When seasoned scholar and writer, Prof. Adebayo Williams, noted the above in one of his commentaries about 17 years ago, he probably had residents of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in mind. Many years after, his prognosis appears to be coming to reality.
In January this year, the FCT Administration came up with the idea that mini-buses, popularly called araba, would no longer operate within the main city. The arrangement limits the operations of buses to the satellite towns. There was general outcry among the commuters, civil society, intelligentsia and some bureaucrats. Consequently, the FCT then crept into its cocoon and suspended the idea to allow time for further discussions and sensitisation of all stakeholders involved. But that peace was temporary, as the policy, by implications, had placed a ban on the use of green painted buses within the FCT for commercial purposes. But from Monday this week, the FCTA resurrected the idea with a stern warning that any mini-bus found in the city would henceforth be impounded. As the policy comes into operation, the high capacity buses will replace the mini ones in such routes as Nyanya, through Aya to Eagle Square/Wuse Market. For each of these routes, the FCT Administration has provided service terminals at the beginning, end and intermediate locations mainly for high capacity buses and taxis. The transport secretariat, FCTA commenced plans for the implementation of high capacity bus services in the FCT in 2010 for the purpose of moving people en masse, reduction of time wasted in traffic and improving the economy. The Secretary of FCT Transport Secretariat and Chairman Feeder Route Implementation Committee, Jonathan Ivoke, said the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, has approved the "re-commencement of feeder route transit services by minibuses in the capital city. The ban started on June 3, 2013." He said, "This is in the overall interest of all residents and visitors coming into the federal capital city. It means that only licensed high-capacity buses will provide mass transit services in the FCT. While the mini buses will operate at satellite towns and other area councils, it also means that tricycle transit operations will also be at only designated housing estates and satellite towns. What we are trying to do is to do what science and technology has provided in traffic management for the safety of commuters." Other benefits of the new policy, as outlined by the FCT administration, include cheaper fares; enhanced passenger comfort and security; reliability of vehicle; reduction of the effect of environmental pollution via emission poisonous fumes from vehicles; identification of transport operators and companies through biometrics data capturing; promotion of healthy competition among operators; reduction of traffic congestion, road traffic accidents and transport related crimes and criminalities. The enforcement of the policy is already generating apprehension and concerns from a cross-section of thousands of workers and breadwinners who must come to the metropolis to eke out a living. While some expressed fear that the stoppage would worsen the current unemployment situation, others said it would increase the crime wavelength in the capital city. Investigations by our correspondent revealed that since the policy took off, many commuters have been stranded at some bus stops, especially in Wuse, Kubwa, Federal Secretariat and Area 3. Expectedly, cab drivers have cashed in on this to make fortunes. A civil servant, Ms. Cecilia Njo-Aguani, told our correspondent that the decision was tantamount to oppression. She said, "Already, cab operators have now devised means to rip off commuters, we are in serious trouble in this country. How are we going to cope during this rainy season? I pray that the policy does not work." The same sad tales are on the lips of many transporters. A transporter on Lugbe-Wuse route, Mr. Sunday Eze, narrated the frustration of drivers. He said, "Forcefully now, they are trying to put it that we should quit; we have been holding series of meetings but we have not got any result. We are still hoping that they will debate on the facilities – building the interchange instead of telling us to just go like that. There will be unemployment and there has been unemployment already and thousands of people that are self-employed are going to lose their jobs in spite of the fact that many have children." Ironically, some members of the civil society have endorsed the policy, saying, like the ban on okada by the administration of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the latest policy would reduce social vices like armed robbery, rape and terrorism in the metropolis. To them, "it is right step in the right direction and at the right time." A legal practitioner and human rights activist, Mr. Ephraim Darah, said the measure "was necessitated by the need to curb congestion, engender sanity, curb crime and reduce accidents on the roads of the nation's capital city." According to him, studies and experience have also shown that the current misuse of the routes by tricycles, mini and high-capacity buses does not augur well for the commuters, other motorists and the FCT residents generally. Darah said, "For instance, the mini buses had often exploited their large number to harass and chase the high-capacity buses out of space on the major roads. The situation has been blamed for the perennial failure of mass transit bus operations in the FCT in the past decades." Yet critics said that although the FCT administration has promised to provide many buses to cushion the effects, the buses would not be enough. A teacher, Mr. Isaac Abayomi, belongs to this category and wonders whether people would be able to afford taxis or have the energy to trek long distances everyday to and from their offices and various destinations. He said, "This is a very big problem for us. The present transport policy is a right step at the wrong time. I had expected that the FCT administration would have given residents enough time to prepare and make adjustments. They have forgotten that it is not everybody that has the money to buy expensive cars." But the Special Assistant (Media) to the FCT Minister, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi, called for cooperation of all residents to enable the policy to work, stressing that it would enable government to subsidise mass transit in FCT. He said, "At each of these routes, the FCT Administration has provided service terminals at the beginning, end and intermediate locations for high-capacity buses and taxis. The take off of the new policy also means that tricycle transit operations will be at only designated housing estates and satellite towns." Ogbuenyi also dispelled insinuations that there were not enough buses. He said, "On the first day, we rolled out 300 vehicles. Although they are being operated by private operators, they work with FCT administration. On the second day, when we discovered that some places had more than enough buses, we saw the need for some level of flexibility." According to him, adequate arrangement has been made to also take care of commuters at night. "Abuja population is very flashy. There is flashy movement and many people live outside the city centre and so there used to be rush hour in the mornings and evenings. At night, these buses will pile up in places where there are heavy human traffic," he stressed. Recently, some transporters under the aegis of the Owners and Drivers of Mini-Buses Association in the FCT, who took a protest to the National Assembly premises, said, "About 62,000 drivers and conductors will be denied their daily bread." A member of the association, Prince Paul Omeire, stated that the objective of the protest was to get the National Assembly influence the FCT Transport Secretariat to change the policy. He said, "We are members of Owners and Drivers Association, and we operate the town service. We own the buses and drive them. Our problem is with the Transport Secretariat of the FCT." As it appears now, opinions are divided on the new transport policy. Who blinks first between the FCT administration and the transporters? To pundits, government is always supreme. Such fellows also believe that this time, government's decision on it was final. They said that the FCT, being the federal capital, deserves the best environment and good federal status. Perhaps, only time will tell!
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