By Umar Sani Yakubu
Yankari Mass Transit and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, have been denied approval to operate following the decision to reduce prices for commuters.
While speaking on the matter, the Chairman of NARTO, Saleh Sama’ila Turaki, said they decided to address the plight of the town’s people by lowering prices, but since they came up with the idea, it seems not to be welcomed by the relevant authorities.
He expresses concerns that the local government authorities are treating the approval of both transport companies with kid gloves while sister companies continue to exploit passengers.
“We started pursuing the process to allow us to operate in Dass local government since July 27th, 2023. However, as we count the months, we are yet to be formally approved to operate.
“The worst part is that even after the local government chairman directed the revenue department to allocate space for us to operate in the bus station, other companies with higher prices denied us space.”
Saleh Turaki then called on the authorities concerned and fellow transport workers to consider the plight of commuters and stop the exploitation,” he added.
Also speaking with our correspondent, the former deputy chairman of Mass Transit Bauchi, Bitrus Yusuf Mai Unguwa, who facilitated the process by appealing to Yankari Mass Transit to operate in Dass at lower prices, said the committee created by the local chairman to facilitate the process has been delaying it.
He said, “This forced the local government chairman to give us verbal approval to commence operations, but as we prepared to commence, the members of the National Road Transport Workers and other bodies in the bus station closed the gate and denied us entrance for operations, claiming that they were not given written notification.”
He added that “the people are suffering, and transportation fees are adding salt to the injury. Therefore, authorities concerned should expedite the process.”
Meanwhile, as of the time of filing this report, all efforts to speak with the Dass local government caretaker chairman, Comrade Muhammad Jibo, failed as he neither responded to phone calls nor replied to text messages sent to him.
Reports indicate that this follows a decade of outcry by the residents of Dass local government regarding exploitation by transportation companies operating in the area.
It is on record that every time the transportation companies in the area were pressured to lower prices, the Bauchi Motor Pack would force them to adopt the prices of their choice. This means that whenever the fight is over in Dass, the Wunti motor pack must also be pressured to cooperate with the process.
Recall that, following the hardship faced by Nigerians resulting from the removal of fuel subsidies, the government and concerned transportation agencies have been diligently committed to finding solutions to alleviate the pressure caused by the price hike in the transportation sector. This has led the government in Bauchi state to purchase more buses for use in the state-owned transportation company, Yankari Mass Transit.
Unfortunately, in what appears to be a joke, as Yankari Mass Transit and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, prepare to commence operations in Dass local government at a lower cost, they claim that the local government has been delaying approval while the already existing transportation body frustrates the process.
