ABEOKUTA (SUNDIATA POST)- Stakeholders, commuters and experts in the transportation sector in Ogun, have urged Gov. Dapo Abiodun to provide more CNG-powered vehicles for cheaper and safer movement in the state .
They told the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) Abeokuta on Thursday, while presenting the Ogun transportation sector scorecard for the last one year.
The scorecard was to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Abiodun’s second term in office.
NAN reports that Abiodun launched the maiden CNG powered Mass Transit on Oct. 30, 2023 .
“The buses are part of efforts to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government,” he said then.
A security expert, who was a former Commandant in the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC) , Mr Paul Ayeni , commended the government on the launch of the CNG powered buses.
Ayeni, who is the Chairman of ECOsafe Ltd, while pointing out the lapses, said the number of CNG powered buses released for commuters were not enough to enhance cheaper and safer movement.
He said, ”The buses released were less than 20. How would such a number of buses serve the residents?’’ he asked.
Ayeni said that another lapse worth pointing out was the lack of parking stations for the buses.
” The buses are parked on the main roads while canvassing for passengers,” he said
Mrs Roseline Olusegun , a textile dealer at Kuto market in Abeokuta commended the CNG initiative.
According to her, the initiative has helped some residents in one way or the other .
She, however, stressed that the government did not give the initiative adequate attention.
,”So, its performance in the year under review fell below expectations,” she said
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Olusegun said during the recent petrol scarcity crisis, she had a nasty experience, ”because the petro; stations only sold for VIPs while the ordinary residents could not get petrol to buy.
” I was so angry and frustrated because of such corruption in the economy.
” My children could not go to school because there was no petrol to move my car .
”If the CNG buses were easily accessible, my children would not have stayed out of school.”
Olusegun said another lapse confronting the CNG powered buses was the high cost of transport and unavailability of the buses.
” Many residents, most times, boycott it to move with the conventional taxis,” she said.
She highlighted the expectations of the residents from the initiative to include free ride.
“The transport fare on the CNG powered bus ranges from N200 to N400 and it is very high,” Olusegun lamented. .
The Iyaloja of Owode market , Mrs Monsurat Adelaja, a regular user of the buses, said the government needed to enlighten the masses, especially the elders about them.
According to her, the fear that the buses may catch fire because they are being powered by gas prevented many from riding them.
She further decried that the closest place to Owode that one could ride a bus is Mowe .
Adelaja enjoined the government to replicate the initiative in all the commercial towns in the state.
“Sometimes we don’t even get a bus to ride by the time we get to Mowe in the morning.” she said
Another commuter and resident in the Obatoku area of Abeokuta ,Mr Andrew Philip, pleaded with the government to replicate the initiative in schools in Ogun to provide relief to the students and parents.
“Expectations are high and anticipations are much awaited for,” he said
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Transportation ,Ogun, Mr Babajide Jokotagba, however , said the governor, through the Commissioner for Transportation , Mr Gbenga Dairo, placed Ogun residents’ comfort as a priority.
He said there were 10 large buses presently working in Mowe, while another set of three buses ply within Abeokuta metropolis.
Jokotagba said the buses transport about 1800 passengers as about 12 buses were working daily.
The spokesperson said that all efforts would be made to ensure the necessary stations were constructed in order to ease the operations of the buses.
He said that CNG powered motorcycles may come to reality in the nearest future.
