In view of the lingering fuel scarcity ravaging the country, the North East Development Commission ( NEDC ) has promised to deploy 10,000 solar powered tricycles, taxis and buses to ease inter-state movement in North East Nigeria.
The MD/ CEO, Mohammed Alkali, made the promise yesterday in a meeting in Maiduguri with the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers and National Association of Transport Owners in the North East states.
He said the innovation is to ease movement of people across the 112 local government areas in North East states, while aligning with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision for the transportation sector.
Alkali said, “The Commission has sought the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and he has granted a go-ahead. So we are meeting with you today to discuss the modalities of operation. NATO and NURTW are the Major stakeholders in the road transportation system in Nigeria, and as such, we are committed to carrying you along.
“ We want to introduce some innovative ideas into our transportation system in the Northeast. This will be done in three dimension, the first will be solar powered tricycles, the second would be solar powered taxis and buses. We want to deploy 10, 000 pieces of tricycles. The tricycle will be much than others. We believe it will go a long way in covering the entire Northeast.”
Goni further said that at the end of the day, the vehicles will be charged.
“ We are thinking of creating some modular power that the vehicles and tricycles can run on. We are considering solar power over others, because as you know, we have enough energy in the North East. As I heard, the buses if fully charged can go as far as 300 killiometres.
“We will organise a training session. This is very important, the training will be for driver union and NEDC too. This is an important aspect of the innovation” , he added.
Goni however assured that as part of the Commission’s core responsibility of ensuring intervention, it is committed to introducing ideas that will bring relief in the transportation system to the people in the region while urging union’s leadership to prioritise the management process.
Responding, the Taraba State chairman of NATO, Adama Tukur appreciated NEDC for the innovation, while stating that it is an important measure in the campaign on climate change
The secretary of the Borno State NURTW, Ahmadu Musa, commended the initiative, while emphasising the need for proper deployment of the mobility vehicles and tricycles.
