Source: Sunday Tribune Investigation •Average of 22 working days in a month. This cost, however, varies, depending on the areas the workers reside
IFEDAYO OGUNYEMI reports on the travails of civil servants following the recent hike in the cost of transportation occasioned by the increase in the pump price of petrol and the removal of fuel subsidy.
One thing on the lips of many Nigerians today is how the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu has affected them and their and everyday decisions. Of great importance is how the purchasing power of the average Nigerian has nosedived as a result of the resultant increase in the cost of living, feeding and transportation.
Workers, especially low-income earners in the civil service of various states, who are badly affected by the current situation, continue to lament over the hardship the removal of the subsidy and the recent increase in petrol price in the country has brought them. The hardship is further compounded by their inability to meet essential needs.
According to many of them earning around N50,000 or less monthly, their salaries can no longer take them home. The development has continued to make life difficult for them, as they are unable to meet other necessary obligations like paying rent, school fees, electricity bills, and housekeeping, among others.
The latest transportation data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that what Nigerians paid for public transportation within cities in May 2023 rose by 11.66% compared to what they paid in May 2022. At that same time in May 2023, the average retail price of petrol was N238.11 according to the NBS.
According to the agency’s Transport Fare Watch (May 2023) report which was released in July 4, 2023, “the average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop increased by 0.23% in May 2023 when N649.59 was recorded relative to N648.12 in April 2023. On a year-on-year basis, the average fare paid rose by 11.66% from N581.79 in May 2022.
“The average fare paid on Okada transportation in May 2023 was N464.55, a 0.49% increase from the rate recorded in April 2023 (N462.29). On a year-on-year basis, the fare rose by 11.30% when compared with the value in May 2022 which was N417.39.
“In addition, the average fare paid for water transport (waterway passenger transportation) in May 2023 stood at N1,045.15, showing an increase of 1.39% from N1,030.83 in April 2023. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 10.99% from N941.63 in May 2022.”
Upon the removal of the fuel subsidy on May 29, 2023, the retail price of petrol jumped from N238.11 recorded on average by NBS to N500 as announced by major marketers. On July 18, 2023, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) increased its fuel pump to N617 per litre in Abuja, which in turn, had a ripple effect on pump prices in other states.
Ever since the two announcements, the cost of transportation has skyrocketed, taking unprecedented increases twice just as all categories of Nigerians continue to bear the grunt.
Some of the civil servants, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, expressed concern that transportation already consumes more than half of their monthly income before the recent increase in pump price. They expressed fears about what will become of their take-home with the new development.
An average person, who spends N2,000 on transportation to and from work daily, will spend N10,000 a week. It is also projected that such a person will spend over N40,000 in a month which has an average of 21 to 23 working days.
For civil servants in this category, who are on N30,000 minimum wage in Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Kaduna States etc, it is projected that they will spend above their salaries on transportation alone. It’s a wonder how they continue to fend for themselves and their family members and show up at work every day after taxes, pensions and other deductions have been made from their salaries.
Ogun State
Foluke Adesegun, a class teacher at a nursery and primary school located at Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta, Ogun State, falls into the category of those seriously affected by the hike in the cost of living. Shuttling between her home in Obada and her place of work daily has now become a Herculean task.
For a journey that costs her between N300 and N400 daily in 2022, she now spends between N1,000 and N1,400 depending on various factors: her ability to haggle transport fares with motorists and/or wait on taxi drivers who will charge lower prices.
“What we do now is to join motorists in their vehicles who will drop us along the way. That helps me to minimise the cost of transportation which has now gone higher.
“One can’t spend one’s salary on transportation alone when we all know the cost of food items across the country today,” she lamented.
With the recent increase in the pump price of petrol to N617, her transportation to and from work gulps N7,000 weekly and an estimated N30,800 in a month when she goes to work for 22 days on average.
With her four-member family in mind, she hopes the government will introduce plans that can help the workers live through the present predicaments.
An administrative staff member of a secondary school in the Sabo area of Sagamu, Ogun State, Kemisola Adenle, claims she now begs motorcyclists so they won’t charge above N500 from her house at GRA Quarters.
Despite claiming her situation was worse, she also feared for a colleague who lives in Ogijo, a suburb of Sagamu and works in Simawa, a few kilometres from the new arena of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
“Whenever my husband is not dropping me at school in his car, I’ll have to beg motorcyclists to take N500 per trip. It used to be N200 before now. I’ll have to psyche them up and call them my in-laws before they’ll agree to collect N500 from me.
“My friend told me she won’t be at work till next Friday. Imagine someone who lives at Ogijo, Sagamu and is expected to be in Simawa daily. With what’s going on right now, subordinates and superiors will engage in fisticuffs,” she said.
