From Divine Macaulay, in Kaduna
Kaduna City, also known as Crocodile City, was the headquarters of the northern region and presently the capital city of Kaduna state.
Apart from being a center of learning, it is a commercial and business hub.
The number of commercial and business activities that took place in the city can be seen from the number of vehicles that ply major roads in the city.
Major roads like Ahmadu Bello Independence Way, Yakowa Way, Eastern Bypass, and Kachia Road usually witness heavy traffic flows.
However, findings by this reporter revealed that the vehicles are fast disappearing owing to the hike in fuel pump price.
Speaking with our correspondent, a tricycle operator in Kawo, Kaduna North Local Government Area, Abubakar Iliyasu, lamented that the hike in the price of petrol had affected their businesses and reduced profits, necessitating the need to increase the transport fares and in some cases, packed the vehicles at home because passengers are not willing to pay the increased prices.
According to him, the cost of transportation for a commercial tricycle (Keke) from the central market to Sabo is now N500 as against N300 it was before.
Also, from the same market to Barnawa and Nararyi settlements now attracts N400 as against N250.
Others include Gonin Gora to Kasuwa- N500 as against N300, Kakuri to Kasuwa- N400 from the previous N300, and Kasuwa to Kawo now attracts N300 from the previous N200.
Abubakar Iliyasu expressed dismay that the price increase also saw a reduction in passengers as most people decided to trek to their offices, and for an operator like him, it resulted in packing his tricycle at home instead of burning fuel without any profit.
Corroborating this, Malam Abubakar Sa’idu, a commercial tricycle operator said the current fares were likely to be increased in the coming days.
He said it was difficult to join the queues at the NNPC stations, saying, ” This is because it could take almost half of the day before getting fuel.
”As such, we now buy from the black markers for a whopping sum of N1,400 per liter.
A passenger who resides in Sabo said he cannot afford to pay a thousand naira from Sabo to Kasuwa and yet spend about three hours in traffic due to the repairs at the stadium roundabout.
“I usually pay #200 or #300 to town, but now, with the additional #700, it is not acceptable to me, and so I have to find another alternative,” he said.
A civil servant who would not want her name in print said the fuel hike had caused hardships to a lot of people, and sixty percent of the People she knows have abandoned their vehicles at home. She called on the government to do some urgently to reduce the hardship of Nigerians.
