BY Femi Owolabi
“Hunger, spike in crime rate,” was the response of Lukman Salau, a middle-aged man who manages a fleet of yellow commercial buses, popularly called “danfo’, when asked to comment on the plan by the state government to take the vehicles off Lagos roads.
A week ago, the government had said the yellow buses do not have a place in the transportation master-plan of the state, and hence, would be replaced by blue buses under the bus rapid transit (BRT) scheme.
The government further argued that the ‘danfos’ are not conducive for a mega city like Lagos.
‘HOW MANY DRIVERS, CONDUCTORS CAN THE GOVT EMPLOY?’
It is not clear what plans the government has for thousands of ‘danfo’ drivers who would be jobless should the policy fly, and this is a major concern for the drivers.
With his three daughters in the university, Salau, who says he has been in the business for over 20 years, explained how things could get worse when the yellow buses are pushed out of business.
“My daughters are on weekly allowance, and I send this to them every Friday when the returns for the week come in,” he said.
“What are we going to eat when government stops danfo? Who will pay my daughters’ school fees? How many people can government employ? The drivers, the bus conductors all feed their families from what they make daily here.
“Don’t forget that the ‘agberos’ too are there. And I can tell you that it’s because ‘danfos’ are working, that is why crime rate is not as high. If they stop us, what job are they going to give us at this age? It’s gonna be hard.”
The local transport union members, popularly referred to as “agberos”, Salau, worries, might become a menace when ‘danfos” are banned.
‘WILL BRT BUSES TAKE MARKET WOMEN TO MILE 12?’
“Danfo has its own usefulness,” argued Yinka Agbede, another driver who has spent about 10 years in the business.
While he agrees to a state regulation of yellow bus operators, he believes that phasing it out will compound the transportation challenge in Lagos.
“Can BRT take these market women who go to Mile 12 to buy pepper and tomatoes in baskets? How do you make space for them in a BRT bus?” he asked.
“Go and check. They are always not allowed in the BRT buses and that’s why these women make use of danfo. The BRT operators don’t want the buses to be stained with stinky pepper water, but danfo has no problem with that. There are other wares that are also not allowed on the BRT. So, if you stop this danfo, you are also putting these women out of business.”
Several ‘danfo’ drivers, who spoke with TheCable, also kicked against the plan by the state government, stating that it is not possible to remove yellow buses from all routes, as there are some areas where the BRT vehicle cannot get to.
A few of them, however, said they would agree to the plan if the government creates alternative avenues for them to work and make ends meet.
IS THE BUS REFORM INITIATIVE WORKING?
Like the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that of Akinwunmi Ambode, the immediate past governor of Lagos, had also initiated a plan to phase out ‘danfos’ in 2017.
Ambode had, at the time, proposed the bus reform initiative aimed at giving Lagosians an integrated public transportation system.
According to the governor, the initiative was a three-year plan — from 2017 to 2019 — aimed at introducing over 5,000 air-conditioned buses to replace the yellow commercial buses, “which was no longer befitting of Lagos mega city status”.
The Ambode administration had then earmarked N30 billion for the project.
When the issue of job losses was raised, Ambode assured stakeholders that it is the same yellow bus drivers, the technicians, the mechanics that will also still be employed and trained to use the new buses.
“Instead of job losses, we are going to employ more people for the greater number of the buses and it will make the city more beautiful and more comfortable for all our workers,” he had said.
Although there were significant efforts by the previous administration to add new BRT buses to the fleet, and also build terminals and stop stations, the phase-off proper wasn’t achieved.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Frederick Oladeinde, Lagos commissioner for transportation, did not immediately respond to a message on would happen to the drivers when the yellow buses are taken off Lagos roads?
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