President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a 50 percent slash in the price of interstate transport fares for Nigerians traveling during the yuletide.
The president also directed that all train rides across Nigeria will be free from Thursday, December 21 to January 4.
The country’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, announced this to State House Correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
The minister said air transportation is not part of the arrangement because the target of the president “is the masses”.
According to the minister, the president approved the reduction as he was aware of the recent increase in the cost of interstate transportation and even air travel which might make it difficult for Nigerian people who love to travel during Christmas and the end of the year to be with families and friends.
The statement reads, “It is in this wise that the President is announcing through us that beginning from tomorrow, December 21, Nigerians willing to travel can board public transport via mini buses, luxury buses at 50 percent discount of the current cost and all our train services on the route the trains currently serve at zero cost on their travels this holiday season.
“This special presidential intervention will commence tomorrow, Thursday, December 21 and it will end on January 4, 2024.
“The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Transportation, will be working with transporters, road transport unions, and the Nigerian Railway Corporation to seamlessly deliver on this special presidential initiative.”
Alake added, “I can tell you that all the relevant stakeholders in that industry have been discussed with or engaged with and all the parameters laid out and the Minister of Transportation has the full details and it’s on top of the game.
“In fact, the presidents of the various transport unions have been met…and everything is in top shape in terms of execution.”
However, Alake said air travel was excluded from the initiative because the initiative is targeted at the masses.
“The initiative is for the masses. Air is luxury. The masses don’t use air transport. So they are our main target,” he explained.
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