THE STORY OF ADAGBA COMMUNITY BUS SERVICE

Adagba, a rainforest community in the southwest of Nigeria with 3000 households has a strong
village union. The union operates a transport service with a fleet of 3 large buses which covey
villagers and farm produce to the weekly market and the children to school some 10 km away
charging N5 per person. Freight charges are discretionary with most passengers refusing to pay
for luggage. The bus service is characterized with poor maintenance, low income generation and
consequent frequent breakdowns with repair cost often inflated. The bus service staff are paid
from the bus fare while maintenance costs are paid from the union dues.

In the last five years the bus service has become a burden on the community, draining the unions
purse, the services have declined even as two of the buses frequently break down due to poor
maintenance. Many days, children were unable to go to school due to bus service failure. Union
meetings are replete with accusation of mismanagement and over-invoicing of bus replacement
spare parts. The last village-square general meeting was marred by a fight that erupted over a
call for financial contributions for running and maintaining the vehicles.

Finally, it was decided to privatize the service by selling the vehicle to a private operator following
a competitive tendering process. Omega Transport Ltd won the bid with promise of refurbishing
the buses, expanding the fleet and improving services with a possibility of paying annual royalty
due to the union’s purse, in a five-year initial period. The deal includes a commitment on behalf
of the village to allow cost recovery and that the community will rehabilitate the road. To ensure
fair charges a three-man transport committee was put in place who considers and approve on
annual basis the bus fare.

Six months ago, the transport company applied for review of the bus fare. They had proposed N5
per student, N 10 per adult, N 12 per food stuff, N 10 per ton of fuel wood and N 5 per ton of
other luggage items. The approval is required to enable him secure a bank loan to refurbish the
vehicles, build garage with a luggage bay and procure a new bus to be dedicated for carrying
students to school. The bank needs an assured cash-flow source to be able to give loan to the
business. The Transport Committee after due consideration approved the bus fare but a group
in the village has objected to any change in the bus fare and obtained court injunction restraining
the Committee and the transport company from charging the new fare until an improved service
is noticeable. The company has continued to run the buses at loss while the villagers are
expecting the promises of improved service made at the time of acquisition. The bus which is
now older is breaking down more frequently and the union are expecting the promised royalty
due.

Where is the problem? Who is to blame? What is the way out?