News Editor
By Edwin Philip
The Governor of Benue State Rev. Fr. Hycent Alia transformation agenda is said to be felt in the transport sector through his cutting age approach of ensuring that the State owned Transport Company, Benue Links Limited is affordable, reliable and comfortable for the people of Benue State and the general public.
This was revealed by the General Manager of the transport company, Mr Alexander Aondohemba Fanafa, while interacting with TMS new at the company’s premises in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, saying that the governor is fulfilling his campaign promises in the transport sector.
” The secret about what you are seeing is the transformation agenda of of his Excellency Governor Hycent Alia of Benue State who in his own campaign promises, told Nigerians and the people of Benue State that when he come into office he will make positive impacts in the transport sector and immediately he came in that was the time the fuel subsidy was removed so the transport sector was found in a very difficult situation in a very terrible environment and how to work because the cost of fuel, PMS or diesel determines how the people in the transport sector would work and so that was when he was also sworn in, so he also stepped in, the State own company Benue Link Nigeria Limited the governor now bought 100 new buses to inject into the transport sector and then stepped in to transform the environment, the company that was on the brinks of folding up’
According to the General Manager, the Governor stepped in and the company’s headquarters now wear a new look with a decent environment, he refurbished what was abandoned as scrap, he also intervened in the town service where luxury buses coveys passengers to major roads around the makurdi metropolis, he stated that the governors is focus and attentive in the implementation of the transport system that are friendly for the people of Benue, middle belt and Nigerians who uses Benue Link as a means of transportation, should have the least of transportation fare as far the Nigerian transport system is concern.
He added that government did not bring in money from outside to subsidized the sector, but donated100 buses and ensure that transport fare are reduced to the bearest minimum
“you know as a State own company we become part and parcel of the regulatory authority of the government and so we maintain the minimum, if we can break even we are alright and good so that people who are outside there should not take advantage and skyrocket transport fares arbitrary, as you know fuel, tyres spare parts are very expensive, when transport fares goes to the extreme, it means you want to inflict pains on the life of the people, so one of the objectives of this company is to control the skyrocketing of the transport fare to ensure that there is a transport friendly policy, so that people could afford transport fare at a pocket friendly cost, and afford our reliability and the comfort of our services, the buses that the governor brought and the ones that are lease to us so that others can indirectly and voluntarily come down to this level, this is what the government is doing” he added.
On Staff welfare, the General Manager said that members of Staff of the transport company have not had it so good, with the fact that he was a the amalgamated union chairman of the branch.
“This is something what I would have love you to interact with members of Staff but since you are here let me tell you, since assumption of work on June 15, 2023 we have never paid salaries later than 25th, infact it between 22nd, 23rd and 24th, we have never even paid on the 25th, so since I came in, the governor has directed me to ensure that salaries are paid on this days, we have ensure proper staff welfare and we have ensured that all arears owed the members of Staff are all paid, at this particular period of time we are not owing anything and the governor gracefully implemented the 75 thousand Naira minimum wage and Benue Link is not an exception we have also cue in and we are also going to follow suit, thats what we are doing here in Benue Link, Staff welfare is a priority on my table.
On his part, the information officer of Benue Links Limited, Mr Johnson Ehi, said the company was in a very bad State that the past administration declared it moribund and wanted to sell it off, but for the resistance of the current General Manager who was then the Branch chairman of the amalgamated union at the company’s headquarter, he mobilize all the staff and they put up resistance, stating that the chairman had wondered how the Staff will survive been an insider he knows that the company was very functional to offer valuable service to the to the people.
“He took up at the risk of his life and job he push he got a court injunction to stop the past administration from selling off the company, it contributed to him becoming the General Manager, all the ideas he had and telling them it is possible, he is now implementing them, the reason you are seeing the achievement we are seeing right now, we just had 13 company vehicles, we were at the mercy of our private investigators at a point so we couldn’t drive the mandate of the company the way we would have love to do, right now that we are trying to do that is like we raising up from the dead, you know catching up at that level is a gradual process, passengers are use to seeing us growing, they bring one or two pockets of reports we have set up a lot of feedback channels, if you check at all our vehicles all the numbers are outlined if you look inside we have stickers pested there”.
It would be recalled that recently, Mr Tola Odeyemi, the Post Master General of Nigeria and the Chief Executive of Nigerian Postal Agency( NIPOST) was at the Benue Links headquarters to inaugurate Courier and Haulage arm of the transport company and signed some partnership agreements.
