The Lagos sun is barely up, yet Iyana-Ipaja is already rumbling with shouts, honks, and fists.
A danfo just reversed into the park, but before the last passenger drops, two men close in torn jeans, faded vests, loud voices.
Owo Booking da, The driver didn’t argue he doesn’t have the strength.
He silently hands over crumpled naira notes ₦500 here, ₦700 there.
By 9 a.m., he has already paid over ₦3,000, and he hasn’t even made enough to fill his fuel tank.
This is the everyday rhythm at parks in Oshodi, Ojuelegba, Berger, Ojota, Cele, and Agege and so on.
Behind this chaos sits a powerful body that claims to organise it all the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW.
Where It All Began, The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) was officially formed in 1978 under the Trade Unions (Amendment) Decree No. 22, which merged several smaller unions into larger, centralized bodies.
It became one of Nigeria’s officially recognized industrial unions under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
NURTW was created with noble intentions to bring order to Nigeria’s chaotic transport system, protect workers’ rights, promote unity among road transport operators, and provide a central body for negotiation and regulation.
Its structure is national, with branches in every state and major city. From the national headquarters in Abuja to local units in bus parks and terminals, the union was meant to serve drivers, conductors, and road transport workers.
But that vision order, protection, dignity has unraveled on the streets where it matters most.
“They are nothing but legalized touts”
At the popular Mushin park, a tricycle rider looks around before speaking. He keeps his voice low.
“I pay between ₦3,000 and ₦3,500 every single day. That’s just to be allowed to operate. That’s not for food or fuel or servicing my keke.”
He doesn’t want to be named. No one does.
“You see these boys,” he says, pointing across the road to some men wearing reflective vests. “They can damage your keke if you delay payment. Smash your windscreen. Remove your seat. They don’t care. And no one will fight for you.”
Tricycle riders, known to operate under TOAN (Tricycle Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria), are supposed to be managed separately. But in reality, the same NURTW network controls them too.
The agberos don’t care if you are under TOAN or not as long as you move, you pay.
Who’s Making the Money?
Let’s do the math, ₦3500 per keke per day. That’s one rider, now imagine 2,000 tricycles on major routes in Lagos alone. ₦3,000 × 2,000 = ₦6 million.
Every day.
And this doesn’t include danfos or molue buses. Or the parks in other cities like Ibadan, Kano, Ilorin, Akure, Benin.
Now picture where that money goes. Not to the drivers, not to better roads or free health checks or park upgrades. But into private pockets.
According to many drivers, there is zero accountability, no receipts, no breakdowns, no support or whatsoever Just blind daily collections.
“The chairman and his exco sit under AC,” says a danfo conductor at Ojota.
“We dey sweat for park, dodging LASTMA, dodging VIO, dodging police, and still pay union.”
He shakes his head. “No benefit. Nothing.”
A Life of Fear
In Agege, another keke rider tells a story many others echoed.
“Last month, one guy tried to argue. He said he had already paid morning booking. One agbero used a plank to break his side mirror. That’s ₦7,000 damage. Nobody did anything.”
He lowers his voice, “Police dey near, but dem no talk. Who wan fight union?”
No one wants to speak on record because they know what comes next harassment, blocked movement, even violence.
“It’s not a union. It’s a cult,” the rider says. “You join or you suffer.”
Why Everyone Wants to Be Chairman
The chairman of a park doesn’t drive a keke or danfo. He doesn’t need to, he earns passively from the sweat of thousands of drivers.
A chairman controls multiple parks, and that means millions of naira in daily returns. His house has a generator. His kids are abroad. His wardrobe is crisp. His table is cold from AC breeze.
The boys doing the dirty work extorting, chasing drivers, shouting will never touch that kind of life.
But they will l fight to protect it. Because even crumbs from the union’s table are more than most jobs offer.
“That’s why people fight, bribe, kill to become chairman,” one ex-member says. “Once you enter that seat, na steady money. No EFCC. No police. You are untouchable.”
Where Is the Labour Congress?
That’s a question no one seems to have an answer to.
The NURTW is under the Nigeria Labour Congress yes. But the NLC is silent, Always has been.
No intervention, No sanctions No clear oversight.
“They just allow them do whatever they want,” says a driver in Oshodi. “Maybe because everybody dey collect.”
Who Suffers?
The drivers, riders, conductors and eventually you.
Because every ₦3500 or more collected by agberos gets passed on to commuters.
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Transport fares rise, and quality drops.
You enter a danfo with broken glass and sagging seats, but you still pay more.
You wait 30 minutes for a keke because most riders are parked trying to hustle enough money for daily dues before they move.
The result?
A transport system controlled by fear, driven by greed, and supported by silence.
The Streets Speak
“I’ve worked 15 years. Not once have I gotten help from union when police arrested me for nothing.” Danfo driver, Ojuelegba
“If you try to dodge payment, they label you troublemaker. You can’t go far in this business if you no bow.” Keke rider, Surulere
“One of them slapped me because I asked for change. When I reported, union members said I should respect my elders.” Young conductor, Berger
“Their children never enter the park. It’s only us hustlers suffering. Yet na we dey fund their lifestyle.”Rider, Mushin
So, what is NURTW really? A union? Or a money machine built on street sweat?
The answer lies on the road where chaos is organized, power is traded, and silence is enforced.
Until drivers are treated like human beings, and not wallets on wheels, this union will remain what most fear to call it aloud a legal syndicate.