From Esther Akaa, Lafia
Commuters in Lafia metropolis, Nasarawa State have decried the hike in transport fare of tricycle popularly known as “Keke Napep.”
The Voice reports that places where the transporters hitherto charged N100 is now N150.
A student at the Federal University of Lafia, who lives in the Bukan Sidi area of Lafia, Miss Christabel Terfa told The Voice in a chat on Tuesday, while lamenting on the increase that she now pays more to go to school due to the increase.
“Before now, I was paying N100 from my house to school but now it’s between N130 and N150 from Bukan Sidi to the permanent campus. It is even more when you are going to the take-off site of the university.
“It is very difficult for us who are students and are not working to spend close to N300 everyday just for transportation not to talk about feeding.
“Most times, I have to stay back in school even when I have a break between my lecture periods so that I will save the little money I have, rather than going home to come back later,” she said.
She therefore, called for urgent intervention of relevant authorities, as the situation was badly affecting the people, especially students.
On his part, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, who is a retailer around Shabu, a suburb of Lafia said the increase in transport fare of tricycle has affected his business.
“I have a provision shop in Shabu. I usually go to the Lafia Modern Market to buy goods and I use keke to transport the items to my shop. However, the transport fare has increased now.
“Formerly, I used to pay lesser amount between N200 to N300 for the transportation of my goods from the market to my shop but it has increased to N500. It is really affecting my business because I have to sell and make profit too,” he said.
However, reacting to the development, Chairman, Nasarawa State Tricycle Owners Association, Mallam Abubakar Sule, blamed the hike on the turbulent economy of the country.
Mallam Sule, who stated this in an interview with The Voice on Tuesday in Lafia said the recent upshot of the tricycles fare in the state was not unconnected with the price of the machines which is over a million naira.
He said the machine was formerly sold at the price of N600,000, adding that the prices of spare parts, servicing rate and increment in fuel price have skyrocketed, likewise the daily remittance to owners of the machines, which was between N1,500 to N2,000 before, but now is between N2,500 to N3,000 respectively.
“As it is, the increment is not much and not every road witness the slight changes. So as a union, we held a meeting and arrived as follows; Lafia -Jos road from AY Shafa filling station to Isa Mustapha Agwai polytechnic, was N50 now N70, roundabout to College of Agricultural Science was N70 now N80, Shabu stands at N100, Sabon-Pegi was N100 now N130, Azuba Bashayi, before N120, now is N150.
“Makurdi road from roundabout to Mararaba was N70, now only N10 is added to it, to Akunza was N80, but at present, N20 has been added, Agwede, N150 instead of the previous N120, Bukan Kwoto, N80 to N100, Heavy Duty Park moves from N130 to N150, while in Shendam road from Total Station to Akurba, N80 against N70, to Angwan Rere was N80 now it is N100. Also, to Bakin Rijia was N100 but N20 has been added to it,” Sule explained.
On his achievements as the chairman of the union, Sule said he has achieved in the area of coordination, saying he has been coordinating the members in an orderly manner, including ensuring that the traffic rules and regulations are observed to avoid accidents.
Commenting on the issue of membership, he explained that before one becomes a member of the association, he must be registered and a file would be opened with the Nasarawa state number on it.
“We work hand in hand with the state government after which you undergo a proper orientation, how you conduct yourself while on the road and how you attend to passengers.
“We were informed that President Muhammadu Buhari is visiting Nasarawa state, so we have been having series of meetings where I advise them to drive carefully for a lot of visitors are coming into the state capital, in order to ensure orderliness,” he said.