The Lagos State Chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has launched its first fleet of 3,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) commercial tricycles, valued at N10.2 billion, to address transportation issues.
The launch took place on Wednesday in Lagos and was officiated by Alhaji Azeez Abiola, a prominent figure within the NURTW.
Abiola, who serves as the Zonal Chairman of the Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria under the NURTW, stated that this initiative aims to alleviate the ongoing transportation costs faced by the public.
“Over 3,000 CNG tricycles have been deployed to the state to ease the cost of transportation among the residents and at the same time reduce economic hardship.
“We thank God Almighty for the opportunity to launch this laudable project with the support of President Bola Tinubu.
“As we launch this initiative today, residents will begin to experience a reduction in the cost of transportation within their locality.
“This is the number one CNG commercial tricycle in the country that will be in operation. This is because the 3,000 tricycles will begin operations on Thursday.
“This development will reduce the cost of living among our people drastically because it costs a tricyclist N15,000 fuel to operate daily, while CNG operation will cost between N2,500 and N3,000 for daily operations,” he said.
He mentioned that the initiative is expected to generate more than 5,000 new jobs for operators and technicians responsible for CNG conversions.
Additionally, he praised the President for providing the opportunity to engage in this new CNG operation for commercial use.
“We also appreciate the support of our state NURTW chairman for this initiative and for making it possible for members to be beneficiaries.
“With this development, we are going to engage hundreds of our members, fix them in the system and monitor their operations from excessive charges,” he said.
Abiola, however, urged the government to set up CNG stations near the operators to facilitate easier access for refueling.
“The only challenge we are having now is that of the CNG filling station which is only situated at Agidingbi in Ikeja, while our members are operating in Alagbado, Agbado-Okeodo, Ifako-Ijaiye, Agege and Alimosho.
“We also want the government to lift the ban of tricycles on the routes linked to the CNG filling station to make refilling easier,” he added.