The leadership of the Kaduna State branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) says travellers in the state have dropped by over 50 percent as the festive period approaches.
This was disclosed recently by the state NUTRW Secretary, Malam Bature Suleiman, during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
Suleiman said the development was triggered by high cost of transportation which was occasioned by the hike in fuel pump price.
He said: “People no longer travel but only prefer to send messages to their loved ones. Sadly, if you go to our motor parks now, you will see a lot of vehicles waiting without passengers.
“People don’t have money to travel until it becomes necessary; they prefer to waybill messages.”
He said commercial motorists were operating at a loss due to the poor economic situation of the country.
He added:, “Apart from the increase in fuel price, we have a lot of bad roads, and a lot of policies taken on the transportation sector are not favourable.”
Suleiman lamented alleged multiple taxes which members of the union had been paying and described the situation as very bad.
He said: “There are lots of revenues attached to transportation as the government now seems to have its focus on the sector. Currently, there is an increment so much that what the driver would get at the end of the day is nothing to write home about. Drivers would just be doing the work without any gain in it.”
