Struggle for Survival: How Private Cars Join Mini Luxury Buses for inter-state Journeys

There seems to be no end to Nigerians’ continuous degradation of their living standards. Nigerians now put up the armour to struggle for survival despite the increasing rise in the cost of goods and services limiting their purchasing power.

The need to put food on the table has forced many people to utilise every sphere of life, including their cars. These days, it is no longer surprising to see a car on the highway and assume that it is an individual or family embarking on a journey home. Most of these cars are registered under transportation companies for business purposes. Some people have lost their jobs and turned to this as a side hustle, while others use it as their primary means of income. These individuals register their cars with a company and receive an agreed amount each month.

According to Mr David Kareem, an interstate driver who spoke to Vanguard officials, some transport companies have allowed private car owners to adopt this trend as they have sold their buses due to a lack of passengers and adopted the use of cars to save time and money. Most of these cars are not owned by transport companies but are instead owned by individuals who bring their cars to the company and register them as public business assets.

The removal of fuel subsidies has caused many Nigerians to cut down on interstate travel. Before, transport companies used mini and luxurious buses for their business, but many have now sold these buses and purchased a few cars to run their business. This is because of the low patronage of passengers due to the high cost of transportation caused by the fuel subsidy removal.

As Mr Efosa Ighiadolor, another interstate bus driver, explains, “Since the removal of the subsidy on petrol, the transportation business has continued to diminish. You can hardly fill up a car of 8 seats with passengers today. This is the main reason why most companies now use the Sienna model and Toyota Jeeps for public transport, to get 8 passengers instead of waiting for hours to fill a sixteen-seat bus.”

Mrs Jane Udofia, a passenger en route from Auchi to Lagos, says that passengers no longer board minibuses for interstate journeys since the introduction of cars in these transport companies, especially in areas like Edo State and other neighbouring states. The transport fare from her place to Lagos for a minibus of 18 passengers is N15,000, while that of a car is N16,000. Knowing how long it takes to fill a minibus, she chooses to go for the car instead, which saves her time.