As the commercial bus moved swiftly away from Abattoir bus stop inwards Tabon-tabon area of Agege in Lagos, the driver swerved dangerously into a crowded street.
Many passengers wondered why he would take a longer route and expressed their frustration.
Others lambasted him for making such a dangerous turning. But the middle-aged driver appeared unperturbed by the cacophony, his head slightly bent backward, eyes bloodshot.
Badru Kunle, the bus conductor, would later address passengers, mumbling some apologetic words. The journey from Abbatoir to Agege bus stop took an additional 20 minutes, after the detour.
Kunle would later tell PREMIUM TIMES about his decision to take a longer route, away from the checkpoints of transport union levy collectors stationed at the various junctions leading to Pen Cinema, Agege.
“You just have to be strategic in this Lagos,” he told PREMIUM TIMES’ reporter upon arriving Pen Cinema junction in Agege. “If you are not careful, you will end up working for the union. The ‘tax’ they take from us is too much.”
Upon being probed further, Kunle gave an insight into details of the ‘taxes’ collected by the transport union officials which they tried to avoid.
“If we go through the normal lane, I may have to pay about N3,000 or more,” he said in his native Yoruba. “I didn’t pay yesterday so I owe some of them and they will collect it violently. I will have to pay for booking for two days; I’d have to pay for tickets and then, annual levy.”
Like Kunle, road transport workers (commercial bus drivers, conductors, motorcycle riders, etc) in Lagos are at the mercy of the numerous union officials stationed at various garages and junctions in the city.
Many of the transport workers, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES but do not want their names in print said it is almost as though they work to feed the greed of the union officials.
There are several unions that regulate the operations of the transport workers in Lagos and other parts of the country.
They include Accredited Motorcycles Owners & Riders Association Of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) , and others. But the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) is regarded as the most popular of the unions.
As these unions regulate the activities of transport workers in garages and bus stops in Lagos state, top officials of the unions generate billions of naira, according to PREMIUM TIMES analysis.
Cat and Mouse Game
Lagos is a port city in Southern Nigeria, with a population estimated at 21 million in 2016, which makes it the largest city in Africa.
The city has since grown, with informal projections putting the population at about 23 million in 2018.
The city covers an immense area pegged at 1,171.28 square kilometers (452.23 square miles). With the population continuing to grow, the density is now around 6,871 residents per square kilometer (17,800 per square mile).
With the state’s large population comes a relatively huge number of road users and commercial transport workers.
Although there are no verifiable records of registered commercial vehicles in the state, including on the website of the state’s ministry of transportion, Lagos is largely considered to have the highest number of vehicles in the country.
In June 2018, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimated the total number of vehicles in the country at about 11.7 million with commercial vehicles holding about 58.08 per cent of the number.
According to the report, out of the 11.7 million vehicles, commercial vehicles were 6.8 million, representing about 58.08 per cent; private were 4.7 million (40.67 per cent); government vehicles followed with 139,264 (1.19 per cent); while Diplomatic vehicles accounted for 5,912 (0.05 per cent).
Earlier in 2016, Michael Olapade, acting Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, said one-quarter of the total number of cars in Nigeria are found in Lagos.
Untapped tax
Taiwo Sunday, a commercial bus driver plying the Agege-Ikeja route, said payments made to the union officials without commensurate value for money is huge and many of the road transport workers often suffer in silence.
Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES in Ikeja, Mr Sunday said a number of his colleagues have been forced out of business by rapacious union officials.
“Many people get their buses on hire purchase basis and they have to deliver certain amount to their principals,” he explained. “But if you calculate how much goes into payments to union people in Lagos, it has forced many people out of this business.
“There are many people who got buses from people in the past but could not pay when bus develops fault because of the huge number of tickets you have to purchase before you can be allowed to work. It is pathetic. It’s a huge tax empire.”
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