...Standards, Bleak Yuletide Awaits Nigerians

employment rates are high and finances are bad. It is not just a bleak Yuletide, it is a bleak future unless the government does something drastically different.”

President Bola Tinubu, however, thinks otherwise. Speaking at a ceremony in Lagos on Friday, a day after he jetted into the commercial nerve-centre of the country for his holiday, he said, “We are committed to enthroning a better society for our citizens, irrespective of ethnic, religious or geographical differences. The various policies in place are expected to bring succour to our people. We know their pains and we are addressing them holistically.

“The recent 50 per cent cut in inter- state bus fares nationwide and the payment of N-Power beneficiaries’ backlog of allowances, among other reliefs, are all efforts aimed at alleviating the burden of Nigerians this festive season with more to be expected in the coming year.”

Explaining the details earlier, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, who chaired the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, said the 50 per cent reduction in fares was arrived at in conjunction with companies operating luxury buses and President Bola Tinubu had directed that commuters on all train services would get free rides from December 21, 2023, to January 4, 2024.

50% Fare Reduction, N-Power Beneficiaries

These interventions announced by President Bola Tinubu recently are ongoing albeit in a jerky manner. The N-Power programme initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 to address the issues of youth unemployment and help increase social development had fallen on bad times with the accumulation of arrears.

Last week the Federal Government revived it and paid the arrears of 400,000 youths across the country.

According to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Beta Edu, the programme has been restructured to create jobs and reduce unemployment in the country, though she was quick to avoid ambiguity and clarified, “The Renewed Hope N-Power has not been relaunched yet. We are still trying to deal with the baggage from the previous years. So, these are persons who were owed money for a few months.”

The cash transfer programme of N25,000 to 15 Nigerian households, as promised by the administration shortly after the removal of subsidy on petrol in June, is another empowerment project. It is just about to be implemented, almost seven months after.

Explaining this delay in Lokoja, where she had gone to launch the programme last Thursday, National Enrolment Manager, National Cash Transfer Office, Hajiya Sadiya Abdullahi, said that most of the beneficiaries are unbanked and have to undergo data capturing.

Mrs Bridget James, the Head of Operation, Kogi Cash Transfer Unit, said, “Most of the beneficiaries are unbanked, that is why we are capturing them to get their details so long their names are on the National Social Register (NSR).

“The capturing of their details will in turn qualify them to partake of the N25,000 monthly cash transfer for three months to cushion the adverse effects of fuel subsidy removal.” These jerks and starts, coupled with the after-effect of the removal of subsidy has impacted on the finances, health, productivity and livelihood of Nigeria.

The fare reduction exercise got off to a shaky start on Thursday and by Friday many bus owners had joined the initial official group of five, namely Chisco Transport, God Bless Ezenwanta Nig, ltd; The Young Shall Grow Ltd, God is Good and Area Motor. The new members who joined by Friday are Izuchukwu Transport Nigeria. Ltd; ABC Transport Plc; GUO Transport Ltd; SD Express Ltd; Welfare Transport Nig. Ltd; Ifesinachi Transport Nigeria. Ltd; E Ekesons Nig. Ltd; Ifeanyi Chukwu Industries and Commercial Ltd; Bonnyway Motor Ltd; and Delta Express Ltd.

ALBON President, Nonso Ubajaka and Secretary, Frank Nneji, who confirmed this development said “All intending passengers on the above listed transporters are requested to go to our members’ various bus stations nationwide to book and board our buses on payment of only 50 percent (half the price) of the current bus fare on the principle of ‘first come, first served,’ on daily basis during the period.

Explaining the meaning of “first come, first served,” to THEWILL Correspondent, a manager in one the bus terminal at Mazamaza in the Festac Town area of Lagos said that passengers who come after the allocation for the day is taken may have to pay the full fare.

According to ALBON Frank Nneji the bus owners “are providing 11,118 seats per day for the duration of the exercise, which ends on January 4, 2024.”

In another instant, it was observed that many of the bus owners, who keyed into the position beside the initial five officially approved transporters, expect that it might enable them to establish a form of business relationship with the government that will in turn help them to consolidate their businesses in many ways. None was ready to disclose the financial rewards awaiting them, if any. A manager said he was acting to instruction to operate the scheme to the letter and had no detail of the plans.

For those intending to travel by rail, the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, announced that passengers must obtain free tickets through e-ticketing platforms only as none of its train stations would issue no ticket. How far these measures have eased the transport situations of passengers is debatable. Our Correspondent who was at Mobolaji Johnson Station at Ebute Metta on Murtala Mohammed Way, Lagos met a crowd that was unprecedented. The NRC people said the train had been fully booked through Sunday

Reacting to the development through his X platform account on Friday, The presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi commended the intervention intended to help the masses, saying it was the right step in the right direction.

He however queried whether due process was followed in its implementation and expressed doubts about check and balances and the level of compliance by the transporters, adding that after conducting checks through contacts across major parks in the country, he was sure there were “obvious questions about the integrity” of this intervention effort.

Obi said, “One expects that such a policy that strives to appeal to the broad masses, especially the downtrodden, should be made with transport companies.

“I pray that this is not yet another spin to curry favour in the media space after appetising the people. The Nigerian people are going through untold hardship, and the government must not remain insensitive to their sufferings.”

UNTOLD HARDSHIP IN THE STATES

For millions of Nigerians, the yuletide is indeed bleak, having waited for seven months for governance policies to begin to make the desired impact in their lives.

LAGOS

As the commercial nerve-centre of the country, Lagos is home to many outlets for opportunities, even underemployment. Yet, like many other big cities, it can be expensive to live in. The costs of transportation, utilities and food have been on the rise since the removal of the subsidy on petrol. Portable water is lacking in many parts of the state and residents have to power boreholes with fuel engines. Transportation costs have also risen astronomically. Commercial bus drivers have no fixed fares. They use a rule of the thumb, capitalising on rush hours, late nights and weather to hike fares without notice. At the beginning of subsidy removal, the Lagos State Government subsidised the fares on the Bus Rapid Transport for residents. It stopped after three months. As part of its support to workers in the state, the government paid handsome bonuses in December.

Ponle Osimyemi, a teacher in one of the public schools, laments the inflationary pressures that has eaten up his salary, but he thinks Lagos still holds better opportunities than other states for its commercial nature.

““Statistically, we are back in the woods. Inflation and employment rates are high and finances are bad. It is not just a bleak Yuletide, it is a bleak future unless the government does something drastically different

IN JOS, RESIDENTS VOW TO WORK THROUGH YULETIDE TO MAKE ENDS MEET

In Jos, capital of Plateau State, it appears the residents have resolved to continue to eke out a living to keep body and soul together, as if the merriment and rest implied in the Yuletide has lost its meaning.

A motor spare parts dealer at Al Gadama Junction, along Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Way, Jos, assured our reporter when he visited that his shop would be open all the time during the Yuletide.

At the Plateau Riders Motor Park in high-brow Terminus area of Jos, a food vendor, Laraba, told our reporter that she would not travel to anywhere for Christmas and her business would continue as usual through Boxing Day, December 26.

At the business nerve centre on Ahmadu Bello Way, buying and selling was in progress. Shop owners who dealt in food items, kitchen utensils and textile