Speaking further on the cost of living, Mrs Adenle said: “You’ll have to overthink before you can eat. Things are just too expensive. You may price something in the morning and may not be able to buy that same thing in the evening because the price would have changed.”
A local government staff official, who doesn’t want to be named, told Sunday Tribune: “My daughter and I spend N4,000 on transport daily from our home at Mango in Oke-Ata, Abeokuta to her school at Ijaye and back. It’s crippling really, it used to be N700. Transportation alone is making the middle class poorer.”
Oyo State
In Ibadan, Oyo State, the price of petrol forced Mrs Adijat Kolawole and her family members to resort to carpooling when they want to leave home together for work. Carpooling is a situation where a group of people commute together in order to reduce transportation costs. They now commute to their respective places of work in a single vehicle every day. The same thing happens at the close of work.
When asked about her cost of transportation in relation to her salary, she said: “It is never commensurate.”
“What we do in my home now is that all of us use the same vehicle when going out. From my house to my workplace at Iyana Agbala, you pay N50 as taxi fare. People can’t do that anymore because it is now N150.
“Before now, I used to use N2,000-worth of petrol for about four days, but now, I’ll spend about N6,000 on fuel to cover that short distance. It is never commensurate with the salary. The transport allowance that we get doesn’t even cover anything,” she said.
She also mentioned a colleague on level 13 who lives at New Garage. According to her: “She spends about N2,000 daily, if not more. If you remove about N40,000 spent on transportation from her salary, you can’t survive with what’s left. How much more her family.”
How Mr Kehinde, his wife and daughter cater for one another’s transportation costs. He works at the state secretariat while his wife is a class teacher at Mokola. Shuttling between Oke-Bola, Mokola and Agodi is now a worry for the family.
“Thank God my daughter’s school is close to the house. My wife spends not less than N900 daily to and from work. I spend a little above N1,000 for the office.
“It is difficult to survive in this kind of condition. And there’s no increment in salary. Transportation is not the only problem in our lives. We are presently living on what’s left from the bulk purchase of foodstuff done by my wife early this month.
“I still have relatives who equally depend on me. I can’t even send money to my mum yet. How am I supposed to save up money to send them with what I currently spend on transportation? he queried.
Ondo State
The story is not different in Ondo State. Mrs Aduragbemi Akintunde, a civil servant residing along the Irese area of Shagari village, said the cost of transportation has become a source of concern since the new price of N617 was announced, saying before now, she spent over 75 percent of her salary on transportation
Even though she has resorted to walking some distance, this did not help matters. “I live around Irese Road and I used to spend N250 on transportation before June and later it increased to N600. That was before the price was increased to N617.
“It became worse. Since the recent hike in the pump price of petrol, I now spend N1,000 daily on transportation and if I continue this way, there will be no money to take home.
“I realised I could no longer meet up with some obligations as transportation has taken a chunk of my income and I also have to pay for kids’ transportation to schools.
“We are trying to meet with the heads of our department to make arrangements on how to schedule work in the office among the staff to make life easier for us.”
She appealed to the state government to introduce a system for workers to cushion the hardship while urging the state government to revamp the shuttle bus system for school children.
Also speaking, a clerk in the state Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, who identified himself as Bolaji, lamented the present situation in the country.
Bolaji said: “I was shocked to realise that I was spending almost 65 per cent of my salary on petrol. The rate at which the price of petrol is consuming a major part of our salary is disturbing and salaries remain the same, while the cost of things, particularly fuel, has increased beyond measure.”
Another civil servant, Yahaya Olotu, who resides at Oba Ile Housing Estate, said he had to explore the option of public transportation after detecting he spent too much money on fuelling his car.
According to him, “public transportation seems to be more economical than using my car but with the new development, public transportation might be more expensive than using my car. And unless something drastic is done to alleviate the suffering of the people, many people might not report to work regularly again.
He appealed to the federal and state governments to come out with palliatives to tackle the problem or come out with palliatives to cushion the effect or reduce man hours, saying “if not, workers may not be able to go to work on a daily basis.”
Lagos State
Even though the Lagos State government increased the minimum wage to N36,000 recently, workers in the state do not find transportation costs easy since the removal of fuel subsidy and hike in the cost of living.
A security contractor working at the Lagos State government secretariat called Gbade disclosed to Sunday Tribune that he earns a salary of just N25,000 a month, lamenting that moving from and to the Sango area where he resides gulps N2,200 daily, a cost which, he said, he could not afford.
Based on that, he has opted to pass the nights at the office and only goes back home on weekends to save himself from the high transportation costs and other expenses.
“It costs me N1,100 to transport myself to the office at the secretariat and the same amount back home now that the fuel subsidy has been removed.
