…Turn to night trips as cheaper alternative
Road travellers are now bearing the brunt of the recent hike in petrol pump prices and scarcity of supply with consequential increases in transportation fares.
Nigerians are now paying high fares to secure a seat on a bus for interstate journeys.
The Federal Government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited recently hiked the petrol pump price from N617/litre to N897/litre as a reflection of the market realities, according to the state-owned oil company.
BusinessDay checks showed that securing a seat on a Sienna bus to Owerri from Lagos now costs as much as N46,000 while a 14-seater Hiace bus to Owerri costs as much as N36,000, as against N27 and N25 before the fuel price hike.
According to prices on the Website of GUO Transport Company, a bus ticket from Lagos to Aba and Enugu in the eastern part of the country now costs N37,000 and N36,000.
Read also: Interstate transport fares up 20% in July amid rising fuel prices
A bus ticket from Owerri to Abuja costs N41,000 while Lagos to Abuja costs between N41,000 and N43,000 depending on the transport company.
“Transport fare for interstate trips has been surging in the last month. It started with the recent scarcity of petrol which saw the petrol pump prices moved from N617/litre to N1,000/litre and N1,100/ litre depending on the state,” said Godwin Eboh, a Lagos-based businessman.
Eboh said he travels to Abuja regularly on business trips, which is now becoming difficult to do due to high transport fares and insecurity.
According to him, the surge in transport fares has made several travellers quit flights and resort to the road but the situation is also making it difficult for many to use the road.
“These days, I rely more on making requests online from customers whom I have existing relationships with but we that are into food business sometimes need to be physical in the market to be able to buy quality goods,” he said.
Florence Eze, a Lagos-based fashion designer, said she travelled to Anambra State last week with N30,000 only to pay N35,000 to buy a return ticket to Lagos this week after the new pump price was announced.
She said the hike in petrol pump prices has started taking a toll on Nigerians as it’s now difficult to embark on important trips these days.
“If one does not have at least N100,000 to commit to transportation fares, the person will find it difficult to travel from one region in the country to another.
“I went to Anambra State from Lagos to visit my ageing parents only to spend over N90,000 on transportation alone. This is not included in the money I used to buy foodstuff, provisions, medicines and pocket money for my parents. The economic situation is becoming unbearable,” she lamented.
Read also: Nigerians groan as marketers mull petrol at N1,200/litre
The skyrocketing transportation fares on interstate journeys are forcing many Nigerians to resort to night travel to cut costs. Nigerians are now travelling at night because it is cheaper and more convenient, especially with the surging cost of living crisis in the country.
“My wife and I just came back to Lagos last week from Imo State and we used a night bus to and from the journey. We haven’t taken the night bus for years, especially since the issue of insecurity became rampant in the country. This time, we had no option because we had a burial and traditional marriage that we had to attend in the village.
“Our trip occurred at the peak of fuel scarcity two weeks ago. Then, we needed a lot of money to fund the burial, traditional marriage, our stay in the village and to cover for the transport fare. This was in addition to the school resumption that requires us to pay for tuition fees and the children’s book,” said Emeka Uzoma, an IT expert.
Uzoma said he and his wife were forced to take a night bus to cut costs only to discover that many Nigerians are now taking the night bus and about four luxurious buses left Cele terminal of GUO Transport Company fully loaded.
Beyond the affordability, according to him, it is more convenient to travel at night for long journeys because it helps people do away with the impact of checkpoints and bad roads on Nigerian highways.
Christiana Chijioke, a businesswoman who travelled from Abuja to the east two weeks ago for her mother’s burial, said she spent over N300,000 to move her family of five to the east for the burial.
According to her, the fare would have exceeded N400,000 but for the night bus they boarded to return to Abuja after the burial.
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