The Lagos State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has thrown its weight behind the Lagos State Government’s initiative to capture the data of tricycle riders across the state as part of efforts to enhance identification, accountability and orderliness within the transport sector.
State Secretary of NURTW, Comrade Usman Teslim, disclosed this in an interview with LEADERSHIP, describing the collaboration between the union and the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation as a strategic move aimed at ensuring proper identification of commercial tricycle operators.
According to Teslim, the exercise will provide a reliable database of tricycle riders and help strengthen regulation within the sector.
“The collaboration is meant to have proper identification for each tricycle rider,” he said.
He added that the initiative would eventually be extended to other categories of commercial transport operators, including motorcycle (Okada) riders, bus drivers and other stakeholders in the transport industry.
Teslim assured the state government’s scheme of the union’s full support, noting that it would further promote sanity and orderliness in the largely informal commercial transportation sector.
Speaking on efforts to reform the union, the NURTW secretary said significant progress had been made in improving members’ conduct and public perception.
“Members of NURTW are now responsible men. They are no longer how the public used to see them as touts, hooligans or irresponsible people. Members are now disciplined, comply with the rules and regulations of the union and have desisted from any action that can cause disruption of peace,” he stated.
He further noted that democratic principles have become firmly entrenched within the union’s structure, making elections peaceful and ensuring smooth transitions in leadership.
According to him, “Democracy is now embedded in the structure of the union, which makes its elections peaceful and ensures smooth transition from one administration to another.”
Teslim urged drivers and transport operators to remain disciplined and cooperate with traffic management officials in the discharge of their duties.
“We are not yet there, but we are working strongly to see how we can move forward with a modern transportation system,” he said.
The NURTW official also revealed plans by the union’s national leadership to incorporate members into the pension scheme under the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
He explained that the proposed initiative would provide retirement security for transport workers while also improving their access to affordable financing for vehicle acquisition and business expansion.
“This development is a good initiative because you can imagine somebody driving for 30 to 35 years and at the end of his service having nothing to fall back on after retirement,” Teslim said.
He called on PenCom to leverage the NURTW initiative as a pilot programme for integrating other informal sector groups, including market men and women, into the nation’s pension system.
