11th March, 2013
GBENRO ADESINA/IBADAN
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the wetsren Nigerian state of Oyo has launched a free bus service for civil servants, as well as students in the state.
The 10 buses deployed for the service, christened ‘Ajumose Shuttle’ can seat 43 people each. Governor Ajimobi said 90 more buses are on the way.
Governor Ajimobi at the commissioning ceremony at the State Government Secretariat, Ibadan, pledged that his administration would continue to improve the welfare of the people.
He said: “We reckon that if we provide free transportation early in the morning for workers and students, as well as providing free transportation for them while leaving office in the evening, we would have significantly lessened their burden of transportation. This is the first in the scheme that will ease transportation, not only in Ibadan but also in our other major towns of Oyo, Ogbomoso, Saki and Iseyin. We shall soon introduce other measures that will integrate our public transportation into the on-going urban renewal project”.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transport, Mr. Yemi Aderibigbe, in his remarks, described the governor as a leader and welfarist, stating that the buses would cover all the designated routes in Ibadan.
Speaking on behalf of the workers, the Chairman, Joint Negotiating Council in the state, Mr. Nurudeen Arowolo, thanked government for the initiative, adding that civil servants in the state had never seen a worker-friendly government as the Ajimobi administration