A former President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri.
A former President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri, has urged state governors to comply with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to reduce transport costs, saying Nigerians should begin to feel the impact of government interventions through lower fares.
In a statement on Wednesday, Eradiri urged governors to take the initiative seriously and deploy the increased resources available to their states to bring down high transport costs.
Recall that Tinubu had directed state governments to accelerate the implementation of the National Affordable CNG Transit Programme to achieve measurable reductions in transportation costs across the country.
The President said the 36 state governors had agreed to the October 1 target following their meeting on August 27.
Eradiri said, “We are appealing to the President to appeal to governors. Most of these governors have not responded to the President’s directives. Only a few governors are making efforts to bring down transport costs in their states.”
The former governorship candidate in Bayelsa State cited Katsina State as an example of a state taking steps to reduce the transport burden through the introduction of compressed natural gas-powered buses, electric taxis and other vehicles.
“What are other governors doing? They should not have even waited for presidential directives before introducing policies capable of reducing transport costs in their respective states.
Eradiri said governors genuinely interested in the welfare of their people should have taken the initiative before the President’s intervention.
“But now that he has given the directive because of his interest in the welfare of the people, the governors should be seen implementing it with all seriousness. They shouldn’t be compelled to undertake such a laudable programme,” he said.
Eradiri said more states needed to embrace the CNG initiative, arguing that lower transport costs would have a wider impact on the cost of living.
“We expected to see states come alive with the programme to reduce transport costs. But we can’t see it, and it is worrisome,” he said.
He questioned how state governments were deploying the additional funds available to them if they could not deliberately invest in programmes designed to help the people.
According to Eradiri, reducing transport costs would have a multiplier effect on the economy because transport is a major component of the cost of moving people and goods.
He urged governors to complement the Federal Government’s CNG and alternative-energy initiatives by investing aggressively in mass transit systems and fare-reduction programmes.
“The governors have received a lot of money, and the least they can do is seek ways to reduce the cost of living, especially by heeding the directive of the President to bring down the cost of transport,” Eradiri added.