By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
In a bid to enhance the country’s transportation sector, the Federal Government has acquired about 70 hybrid Jet Mover buses from Jet Motor Company, a Nigerian auto-manufacturing firm that designs and builds vehicles for African roads.
During the handover ceremony held at the Jet Motor Company’s plant in Ajah, Lagos State, the Technical Assistant to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dimas Hamidu, acknowledged the good quality of the vehicles and commended the company for its good work.
The buses, which operate on both Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), are expected to provide affordable and comfortable transportation for Nigerian citizens.
Hamidu said that the hybrid vehicles were a testimony to the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration to reduce the hardships that have been brought on the nation’s citizens by the removal of fuel subsidy. He said the vehicles will go a long way in helping to solve the transportation needs of the citizens, and help cushion the impact of the rising costs on the economy.
In his words, “I am happy with what I have seen here. This will go a long way in alleviating the pain and suffering of the people as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy. I was here earlier with the Minister of Finance, and we were taken around the plant. The minister even drove one of the vehicles, and he was very impressed. Nigerians were becoming agitated and asking why they were not seeing these vehicles on the road. This is why the Ministry of Finance decided to have a tour of the factories and their facilities to see how soon they could deliver.
“We are impressed with Jet Motor for sticking to the terms of the contract, the vehicles are in accordance with the specifications. We hope that very soon, they will invite us again to take delivery of more of these vehicles that the president can use to alleviate the transportation challenges of the country.”
The Managing Director of Jet Motor Company, Derek Ewelukwa, on his part, appreciated the team for the opportunity to contribute to the delivery of an efficient and comfortable transport model to the citizens of the country.
Ewelukwa explained that each of the hybrid vehicles had two CNG tanks with a combined capacity of about 220 litres of gas and the capacity to go 300 kilometres, as well as a petrol tank with a capacity of 80 litres. He added that the CNG tanks have a lifespan of 15 years and the engine switches from gas to petrol and back without any problems.
Meanwhile, the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria (AUATON), Nigeria’s e-hailing union, condemned the exclusion of its association’s drivers from receiving free CNG conversion of their vehicles from the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGI) program.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the union’s president, Comrade Adedamola Adeniran, where he described the situation as unacceptable.
The statement revealed that the conversion kits and installation were made entirely free for members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) but e-hailing drivers are expected to pay for the conversion kits with a 50 per cent discount and pay for the installation as well.
The Federal Government recently launched the Presidential CNG Initiative’s (Pi-CNG) Conversion Incentive Program for the rideshare sector. During the event, the FG offered a 50 per cent discount on CNG conversion to drivers who sign up and use the newly launched MY-CNG App. The incentive is especially aimed at helping players in the rideshare sector, including Uber and Bolt drivers, to convert to CNG without difficulty.
But while the ride-hailing drivers are getting a 50 per cent discount, their counterparts in other transport unions seem to be getting theirs done for free and it did not go down well with the union.
According to the statement, it was brought to the union’s attention that the initiative was not fairly distributed across the various Associations even though they are all duly registered trade unions.
The union also condemned the PCNGI’s choice of collaborating with app companies like Uber and Bolt, for the execution of the conversion project instead of the union. They pointed out that Uber, Bolt and the rest are registered as private companies under the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and as such, their goals are not exactly aligned with those of the drivers.
AUATON maintained that the program coordinators should have engaged directly with the union as it has been empowered by law to represent the interest of the app-based transport workers who generate revenue for these platforms.
The union urged the PCNGI program director to reconsider the decision to execute through the app companies and treat the union with the same consideration as other transport unions by engaging with them directly.