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Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, emphasised that many Nigerians who disdain taxi driving at home readily accept it when abroad, calling it a noble means of livelihood that should be embraced to make a decent income.
Wike made this assertion during the FCT Renewed Hope Youth Empowerment Programme in Abuja on Thursday, where he handed over new cars to beneficiaries to be used as taxis.
“They are not paying a dime. No; the government is saying this is our support to feed your family and reduce the cost of transportation in the city… Abuja should compete with other cities in the world,” the minister stated.
Wike encouraged the recipients not to be ashamed of their new roles as taxi drivers, saying that many Nigerians who reject taxi driving jobs at home gladly embrace such when they travel abroad.
“What you will see in the social media is that he wants them to be taxi drivers. We travel and see Nigerians who stay abroad and work as taxi drivers,” the former Rivers State governor remarked.
He highlighted the irony of those who boast about relatives overseas while ignoring the reality of their earnings as taxi drivers.
“Nigerians at home will say our uncle is in London, my uncle is in Houston, my uncle is in Paris, my uncle has sent us $200, but he (the uncle abroad) makes his money as a taxi driver, feeds his family and pays his taxes,”
Wike explained. “Instead of encouraging how to feed our families, the next thing we will see in social media is that they are giving them jobs as taxi drivers. We can’t be taxi drivers here but we prefer taxi driving in London. That is the country you are in.”
To enhance security and reduce incidents of kidnapping and ‘one-chance’ robbery, Wike announced that starting January 2025, any commercial bus not duly profiled by security agencies will be prohibited from operating within the nation’s capital.
“Most of the Keke Napep and most of the motorcycles are informants. Everybody here that is a beneficiary is being profiled by the security,” he said.
“And so what we are coming up with is that from January next year, there will be nobody that will operate as a taxi driver or a bus driver without having approval from security, with security profiling you and without going about with Abuja colour.
“Nothing like using any vehicle on the road. No, we won’t allow that. From January, we won’t allow that. We will take the vehicle number, name of the drivers and the rest so everybody will have confidence that this is the vehicle I’m entering in case anything happens.”
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