Abuja Workers Turn To Pick-Up Trucks Amid Rising Transport Costs

Rising transport costs and declining purchasing power are forcing workers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, to adopt desperate measures to survive, including riding in the open backs of pick-up vans and turning private cars into commercial taxis to supplement their incomes.

For workers earning around the N70,000 national minimum wage, the rising cost of transportation, food, accommodation and education has made it increasingly difficult to meet basic needs.

Some commuters now risk their safety by travelling in pick-up vans because they are cheaper than commercial buses, while employees who own vehicles charge colleagues for rides to offset the cost of fuel.

Patience, 28, who lives in Masaka, a satellite community on the outskirts of Abuja, earns N77,000 monthly but spends about N2,000 daily on transportation.

She said commercial fares could reach N1,500 for a journey, while waiting for cheaper transport often meant arriving home as late as 8pm or 9pm after closing from work at 5pm.

Patience said she sometimes resorted to riding in the open backs of pick-up vans, where passengers scramble for limited space, despite sustaining a scratch on her leg while trying to board one.

She explained that some drivers charged N300 from Masaka, making the option more affordable than regular commercial transport.

She called for measures to reduce fuel prices and ease the burden on commuters.

For some workers who own cars, rising fuel prices have also made it difficult to provide free rides to colleagues and friends.

An employee of a private company in Abuja, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had started charging colleagues for rides after finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the practice at his own expense.

He said the decision had affected his relationships with colleagues, but his salary could no longer cover the cost of fuel and other necessities.

The worker said he spent about N11,000 on fuel on a day he went to work, adding that the amount was barely enough for his commute from the Mararaba-Nyanya axis.

At that rate, he estimated that fuelling his vehicle for 22 working days would cost N242,000, far exceeding the monthly minimum wage.

The pressure is particularly severe for workers with families.

Adamu Umar, 50, a government employee, said his salary often went towards food and outstanding school fees immediately after payday, leaving little for other household expenses.

He said he sometimes bought a bag of maize with his earnings and relied on income from poultry farming to meet additional family needs.

Umar called for a substantial wage increase, arguing that workers needed salaries that reflected the realities of the economy.

Teachers struggle with transport, accommodation

The education sector is also feeling the impact of rising living costs, with teachers spending substantial portions of their earnings on transportation and struggling to secure affordable accommodation near their workplaces.

Jane Ama, a primary school teacher in Abuja, said she spent N3,000 daily commuting to and from Jiwa because she could not afford accommodation closer to the city centre.

With four children, including two in the university, she said meeting school fees, transportation and other household expenses had become increasingly difficult.

Ama called for the provision of staff accommodation for primary school teachers, saying it would reduce transport expenses and ease the financial pressure on workers.

Another primary school teacher, Raphael Omale, who works in Utako District, said he spends about N2,800 daily commuting from Kuje.

He said the high cost of accommodation had forced many teachers to live in distant communities such as Masaka and Mararaba.

According to him, long journeys could affect teachers’ punctuality and productivity, particularly when they struggled to arrive in time for the first lessons of the day.

Transport costs remain a major burden on workers, with petrol prices reaching about N1,500 per litre in some parts of the country in September 2026 before easing to between N1,350 and N1,400 in early October.

For a worker commuting from the Nyanya-Mararaba axis to the city centre, daily return fares can reach at least N2,500.

A worker spending that amount for 20 working days would pay N50,000 monthly on transportation alone, leaving just N20,000 from a N70,000 salary for food, rent, healthcare and other necessities.

An Abuja-based transport expert and Chief Executive Officer of Nairaxi, Kingsley Eze, said the FCT lacked sufficient vehicles to meet the transportation needs of its growing population.

He said studies indicated that the city needed about 15,000 buses to ease congestion and provide comfortable journeys for commuters.

However, Eze noted that purchasing and maintaining such a fleet would require substantial investment, making sustainable transport financing necessary.

He said the government also needed to improve residents’ purchasing power so that commuters could afford fares without sacrificing other essential needs.

The limited availability of public transport, alongside the underutilisation of the Abuja light rail system, has increased pressure on existing services, contributing to long journeys and high fares.

NLC demands wage review

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the N70,000 minimum wage introduced in 2024 has lost much of its purchasing power because of inflation and the depreciation of the naira.

Its president, Joe Ajaero, said the economic conditions under which the wage was negotiated had changed significantly, reducing its value when measured against the cost of living and the exchange rate.

He argued that wage increases alone would not provide lasting relief unless the government addressed inflation and the rising costs of essential goods and services.

Ajaero said workers’ wage demands should reflect the cost of housing, transportation, food and education, but cautioned that raising salaries without addressing the underlying economic problems could trigger further price increases.

In September 2026, members of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council protested in Abuja, demanding a N500,000 minimum wage.

Ajaero said government intervention in transportation, housing, energy and food production could help ease workers’ financial burden.

He argued that affordable public services and measures to lower the cost of living would make workers’ incomes go further.

Economist says minimum wage inadequate

An economist at the Institute of Professional Economists and Policy Management, Abuja, Dr Yushau Aliyu, said the N70,000 minimum wage was inadequate when compared with prevailing living costs.

He argued that workers could not reasonably be expected to cover transportation, healthcare, education and food expenses with such earnings, particularly amid high fuel prices.

Aliyu said the declining purchasing power of workers had widened the gap between household income and expenditure.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, headline inflation eased marginally from 15.43 per cent in July to 15.39 per cent in August 2026.

Despite the decline, the cost of essential goods and services remains a concern for households whose incomes have not kept pace with their expenses.

Aliyu said commodity prices continued to change while workers’ incomes remained largely unchanged, worsening their financial difficulties. (Daily trust)