We Work Like Elephants And Live Like Ants – Lagos Commercial Bus Drivers Tell Neusroom Reasons For Strike
From Ikeja to Oshodi; Berger to Iyana-Oworo, Iyana-Ipaja to under-bridge, Ikeja, and across Lagos, residents had a difficult time commuting in the city on Monday, October 31, 2022, as the seven-day strike action by commercial bus (danfo) owners in Lagos began in Nigeria’s commercial centre.
Although the strike action declared by the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria (JDWAN) is expected to last for a week, commuters are already groaning as a result of the inadequate vehicles on the road. The few vehicles still operating have increased their fare by more than 100%
According to videos and photos shared on social media on Monday morning, hundreds of commuters were seen at major bus stops across the state waiting for commercial buses. Not so many Lagosians appeared to be aware of the planned strike and those who were aware likely discarded the announcement by JDWAN as just another threat as they set out in the morning for their daily activities, but the full scale of the drivers’ action became clear at the bus parks and bus stops where a long large number of stranded commuters waited for hours without buses to convey them to their destinations.
“I and my son left home by 7 am”, Angelina Adedapo, a trader, told Neusroom via phone. “He attends State High School in the Oyewole area close to Iyana Ipaja. We got to the bus park in Dopemu. He was supposed to take the bus to Iyana Ipaja while I go the other way to the market in Oshodi. Like play, like play, we stood there for close to one hour before someone told us that danfo drivers are on strike. We just returned home.”
JDWAN in a statement by its national leader, Akintade Abiodun, on Sunday, October 30 said the strike is in protest against extortion by touts, using the street parlance ‘agbero’, who collect daily remittance from bus drivers on behalf of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
“We have been sentenced to the extortion and violent harassment by the state transport agencies – Lagos State motor parks and garages management and Lagos State caretaker committee.
“On a daily basis, we lose half of our income to the motor park boys; we pay exorbitant charges in the garages and at every bus stop where we drop off passengers; either we pick up passengers or not, we pay morning afternoon and night. Some routes have 25 bus stops which also serve as illegal tax collection avenues,” the statement read.
“It is unfair”, Isiak Gbadebo who owns a commercial vehicle that plies Ipaja to Alagbado route told Neusroom in Yoruba. “I have two buses: one uses petrol and the other one is a diesel bus. Because of the price of diesel, I cannot use the diesel one. The other bus that uses petrol, it is as if we work for Agbero because they take a large chunk of whatever we make daily. They give you receipts for some while for others, you don’t even know what you are paying for. If you refuse, they (agbero) can spoil your tire or remove your wiper or even break your side mirror. In a state that has a government, this makes no sense and I support the strike. I wish all bus owners can comply including keke.”
In January 2022, the Lagos state government announced that transporters, including commercial bus and taxi drivers, would from February 1 pay a daily levy of ₦800 described as a consolidated informal transport levy.
The levy was supposed to replace all other payments made at parks and bus stops across the state.
According to the state government, this would eliminate multiple taxations and reduce transporters’ pay to different bodies daily.
The plan was welcomed by some motorists who said they would prefer to pay a single levy than the multiple taxation system. For reasons unknown, the initiative has not been executed.
JDWAN however told Neusroom that agberos do not have the right to collect tax from motorists based on an existing court order banning the National Union of Road Transport Workers from collecting levies from non-union drivers in the state issued in May by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Olayinka Adedapo, a leader of the association said he was a commercial driver too and spends a large amount of money on levies at different bus stops in the state.
“I pay as much as 25 personnel daily in different stops from one bus park to the other bus park totalling an average of N10,000 daily. I work like an elephant but live like an ant. What I go through is what other drivers go through and so we concluded that things cannot continue like this. Why should we spend all our lives working for other people who are too lazy to work?”
The JDWAN leader said the drivers will withdraw the strike action as soon as the Lagos state government and the NURTW are ready to comply with the court order.
Adedapo said: “We are not violent and we are not fighting anyone. We just cannot continue this way. We are also not a politically-affiliated group so no one should say we are supporting any politician or party. I leave the house at 3.30 am and return home at 10 pm every day and there is nothing to show for it. What are agberos doing in return for the money we pay them daily? How can I be on the road driving and someone is on the road collecting my hard-earned money? If they feel there is money in commercial driving, they should buy their own danfo and put it on the road and drive it too if it is easy.
He added that the association is aware that some NURTW leaders have buses too and that their drivers have refused to comply with the strike action but that the association put all that into consideration before embarking on the strike.
“Out of every 100 NURTW members, maybe only five of them have buses and so they cannot cater for the demand of commuters in Lagos. We have told our people not to attack anybody but should instead stay at home.
“If you go outside now, you will see that the fare price has gone up. If you as a commuter pay double or triple your normal fare, you will sit at home the next day or also join us in protesting against this injustice. Let the government follow the court order.”
Adedapo said the association is sure of success and that the same thing will be replicated in other states soon.
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial with a population of 24 million people, still battles a serious transport problem. Residents spend an average of six hours in traffic daily due to the inefficient transportation system of the city.
The World Bank offered ₦20.8billion loan to the Lagos state government in April to help develop the transportation sector.
