Protesters under the aegis of concerned BRT Commuters, on Saturday, June 30, 2018, stormed the palace of the His Royal Majesty, Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, to protest the poor and shoddy services being provided to them by Primero Transport Services Limited, operators of the BRT Franchise.
According to the protest letter they submitted to the Ikorodu Monarch, their protest was based on the agonizing pains associated with boarding their buses, poor services and unethical behavious of their staff, especially at the Ikorodu terminals.
While speaking on behalf of the concerned commuters, Mr. Adeyemi Sarumi said the purpose of their visit was to inform he king about the above challenges they were facing.
In his words, “Our requests are well-itemized in our protest letter and we want better services from the transport company.
We formed this association because we meet at the BRT Terminal everyday and we do interact. Most of us know one and other very well. I am satisfied with the Ayangbure’s decision and I believe that with that, there would be a change,” he stated.
Other areas they listed as their challenges include, the departure and arrival of the buses, which they said must change to avoid commuters waiting two to three hours to board buses; clearing the entrances to the terminal, which had been turned to parking lots by Okada riders and leading to unnecessary delays.
They also complained about the stinking and dirty toilets, which are malfunctioning with no locks on the doors to ensure privacy. Despite that, they are being charged very high for using the toilets. The concerned commuters pleaded that charges for using the toilets should be reduced to twenty naira for urinating and fifty naira for passing stool.
Among others, they also requested that the staff should dispense with their rude attitudes and learn to treat commuters courteously and give priority to children. In his reaction, the General Manger of Primero Transport Services Limited, Mr. Segun Anakoro, described the development as a dialoguing process meant to make them improve on their services to the public.
In his words, “You cannot be a service company and you don’t take your customers seriously. If you do, you would soon be out of business. It was not really a complaint session but a dialogue process and we have taken no offence. We thank His Royal Majesty, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu for his royal intervention.
We are already dealing with the issues and the Kabiyesi has given us the grace till September to go and sort things out for the betterment of the people of Ikorodu.”
The General Manager, speaking further said, “We love Ikorodu people because if they do not patronise us, we would not survive in business, and we have also agreed that this would be a continuous process. We would always meet to discuss and rub minds together to see how we can improve.”
“We want to assure the commuters that we are always there for them and we would continue to listen to them.” Mr. Anakoro promised that they would see some changes soon.
While addressing the protesters, Oba Shotobi thanked them for bringing their concerns to him and commended them for their civil approach to the issue. The monarch also assured them of his intervention to ensure that the service provider improves on their services to the people.
Oba Shotobi enjoined the representatives of Primero to see to the complaints of their customers and adjust in good time where necessary. At the end of the discussion, it was resolved that a three month period should be given to Primero Transport Service to improve on their services to the commuters.
It was also agreed that another meeting should be convened by the royal father to review measures taken by the service company to improve its services to the people.