By Aliyu DANLADI
Ahead of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration on Tuesday, commercial drivers in Ibadan on Monday lamented the low patronage by travellers.
A correspondent of TBI Africa who visited some motor parks in Ibadan, reports that there was low turnout at many motor parks in spite of the stable fares.
Some of the drivers, who spoke at the NURTW parks at Iwo road, Akinyele Unit One and Two, Ojoo, Olodo and Ajimobi Garage, all lamented the low patronage.
“We are grateful to God for sparing our lives to see another Sallah celebration, though patronage has been low.
“Our union has instructed us to transport passengers at the normal rate in spite of what we expect to be an upsurge in passengers’ traffic due to Sallah.
“We will lose more customers if we increase the price because of the present economic reality; Ibadan-Ogbomoso is still N1,000 by car while by bus is N800.
“Ibadan-Ilorin route is N1,500 by car and N1,200 by bus while fare to Oyo town by car is N500 and N300 by bus. These are the normal fares.
“We know that the masses are suffering due to the paucity of money in circulation; in fact, it does not look as if there is festivity in the air,” Hassan Akanbi, a driver, said.
The Oyo State Chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association, Kehinde Adeyemo, said members of the union had been directed not to increase fares.
“We don’t normally increase our fares, we don’t demand extra money from our workers during festive seasons.
“Rather, we have cautioned all our members to be very careful on the road as to be late is better than to be dead,” he said.
A passenger, Alhaji Ayinla Akani, said there was no increase in transport fares, saying this was a welcome development. “Nigerians are resilient people; when workers get paid, it will have a ripple effect on every sector of the economy as money passes from one hand to another.
“The economic hardship is felt in every area of life most especially as people are unable to afford the basic things of life,” Akande said.
