Okwe Obi, Abuja
In Nigeria, a bus conductor needs no formal education or rigorous interview to function on the job and carry out the work diligently. All that is needed is, perhaps, to have a loud voice, be fearless, stoic and calculative.
On the flip side, a Nigerian bus conductor is expected to have self-control and the ability to swallow insults thrown at them by commuters. They must be familiar with different routes and names of bus stops; no different in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Usually, bus conductors in Nigeria are expected to look rugged and rough because they are believed to have been exposed to the vagaries of the weather. They are mostly unkempt, with slightly torn clothes. They determine how much money a commuter is expected to pay.
The job of a conductor cuts across religious inclination as both Christians and Muslims are into it. Even ladies under the torment of poverty desperately in need of another source of income, also find the job lucrative, temporarily, pending when a better offer would cross their path.
They have the potent instrument of convincing potential commuters to join their vehicles, with the assurance of commencing the journey instantly even when it is obvious that the seats are empty.
They even go to the length of rough-handling the commuters by dragging their shirts, leaving them sometimes in the state of dilemma and anger over which vehicle to join.
Female passengers are the ones mostly inundated with pet names to attract them to their buses. They are called all sorts of pet names like, “fine girl”, “my colour” “heavy duty” and “sweetheart’ in a ploy to win them over to their vehicles. It takes only those who make up their minds from home on which vehicle to patronise, not to fall for those schemes and antics.
Conductors serve as the eyes of drivers; they hint drivers when to beat traffic, they are the ones who negotiate and bribe when caught by paramilitary personnel. They are not scared of the police and traffic wardens in particular. When the job becomes overwhelming, they solicit the assistance of touts and urchins to woo commuters for a N50 to N100 settlement token.
Even without needing their help, touts popularly called “Agbero” would want to offer their services and when drivers and conductors refuse to give them money; it results in a quarrel and a fight.
The working relationship between drivers and conductors is not always smooth. Both claim to be the head of a department especially when the bus does not belong to either of them. When a driver instructs his co-pilot to woo commuters, the other would retort, warning him to stop raising his voice at him.
Also when the vehicle is on speed and the conductor sights a potential commuter and slams the door signalling the driver to pull over, if he refuses or delays, fracas would ensue. However, regardless of the challenges, most people are still willing to do the job.
Asked why he decided to take up the job of a bus conductor, a Kogi State indigene, Agada Peter, hinged it on poverty. The Senior School Certificate holder said he was a commercial motorcyclist at Mararaba but the constant accident on that road forced him to abandon it for a conductor:
“Poverty forced me into doing the job of a bus conductor. I was a commercial motorcyclist. The constant accident on our highways made me to leave it for the job of a conductor. Besides, the bike is not mine. The owner was always harassing and giving me problems. So when the opportunity came for me to become a conductor, I didn’t hesitant.
“Being a conductor requires lots of courage. It is not easy and not a job for the feeble mind. Most times you encounter your friends and schoolmates on the road and become an object of scorn. Some will laugh at you others will sympathise with you. But I don’t care because I work to feed myself.”
Agada disclosed that he earns N2,000 each day on the average. He gets N12,000 for a week, aside the feeding money he gets from the driver. Even though they rake in amount ranging from N30,000 to N50,000 a day, fuel consumes large chunk of the money while the vehicle owner gets his own share:
“I am paid N2000 daily aside money for my breakfast, lunch and dinner. So, for a week, I receive N12,000. If you are working with a good driver, you will enjoy. It is easy for me to safe and plan because I am not married but I take care of my parents back home.”
Asked if he has ever short-changed his boss from the fares, he denied it, claiming: “I only remove my daily allowance if the driver refuses to pay me the previous day’s allowance. But to steal the money, I have not done that.”
A 33-year-old conductor, Uche Darlington, said since his hope was dashed on arriving Abuja many years ago to collect his share of the national cake, he settled for a bus conductor. The father of two children told Daily Sun that he uses the money he generates from the business to take care of his wife and trained his children in schools:
“Part of the money is what I used to set up a small business for my wife. Whatever she generates is for the upkeep of the family. It is better to be a conductor than to be tagged a thief.”
For tricycle operator, Abang Jude, the ban of Keke Napep grossly affected him. Instead of milling around, accepting to become a bus conductor was the easiest available option.
Despite the N3000 he gets as take-home pay daily, Jude revealed that as soon as he gathers enough money, he would purchase a taxi and be independent, adding that working under someone was a no for him because he has tasted money and has been self-employed:
“So, coming from a comfortable background to serve as a conductor has been very difficult for me. It is like falling from grace to grass. I need to gather some money to buy a car. People who ordinarily should not talk to me will speak disrespectfully to me because they want to pay you N100. And you will shout from morning to night.”
A bus driver, Abul Musa, said he has changed no fewer than five conductors in a month because they steal from him “despite taking good care of them.”
He maintained that some of them just care about the money not the job, noting that with a hardworking conductor, they should go home with nothing less than N50,000 daily:
“I have cause to change five conductors in one month. Some were stealing my money while others were rude to passengers, always wanting to fight after consuming hard drugs, which make them become very lazy. Even though you pay them the agreed amount, they will still complain and abuse.” He, however, admitted that some are very hardworking especially with the man he working with now.
Recounting he ordeals in the hands of the conductor at AYA, Asokoro axis, a passenger, Judith Young, said the young man almost slapped her when she demanded for her balance. She noted that the conductor claimed he had given her the money, accusing her of attempting to dupe him. She said that it took the intervention of other passengers that weighed into the matter before the man could give her the money.
“I was lived with anger that day. It pains when the conductor accused me of trying to dupe him instead of giving me my balance. Some of these bus conductors are characters and any passenger that is not careful, they can easily short-change him or her,” she lamented.
A Psychiatrist, Emmanuel Odue, recommended that bus conductors should be forced to undergo psychiatric evaluation, because, according to him, some are violent and abusive.
“It is one job that you meet different people and attitudes. And there is a way a conductor will speak to passenger; he or she may not find it funny. So, I am suggesting that conductors should be registered and also undergo psychiatric evaluation,” he said.