Some members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Kwara State are not happy with the Self Employment Assistance Programme (SEAP) introduced by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
A few months ago, the governor had partnered with a finance company to purchase 50 minibuses for road transporters, as part of a move to ease the transportation system in the state. The project was the second phase of his administration’s community transport intervention project. He had earlier given out 100 tricycles to some members.
The minibuses were handed over to some members of the NURTW member who were at first grateful for the kind gesture. According to the Commissioner for Works, Iliasu Rotimi, who presented the buses to the beneficiaries, the project is meant to ease movement of commuters, goods and services across communities in the state. Those beneficiaries were expected to pay back a sum of N3.7 million on each of the vehicles within 18 months.
A few months after receiving the buses, some of the beneficiaries started crying out loud to their leaders that they would not be able to meet up with the N3.7 million expected from them in 18 months. They started returning the buses and labeled the scheme unprofitable and a means to exploit them. They lamented that the state government actually gave the seven-seater buses to them at a unit price of N3.7 million when the market price was around N2.150 million. Adding that the arrangement was for them to pay N30,000 per week, which translated into N120, 000 per month. It was after they received the buses that they realised the unprofitable nature of the scheme.
They also lamented the poor condition of some of the roads in the state, claiming that this had led to the wear and tear of major parts of the buses that require a lot of money to fix. Despite their complaints, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Community Intervention, Kayode Oyin-Zubair, urged the transporters to make maximum use of the opportunity and not to see it as a means of exploitation, but rather a means to improve their economic development and growth.
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