Open Letter To The Honourable Minister Of The FCT, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike CON, On The Situation Of Transportation In The FCT.
•By Oluwaseyi Arowosebe Esq.
Dear Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Distinguished Learned Senior and Life Bencher.
I bring you greetings from Abuja. I am Oluwaseyi Arowosebe Esq, a full-time Abuja resident and legal practitioner since 2014. I write you sir, on the situation of transportation in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It is alarming sir.
Now that Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) sells officially in Abuja at N897 per litre, I am almost certain it will sell in the region of N1,000 (and above) per litre in most filling stations apart from the NNPC retail outlets. I bought petrol on 4th September 2024, at N940 per litre at Connoil filling station, directly opposite the NNPC Towers in Central Business District, Abuja.
When I newly moved to Abuja about 10 years ago, the highest anybody paid for commercial transport from one point to the last within the FCT was N250, one of such long distances is Suleja to Mararaba, Suleja to Area 1. Kubwa to Area 1 where I frequently used in 2015 was between N100-N150. Now that Petrol sells in the neighborhood of N1,000 per litre, it costs about N1,200 to move from Kubwa to Area 1 in a commercial taxi that commutes six passengers. It is not fair on the residents, many of whom may end up spending most, if not all their wages and salaries on transportation alone.
Prior to now, there were long shuttle buses that commuted passengers from one distance to the other, especially Kubwa to Area 1 axis. Please do not be tired of my Kubwa examples, I am used to it. I live there. These long buses seem to have vanished from the road. They are now perpetually parked at Jahi within the complex of the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited.
On my way back to Kubwa on 4th September 2024, I drove into premises of the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited at Jahi, for the first time. My mission was to ask questions on the immobility of many of the long buses in the premises. I must appreciate the audience and warm reception I received from every staff I encountered, right from the gate, to the reception, to the first officer and to the Manager. They were all accommodating.
I drove into a government establishment in the FCT at 4:40pm and I was granted audience. That was “Whao-full”. After speaking to two different staff, it was obvious I had to see the Manager himself.
And sincerely at 4:45pm, I was directed to his office. Mr Chris was happy to see me because I went straight to letting him know why I came. I asked him “Why do you have tens of buses parked in your premises and Abuja people are suffering to go to work in the rain and scourging sun, stranded on the road due to inadequate vehicles plying the various routes?”
Mr Chris assured me that they had some buses on the various routes in Abuja, and in fact they were doing everything possible to increase the numbers. I believed him.
Hon. Minister, if we remove the private vehicle owners who commute passengers from Kubwa express to Federal Secretariat, Banex, Berger, Area 1 and other places in Abuja, most civil servants and private sector workers will either trek several hours to and from work or they don’t go at all.
I invite you sir to use the Kubwa express between 7am and 9am on any working day.
You will see how the people of FCT whom you minister over and govern are suffering to move around in Abuja.
I am privileged to have a car at this time, but I would not forget the days I went to work and returned drenched in rain, due to long stays at bus stops. This is real.
What do I want you to do sir?
1. Declare an Emergency on the Transportation system in the FCT.
2. Give marching orders for the massive return of the long buses on the roads of the FCT. A good number of these buses are in the premises of the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited, at Jahi on Kubwa expressway. I suspect many of them need serious maintenance. Please look into this.
If my requests above are considered, as I pray they would, many of the civil servants who drive to work only to park their cars at their offices and drive back home at 4pm will stop and begin to use public transport. People come from all over the FCT, Niger and Nasarawa states to work in the Federal Secretariat and other parts of Abuja. Please give them safe and decent public transport. Let private vehicle owners have to choose between driving their cars to work and using decent public transport.
Finally sir, there is another matter that I will address in my next letter. That is the sale of PMS in kegs and jerrycans by black marketers on the streets of Abuja. It is shameful. It has to stop.
Thank you for paying attention to this letter.
Sincerely yours,
•Oluwaseyi Arowosebe Esq.
Your Junior in the Legal Profession.
