Transportation and Rent
Most people do not factor transportation costs and hassles before renting property. Here are the stories of three workers of a company located in Dolphin Estate, Lekki. Who should consider moving after factoring in transportation costs and hassles
Wale
Rent: Around N500-N800k per annum
Location: Surulere
Transportation: 3 buses: from Surulere to CMS, CMS to Obalende and finally from Obalende to Dolphin Estate. With average N1300 (to and fro) before the scarcity and N1500 during the scarcity, there was a small rise in the fare. Leaves his home at 6am and gets to work before 9am. During
shoving, and fighting in order to get buses to convey them to their different locale and those who didn’t, would have to pay a large sum in order to get a bus to go directly to Obalende as opposed to life before the scarcity where one could easily get a bus.
Ola Rent 350-500k a year Location: Orisunbare,
Transportation: Quite complicated as you would have to go through a number of bus stops before you can get to the island then to Dolphin Estate. A bus will take off from Orisunbare to 7 & 8, then another one from 7 & 8 to Obalende and then from Obalende to Dolphin Estate. With average N1700 (to and fro) before the scarcity and N2100, prices rose substantially. He commutes as early as 5am in order to beat the traffic to get to work before 8 am and closes 6pm to get home around 10pm
Before the shortage of fuel, getting a bus to commute to work was quite difficult as buses were hard to get around the environs to get to the Island. However, the scarcity made it worse, the bus situation got terrible as getting buses became a job itself.
Paul Rent: N300-500k per annum Location: Majek, Ajah
Transportation: Reasonably straight forward route. 2 buses: from Majek to Obalende and from Obalende to Dolphin Estate. With average N1500 (to and fro) before the scarcity and N2300 during the scarcity, there was a massive rise in the shuttle fees. He has had to commute as early as 3-4 am in order to get to work by 7am and closes 6pm to get home around 10-11pm During shortage of fuel, there were fewer buses to commute to work and there had to be a long queue for one to get a bus to go directly to Obalende as opposed to life before the scarcity where one could easily get a bus and come straight to work.