Petrol Price hike: Car owners abandon vehicles, buy motorcycles
By Bashir Bello
Disturbed by the sharp increase in petrol prices, car owners are abandoning their vehicles to purchase motorcycles and tricycles for private transport.
A cross-section of Kano residents, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, lamented that they could no longer cope with the continued rise in petrol prices, hence their decision to seek alternative means of transportation.
A resident, Malam Tukur, said he resorted to buying motorcycles as he could not afford the recent price of fuel.
“Since the removal of fuel subsidy, I have been buying fuel of N3,000 per day and spend N90,000 per month. With the recent increment, I spent N5,000 to buy fuel per day and it cost me N150,000 in a month. So, I decided to buy a motorbike. The only thing I do is to turn on and warm my car in the morning and lock it. I only use it when I am going to important occasions or events. I use my motorbike more. How can one survive when one continues to spend little resources on fuel? The school is about to resume now, you have to get school uniforms, bags, shoes and books as well as school fees for the children. It is not just easy,” Tukur said.
The story was the same for Abdullahi Kano, who said: “The recent unpredictable hike in petrol prompted me to buy a motorcycle. To be candid, from the time I bought the bike until now, I have seriously cut costs. I used to spend N5,000 daily on petrol when I was using my car for my daily runnings, but when I bought the bike, I started saving over N4,000 daily.”
Another resident, Muhiz Yakubu, said he decided to use commercial tricycles for his day-to-day activities because of the high cost of fuel.
“I have decided to park my vehicle because aside from the fuel hike, I still need to service my car. About four months ago when I took my car for service, it cost me about N15,000 to N16,000. Now, I was told it is over N20,000. I should park my car before it will knock. We can’t continue to run things like this. I should park the car because my wife is carrying our baby and I have to save money ahead of her delivery,” Yakubu said.
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