararaba, One-man Village, Masaka, Jikwoyi, New Karu and Suleija, among others.

“Most people claim that they live in Abuja but in actual fact, they are living in the neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Niger and Kogi,” says Bulus.

By conservative estimates, a taxi ride within the city-centre costs between N200 and N400, while shuttle trips in buses, especially between the city-centre and the satellite towns, cost between N100 and N300, depending on the distance, time of the day and weather conditions.

During raining seasons, it is often Herculean for people to commute to and from the FCT, observers say.

“The chaotic transport situation in Abuja seriously worsens during rainy days, as the people spend unduly long hours waiting to get transport vehicles, while the fares are often increased arbitrarily,” says Mr Ademola Johnson, a restaurateur.

He says that the commuter vehicles in the FCT are not enough to cater to the residents’ transport needs, while most of the available ones are dilapidated.

Johnson says that the problems are compounded by the fact that most government agencies no longer run staff buses because of the Federal Government’s monetisation policy, which monetised the workers’ benefits and never saw the need to operate official staff buses.

In spite of the rationale behind the government policy, many workers in Abuja now groan that the high costs of transportation have been eating deep into their incomes.

Mrs Aisha Zainab, a federal civil servant, says that the money she spends daily on transportation to and from Suleija, where she lives, is quite excessive, forcing her to cut down her expenses on her other routine needs.

“I spend between N500 and N600 on transportation everyday and if I have to eat the way I like, I will end up not having any savings at the end of the month,” she says.

Sharing similar sentiments, Mr Peter Olugbenga, a civil servant who lives in Nyanya, bemoans the chaotic transport situation in Abuja, saying that the situation is even more harrowing than the Lagos condition.

“Prior to our relocation to Abuja, I had no problems moving around in Lagos because transport fares were relatively cheaper,” he says, adding: “Since I came to Abuja, I spend a larger part of my wages on transportation and I cannot save a kobo from my earnings.”

Zainab says that the Federal Government and the FCTA should seriously look into ways of addressing the myriad transportation challenges facing Abuja residents because of the city’s peculiar nature.

“It is quite unfortunate that the government fails to follow the Abuja Master Plan religiously because I am sure it has some good transport schemes lined up for the city,” she says.

However, that is not to suggest that the government is not interested in developing the transport sector of the FCT.

For instance, the FCTA has since initiated the Abuja Light Rail project to put in place a railway transportation system within the territory, as part of efforts to tackle the transport problems of the residents.

Observers, however, lament about the snail speed of work at the Abuja light rail project which is expected to terminate by 2013.

Mr Chang Weijin, the Project Manager of the Chinese firm handling the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), once said that inadequate funding had been a major factor slowing down the progress of the work.

The Worldstage News, a web-based publication, in February reported that Weijin made the remark when he received some members of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), who came on a facility visit to the project sites.

“Since February last year till now, this project has no budget, so we are suffering from the budget issue and another one is the issue of compensation by the resettlement department. They cannot complete the demolition or clear the site,” Weijin was quoted as saying.

The publication also reported that Mr Alex Ezumah, a Deputy Director in FCTA’s Transport Department, said that the FCTA was considering the Public Private Partnership (PPP) option for the execution of the other phases of the rail project because of paucity of funds.

“From the onset, it has been a government funding but it becomes evident that the government cannot fund the project completely. Therefore, the PPP arrangement is being considered; the private sector will be invited to participate in the project’s execution,” Ezumah said.

In the meantime, observers are urging the FCTA to deploy more buses on Abuja roads to ease the residents’ transportation problems.

They believe that the presence of more luxury buses on Abuja roads will go a long way in easing the people’s transport problems.

Mr Chinedu Chikwuka, who sells clothes in Wuse market, underscores the need for more “el-Rufai’’ buses rather succinctly.

“In spite of the few number of `el-Rufai’ buses currently plying the roads, I still prefer to queue up and wait for the buses because of their affordable fares.

“I cannot afford to spend N500 each day on boarding other buses. If I spend that much on transportation everyday; how will I be able to survive under the harsh economic conditions?” he quips.

Mr Jonathan Adeyi, a businessman, believes that the high cost of transportation in Abuja is partly responsible for the growing menace of truancy in many ministries, departments and agencies.

“I have a civil servant neighbour, who goes to office once or twice in a week. The man is always complaining about high transport fares and his problems appear compounded by the fact that he is running two homes, as his family resides in Lagos,” he says.

The complaints are numerous but they appear well-grounded, as observers insist that tangible efforts should be made to overhaul the FCT’s transportation system and make it more responsive to the residents’ needs.

That way, the status of Abuja as a growing cosmopolitan city will be considerably enhanced, they add. (NANFeatures)