A cross section of Nigerians say the prevailing hardship in the country has made it fashionable for them to dump the convenience of using cars and opt for commuter buses.
Investigations by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja indicated that some Nigerians preferred to join commuter buses to cut down their expenses.
Many of the respondents told NAN that the cost of fuelling and maintaining their vehicles had become expensive for them and preferred to make use of public transport.
Mr Romanus Duniya, a civil servant residing in Lugbe, said that since the hike in the price of fuel from N97 to N145, he could hardly meet up with fuelling his car.
“It has become difficult to fuel my car, maintain it and also meet up with my obligations as a family man.
“The salaries of workers are not increased and due to the increase in the price of PMS, the prices of every item in the market are on the high side.
“We civil servants are the worst hit because business men do not bother as they determine the prices of their goods in relation to prevailing market prices.
“I have no other option but to dump the car for now until the situation improves, but the government of the day is not actually giving us any hope at all.’’
Duniya called on the Federal Government to come up with solutions to the economic stalemate as the country had never had it so bad.
Another respondent, Kabiru Isah, a business centre operator, said it was not reasonable for one to be riding on cars that one could not maintain.
“What is the use of driving a car that I cannot fuel when I can get to my destination with N150 or N200. Though, the commuter buses are most uncomfortable but that is the way out for now.
“I am operating a business centre, even the cost of keeping my business afloat is suffocating, of course power is not consistent. So in order to make ends meet, dumping my car is the lesser evil.
“The hardship today is too much and we pray that God will give this government the wisdom that is so much needed in this situation to bring us out of this ordeal.’’
A teacher, Mrs Beatrice Ukaeje, said that her family formerly used two cars, one for her and the children, the other one for the husband, but now, only one car is on the road.
“In a way, the hardship has made Nigerians to learn in a hard way how to be less frivolous in spending.
“Though, the hardship is making us to look inwards and making more people more enterprising, the issue about the continuous increase in commodities should be looked into by the government.
All the respondents, however, called on government to urgently wake up to its obligation of giving special attention to the welfare of Nigerians.
They called on the Federal Government to review downward the price of PMS because its price always has multiplier effects on other sectors. (NAN)