• Drivers’ Union Sends SOS To Sanwo-Olu,
• Committee Yet To Be Inaugurated Five Months On
• No Driver Complained – Commissioner

Peeved by the chaos that has characterised the collection of dues and levies from transporters, by transport unions, especially the National Union of Road Transporters (NURTW), the Lagos State government, in January this year, announced the introduction of the N800 daily-harmonised levy for transporters and commercial drivers.

But right at the venue of the press briefing, where the development was announced, the immediate past chairman of the NURTW, Musiliu Akinsanya, and other unions countered the government’s position, stressing that the introduction of the new levy will not stop them from collecting their dues in the manner that they deem appropriate

The State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, who spoke at the agreement-signing ceremony press briefing by Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), local councils, and transport unions, stated that the harmonised levy became expedient to ensure that the transport sector in the state is organised, and fits into a 21 Century economy.

Olowo added that the levy would take care of dues that previously accrued to local councils across the state, as well as revenues for Lagos Waste Management Authority (LASWA); Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), and the Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) among other MDAs.

According to him, the consolidated levy would reduce the multiplicity of levies, as many residents and transporters have over the years, complained about the huge amount of money collected by the unionists.

However, since the implementation of the new levy scheme on February 1, the state branch of the NURTW, which has now been suspended, and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) refused to conform with the government’s order in both the collection of the N800 levy or single daily collection. The Lagos State Parks and Garages Management (LSPGM) led by Akinsanya, and the RTEAN are still adopting the old modus operandi months after the state government suspended the NURTW in the state.

Critics have continued to accuse the state government of insincerity in the implementation and management of the exercise, which is intended to reform the sector with. They also insist that its failure to even inaugurate the parks management committee, as well as the continuous harassment of transporters do not speak well of the government’s intentions.

Furthermore, since the new initiative came into effect, the situation of transporters has become worse in some locations, with new collection points sprouting up on some routes, including Mile 2.

For instance, between FESTAC’s first gate and Mile 2, there used to be two collecting points, but an additional four have cropped up making it six collection points. At each of these points, drivers of vehicles bearing goods are made to pay large sums of money, and failure to comply leads to their vehicles being impounded.

Moving towards Orile, from Mile 2, there are other collection points at Suru, Alaba, Coker, Alafia, and Orile.

A similar scenario also plays out along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, where there are collection points at Second Rainbow, Coker, Sanya, Ijesha Cele, Ilasa, and Oshodi bus stops.

For Tajudeen Akanni, a commercial driver, nothing has changed from what used to be in place except the change of name from NURTW to the committee, and the attires won by the new “lords of the road.

Akanni, who said that he still pays at almost every bus stop as has always been the case, added that there has been no difference between the way that members of the new committee and the former NURTW officials operated.

“They are lords on Lagos roads, and that is the reason that they are very arrogant and violent in the way they operate, even when they are collecting money from us. They collect huge sums of money daily from drivers of vehicles, commercial and private, as well as petty traders.

“After the union chief asked the state government to take over the management of their operations, we expected that the state government would use the opportunity to the lawlessness exhibited by the unionists, and return sanity to the sector,” he said.

He further said that with the suspension of the NURTW operations, and the setting up of a new management committee the state government was still not bothered that things were not done orderly.

Also commenting, the Chairman, Federal Assisted Mass Transit, Abed Achewa, who deplored what is going on in the sector said: “Lagos State government cannot say that it does not have authority over the people that it appointed, or express satisfaction over their operations, but it seems that the government is okay with the way things are going on. The mode of operation is still the same, which means that the government is backing them. Is that not the truth? We have complained severally, but there has never been any response from the state government.”

Achewa, however, appealed to the state government to call the new committee to order saying that its operatives have continued to extort and harass transporters the way the other unions did.

“The new committee is collecting too much money, and every transporter must pay all the charges, even if it means paying from the money that they made the previous day. In short, they are still running the show the way that the transport unions did,” Achewa stated.

He regretted that the state government never consulted all key stakeholders, or even considered nominating some of them to serve on the committee.

“We the real people in the field – the drivers, were not carried along, we were not informed of anything. The government decided to hand over the operations to the former NURTW officials unilaterally. We feel bad that we were not being carried along, and the people that say that they are representing us are extorting us. We do not have anything to do with them, and we do not attend their meetings. The only meeting point is the collection of money. So, the government knows what it doing. The only message that we have for the government is that it should save us as we are suffering from the activities of the park and garages managers,” Achewa.

The Lagos State Chairman of Self Employed Commercial Drivers Association of Nigeria (SECDAN), Alhaji Job Abifarin, said that all that the state promised to do when the new levy regime get into effect have not materialised.

He also wondered why the activities of the committee are not limited to parks and garages, but also extend to bus stops, where they collect all manners of money from drivers.

“This is wrong as drivers are not issued tickets when they pay these levies, and I do not know how the committee is remitting the money to the state government. We have complained before now to the state government, but we have not seen any positive outcome.”

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, while commenting on the issue, maintained that nobody in the committee could be collecting money from drivers without issuing tickets.

He also stressed that the single, daily collection of the N800 consolidated levy was introduced to stop irregularities in the sector, as drivers were paying at multiple points.

“The payment has been going on without any problem at all. The drivers are not complaining, the people at the parks are not complaining; the unions are not complaining, and the state government is not complaining that tickets are not being sold.”

When informed of what obtains in the field, especially complaints of multiple charges from transporters and drivers, Omotoso said that the N800 is not part of their dues.

On if the park and garages management officers were still expected to be collecting dues since they work for the state government the commissioner said: “These guys are still organised, forget about the name, or the title that anybody may be wearing. The mere fact that they are disengaged from the national NURTW does not mean that the way they run their organisation will simply die. No.”

The commissioner, who confirmed that the inauguration of the Parks and Garages Management Committee has not been done formally yet, added “if there are complaints, drivers know the channels to reach the government,” Omotoso stated.