Good People, if you run a school in Nigeria, review your strategy. There is a huge possibility that many of your pupils and students will not return next term. That includes many universities since the cost of going back to school (yes, the transportation cost) may be more expensive than tuition in some cases. For primary and secondary schools kids in big cities, if the government does not make an arrangement, many kids will drop out of school because of the cost of transportation.
For primary and secondary schools, begin a conversation and see what your local government chairman can do. Can you all rent buses that would take some paths to/fro schools? Do you have an option for the LGA to negotiate bulk pricing? Schools, if you do not plan, you may see a massive student population drop.
This is not to scare anyone, but understand the words of the finest Igbo language novelist ever lived, Tony Ubesie, when he wrote in Juo Obinna, “mbe anaghi ekwu okwu” [the tortoise does not talk]. Yes, in Igbo mythology and word etymology, many things do not need to be spoken to be felt, since even though the tortoise does not talk, it is acknowledged as the “smartest” animal in the Igbo folklore. The impact of the high cost of transportation will affect everything in Nigeria!
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Most of our cities and suburbs are quite small, largely within 10km radius, it’s just that we do not have functional or municipal governments, else kids transportation to and fro can be planned, without much drama.
Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing now makes buses that carry 100 people at once, and for kids, it can easily carry 150 – 200. Major schools are concentrated in the same axis per city, others are a bit dispersed, two busses running within 10km can convey almost a thousand kids per complete trip.
With N1 billion, you have close to 15 brand new busses, the volume and constancy of operation guarantee enough revenue at cheap rates, covering labour costs, fuel and maintenance. No profit is needed.
We still have our over N600 billion waiting to be stolen, share this money per local government, volume does wonders. Village people need trucks to farmlands and access roads, city people need large busses to move people around. We are not suggesting things that take years to manifest, we are talking about things that will be up and running by September.
How hard is it to think and get things done? Once you overcome spirit of thieving, you are almost a superstar, because most things are not quite rigorous or sophisticated.
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