Barely 24 hours to Christmas, residents and enterprise homeowners in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, have lamented the excessive price of commodities and hardship they’ve been experiencing each day.
That is as business transporters and travellers additionally lamented the excessive price of transportation.
Talking with Arogidigba International Journal on Sunday, a Level of Sale, PoS agent, Sunkanmi Adeleye, mentioned enterprise has been gradual in contrast to the opposite years.
He lamented that almost all of his clients weren’t keen to know that the latest downturn within the financial system.
“Issues businesswise haven’t been rosy. We’re simply barely scrapping and it isn’t our fault.
“The Central Financial institution of Nigeria coverage is just not serving to however we are able to’t shut store as a result of we have now to outlive too. That is the one enterprise I do know,” he mentioned.
One other resident, Oluwakemi Oludare, advised Arogidigba International Journal that Christmas celebrations this yr could be that of administration.
“I can’t think about myself shopping for a hen for as excessive as N20,000 when all these challenges stare me within the face.
“We have now to pay college charges, settle home hire, deal with feeding and others in January. I’ve that behind my thoughts.
“So as to not be in a monetary mess by January, this Christmas is all about administration. I don’t intend to journey and I don’t even need individuals to go to me,” she mentioned.
A transporter, Kamiludeen Muftaudeen, who plies the Osogbo to Ibadan route, whereas acknowledging that individuals have been travelling because of the holidays, added that the prolonged returns have been low.
He added that a lot of the cash go for automobile refurbishing and settlement of safety brokers alongside the street.
“Persons are travelling and they’ll nonetheless journey however a lot of the achieve we plough again to sustaining the automobile. We exchange worn out or unhealthy elements, pay mechanics and in addition settle police males, FRSC personnel and others alongside the expressway.
“If we don’t do that, we’re solely inviting hassle for ourselves. These safety companies know this time is nice for enterprise for us and so they capitalise on it to fleece us of the little earnings we make from our enterprise,” he mentioned.
He known as on the federal government to intervene and cease these empowered with the duty of managing the roads from taking undue benefit of them.
In the meantime, the Nationwide Union of Street Transport Staff, NURTW, pleaded with Governor Ademola Adeleke to return the operation of motor parks to its union.
The union, via its chieftain, Kazeem Oyewale, on Friday lamented that for the reason that motor parks have been handed over to Park Managers in November 2022 by the state authorities, life has been robust for them and their relations.
Oyewale additionally urged the governor to forgive no matter he would possibly understand because the wrongdoing on the a part of the union which can have made him take such a tricky determination.
“It’s been over a yr since we operated final in Osun State. Everybody current at present has a household to feed, the federal government ought to please forgive and neglect in any approach we offend them,” he pleaded.