Besides, mini trucks popularly known as ‘Yar Kurkura’ are also taking over commercial transport systems thereby converting their open space trucks to passenger’s enabled vehicles in the city.
The full swing operations of the outlawed commercial cyclists in Kano came as the strike action embarked upon by the tricycle (Keke Napep) operators continued to inflict pains and inconvenience to millions of residents.
Students and workers are being forced to trek several miles to their various destinations amidst blazing cold and hazing weather occasion by the harmattan.
The operators declared a seven-day total withdrawal of their services across the state from Monday, January 10, 2022, to protest the renewal of their operational particulars.
With the return of the new order, Kano is apparently taken nine years back to an era when reckless traffic jams and incessant auto crashes were the order of roads.
The state government in 2013 announced an indefinite suspension of motorcyclists from commercial operations sighted security threats as a major reason. Abduction and other criminal activities in the state then were being perpetrated with motorcycles.
The sudden return of the cyclists may have come in handy to rescue millions of residents who are presently battling hard to cope with the pains of striking long distances, the consequences could be devastated.
Besides untold hardship being inflicted, the tricycle’s strike action has resorted to the loss of millions of naira. Government will lose over N63 million revenue from the daily tax collection from the commercial tricycles in the next seven days.
About 75,000 registered commercial tricycle operators who ply Kano roads pay daily revenue of N120 with exception of N240 remittance made on Mondays, which cover payment of Sundays.
Vice President, Kano Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, (KACCIMA), Usman Darma, expressed concern about the security implications of the development and its likely outcome.
Darma, who worried that the withdrawal of commercial tricycles service has paralysed more than 80 per cent of commercial activities resulting to loss of several millions of Naira.
While lamenting the lack of an effective transport system in Kano, the business mogul appealed to the state government to place the pains and difficulties residents are currently experiencing above revenue generation.
Earlier, the Managing Director, Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA), Baffa Babba Dan-Agundi, had declared readiness of the state government to enforce sanction on any operator who fails to comply with the renewal of the operation document.
Dan-Agundi, who explained that the government had reduced the charges from N100,000 to N8,000 annually with the hope to gain maximum compliance, insist government will not back down on enforcement.
According to him, the government is spending huge investments on security to maintain law and order from the internal revenue generation.
Meanwhile, the reconciliation meeting called by Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Ibrahim Hamisu Chedari and the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday ended without resolution as the leadership of the tricycle operators rejected options.
The legal representative of the operator Barr. Abba Hikima, who made the stands of his client known accused the state government of insincerity.
He said the operators have selected some prominent stakeholders in Kano to intervene since the government refused to respond to their plight.