“Because of that, I now go home during weekends to save myself the high transportation cost. That’s what I do now,” he said.
Also speaking, another respondent on minimum wage, who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented the high cost of transportation and essential commodities but quickly said life continues.
According to him, he now looks for any coworker with a car that lives around Ejigbo, whom he can ride with to help save cost.
He pointedly told our correspondent that he would pass the night in the office today (Friday) and leave for home on Saturday, even as he affirmed that Lagos State government staff buses were always fully loaded now due to the fact that many car owners don’t bring their vehicles to office.
“The situation is tough right now. We are trying to survive it. What I do now is to look for anyone that brings his car and lives along my route to assist and drop me near my home. I do this to save cost, but today I have decided to sleep here in the office and would only go back home tomorrow,” he said.
Junior workers lament in Kaduna
In Kaduna State where the pump price of petrol has risen to N620 from N540, a cross-section of junior civil servants in the state capital and its environs interviewed by Sunday Tribune lamented the increasing transport fares.
According to some of them, palliatives should not be restricted to vulnerable households but must include other Nigerians including civil servants in order for government businesses to be sustained.
A civil servant in grade level four in one of the ministries in Kaduna, Alhassan, noted that going to work is becoming extremely difficult for him, saying reporting to his place of work will not be possible in the near future as a result of high transport fares.
Alhassan told the Sunday Tribune that he collects over N30,000 as salary from which he will probably spend N20,000 monthly. Between Kawo where he resides and Barnawa, he spends N600 per trip. “I cannot be begging people before going to work,” he stressed.
Another civil servant in one of the federal departments whose salary is slightly above N50,000 told the Sunday Tribune spends N800 per trip from Millennium City and his office which is located in the Mando area of Kaduna metropolis.
He further noted that his superiors at the office have now allowed junior workers in the department to report for work only twice weekly in order to augment the suffering they currently faced as a result of the transport hike.
Another civil servant, who simply gave his name as Simon Musa, told the Sunday Tribune that he has relocated to the house of a friend whose house is very close to their office.
“How much do I earn?” he queried. “If I spend my salaries on the current transport fare, I will be left with nothing.”
Another respondent who craved anonymity revealed that he had to abandon his motorcycle at home because it will cost him N1,500 daily. His take-home salary is N30,000 monthly. According to him, hailing a commercial motorcycle is cost-effective compared to going to the office on his own.
“From where I live to my workplace is far. I spend N1,500 every day. If I continue like this, I will not eat with my family,” he lamented.
Another junior civil servant, Mary, simply said civil servants should be considered for palliatives, adding that government should provide buses and tricycles so as to bring relief to many Nigerians.
Speaking in the same vein, another junior civil servant remarked that government as well as employers of labour should increase salaries while calling for regulation of prices of foodstuffs in the market, and electricity tariff so as to protect the people.
In attempts to help workers assuage the cost of transportation, some state governments have introduced interventions that can alleviate the hardship faced by residents.
On Wednesday, July 19, the Ogun State government welcomed a four-man technical team of engineers from India to begin the process of converting vehicles, particularly mass transit buses from fuel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Though the conversion process is expected to take between four and six weeks, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Tokunbo Talabi, said the scheme will relieve the burden imposed on the people of the state by the subsidy removal through cheaper means of transportation.
He pointed out that locally-based auto mechanics and technicians will be trained on CNG conversion in order to ensure technology transfer and create jobs for the teeming youths in the state.
In the same vein, the Akwa-Ibom State government also partnered with Innoson Motors in a bid to provide palliates for citizens in the area of transportation.
Speaking when top management members of the company visited him in his office, Governor Umo Eno said: “We will work with your company as we explore ways and means of alleviating the plight of our people in the area of transportation as a result of the removal of fuel subsidies.
“We feel the pains of our people, and we are committed to providing palliatives to ease their pain, and we are happy to collaborate with you.”
Reacting to the development, Lead Faculty of Tekedia Institute, Professor Ndubisi Ekekwe, noted that the impact of the high cost of transportation will affect everything in Nigeria.
He disclosed that with the hike in fuel cost and resultant hike in transportation cost, there is a huge possibility that many pupils and students will not return next term because “the cost of going back to school (transportation cost) may be more expensive than tuition in some cases.”
He urged stakeholders at the level of government to introduce arrangements that can ease off the burden of transportation on the people, particularly school children.
“For primary and secondary school kids in big cities, if the government does not make an arrangement, many kids will drop out of school because of the cost of transportation.
“For primary and secondary schools, begin a conversation and see what your local government chairman can do. Can you all rent buses that would take some paths to/from schools? Do you have an option for the LGA to negotiate bulk pricing?” he queried.
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