Sad Yuletide for Travellers paying high-rate on Transportation

Despite the economic crisis in their nation, many Nigerians would not be traveling for this year’s Christmas and New Year’s celebrations; instead, people are trooping to the bus stations to board vehicles and aircraft to their country homes, but with pains due to astronomical fares.

The airports are also growing crowded as many families—including those living overseas—are desperately trying to get the next aircraft to their different states.

But Vanguard’s investigations revealed that frequent travellers have completely booked domestic flights for the season.

Travelers still have to deal with great expenses and anxiety on the roadway, even if most of them have no choice except to drive.

Road users pay a lot of taxes.
Companies of road transportation have also raised their fares twice. Visits to some of the Lagos bus stations—Yaba, Orile, Oshodi, Maza-Maza by Vanguard—showcased how astronomically the travel rates to the eastern portion of the nation had risen for tiny and big capacity buses.

Though they look flimsy, the large capacity buses—usually referred to as luxury buses by Nigerians—are not considerate with their costs; the mini-buses, including Toyota Sienna, Hiace buses, and the like, are charging over twice the price they were collecting a month ago.

Luxury buses that charged N23,000 a week ago, for example, are now asking between N33,000 and N40,000 per passenger.

Further research turned out that large transportation providers such as Chingo, Okeyson, and The Young Shall Grow charged N40,000 as at December 22, 2024.

Most of the buses go at night, hence the trip becomes more terrifying considering the security condition in the nation.

Minibus operators who charged N33,000 only a week ago now demand N52,000 to N55,000 and will not accept advanced booking since they anticipate the fare rising the next day.

Libra charged N53,000 from Lagos to Owerri as at the 26th December.