In a move to boost its score of carbon emission reduction, the Nigerian Government has inaugurated 30 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered buses aimed to ease the burden of transportation on the citizens brought about by the removal of fuel subsidies.
The unveiling described as a game changer for the transport sector by the Chairman of Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), Winifred Akpani, was done yesterday at the State House in Abuja.
In his address during the inauguration, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assured that the buses would help ease transportation challenges faced by Nigerians, especially in the Federal Capital Territory.
In the first phase of procurement, 30 buses were acquired from Innoson Motors, an indigenous vehicle manufacturing firm.
He disclosed that commercial vehicles in Nigeria make up about 80 percent of the nation’s petrol consumption, costing the country trillions of naira monthly. Five of the 30 CNG buses were driven to the forecourt of the Presidential Villa, where the President officially inaugurated them for public use.
The President said, “I am very honored to be here, it is a great expression for me to receive these buses on behalf of the government and make a significant innovation to the transportation system.
“Utilising natural gas to power our transportation industry is the next way to go. For many countries especially Nigeria, with our own gas, if we work harder, and be productive and innovative, it is an economic necessity that we should embrace.
“I noted the recent yearnings of many ordinary Nigerians on transportation. I thank Innoson Motors and others. We have been committed to changing this narrative in this country.
“If we can enhance our energy competitiveness and bring about transformative changes like this, we will definitely be able to achieve the prosperity that we are working hard to accomplish for our people.
“These buses along with the CNG being convertible are very encouraging and promising to enhance our transportation system. Countries like India have mandated CNG for commercial vehicles since 2004 and in Nigeria, commercial vehicles make up about 80 percent of our petrol demand costing us trillions of naira each month.
“The solution is here. We have it, we will work on it. We promise you things will get better; prosperity will be achieved.”
In addition, Akpani said “We are very proud to say these buses have been designed, manufactured and delivered by Innoson Motors, a Nigerian company in Nnewi.
“These are hybrid buses that will run on CNG. Each of these buses is capable of transporting 100 people and they also have alternative use of diesel.
“They are hybrid buses and we are very happy today that we can present these.
“We continue to assure this government of our full support as marketers. We will continue to go the extra mile to ease the problems of all of us not just the downtrodden but everybody.
“We believe that these buses will be put to use especially since we know that more donations are coming and we thank the President for this opportunity.
“I’d like to state that as part of our delivery, we’ve made provision that each of these buses will have two drivers and we are going to have trained at the facility that they have been manufactured.
“We are very sure that this will contribute to bringing down transportation costs and we know that if transportation cost comes down, food and so many other things will follow.
“Since transportation seems to be one of the big issues we have in Nigeria.
“So, on behalf of DAPPMAN, we are very happy to present this set of buses to the federal government of Nigeria.”
Also speaking, the Managing Director of NNPC Foundation, Emmanuella Arukwe, said NNPC contributed 10 of the 30 buses presented by DAPPMAN to the President.
His words: “We committed 10 CNG buses to DAPPMAN which is what we have delivered today. We are excited to be part of this initiative. Although it is an NNPC initiative, for us in the Foundation, we are committed to our area of focus which is energy and the environment. As you know, these are CNG buses, they are clean energy buses, aside from that, access to energy is one of the key areas we are focused on.
“So, it aligns with our vision and objective, so we are excited that we are part of NNPC’s drive towards making sure that people have access to energy, especially towards making sure that people have access to duel fuel which is environmentally friendly.”
