Commuters at the Oshodi Transport Interchange and accredited parks in Lagos State have asked President Bola Tinubu to extend the 50% fare reduction on inter-state road transport services until the conclusion of January.
Many Nigerians, as per their account, traveled to their hometowns for the festive season, and a significant proportion among them is yet to reoccupy their usual places of residence.
Speaking with journalists in Oshodi, Lagos, commuter Amaka Eze praised the president for the 50% fare reduction plan.
He said: ‘In all sincerity, I appreciate the Federal Government for introducing this scheme. The fare to Onitsha is N30,000. But to my surprise, I received a rebate of N15,000. It is truly huge.’
Mariam Ogundeji, who enjoyed the fare reduction scheme at Terminal I, Oshodi Transport Interchange, conveyed that it marked the initial occasion when a government policy had a direct impact on her life.
Ogundeji, a student at Kwara State Polytechnic, affirmed that the 50% fare reduction scheme was a pro-people policy, effectively mitigating the impact of fuel subsidy removal on the masses.
She urged the Federal Government ‘to sustain initiating policies, programmes and projects that will directly touch the lives of ordinary people.’
‘For instance, I got a return of N3,000 out of N6,000 fare I paid to travel to Ilorin, Kwara State. It is amazing. I have not benefited from anything from the government before now.’
Read also: Tinubu Okays 50% Cut In Transport Fare Across The Country
On her part, Esther Omoshebi, said: ‘I am indeed happy. It is a good move by the federal government.’
‘We appreciate President Tinubu for this 50% fare initiative. If they can extend it beyond today, it will be more appreciated.’
Also commenting on the implementation of the initiative in Lagos State was a transporter, who identified himself simply as Otunola.
He said: ‘So far, we have had an upsurge in passenger numbers. We have been managing this terminal for the past five years.’
‘We could say that we have over 35 per cent increase in the number of passengers compared to what we normally would have recorded during the Christmas period.’
‘Nigerians trooped out and took advantage of the fact that there is a 50 per cent reduction in transport fare. As you know, transport is one of the pain points of fuel subsidy removal.’
‘And because of this laudable programme of the federal government, a lot of Nigerians troop here daily, morning, afternoon and evening to take advantage of the opportunity so that they can travel for the yuletide season.’
‘From this terminal, over 6,000 passengers have benefitted from the initiative and so far over 700 vehicles in 15 days have conveyed passengers out of the state. This is far higher than what we could have during the festive period at this point in time, based on our historical data.’
Otunola said the Federal Government ‘deserved a lot of credit for doing this within this period. This is the starting point.’
‘We believe that by the time this project is implemented in subsequent years, it will be better. There will be a lot more awareness, communication and information.’
‘More stakeholders will be brought on board and the project will be more successful. For the first time, people were refunded money as high as N15,000.’
‘So, they were shocked that even during elections, they did not get that kind of money. From this terminal so far, we have been 100 per cent compliant.’