50% transport subsidy: FG slashes inter-state fares, Labour knocks government
POLITICS DIGEST- The Federal Government on Wednesday announced 50 per cent reduction in transportation costs along 22 interstate routes during the Yuletide season.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
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.
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.
“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.
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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.
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.’’
