Managing Director of Primero Transport Services, Afolabi Tinubu, has dismissed the widely held belief that Nigeria suffers from a maintenance culture problem, saying the real issue crippling public transport is financial sustainability.
“I used to think we didn’t have a maintenance culture”, he said. “But the question is not maintenance culture. The question is Naira and kobo”.
Tinubu who was speaking with JustNet News in an interview, revealed that several buses remain parked not because the company lacks technical expertise, but because it cannot afford spare parts amid rising costs.
“We know how to fix the buses. We’ve trained our engineers in China. There’s nothing on those buses we cannot repair. But you have to buy the parts”.
According to him, the grounded buses are a financial burden.
“The buses in my yard are costing me money. I’m paying interest on them. No businessman will keep buses idle if he has the means to run them”.
He described the monthly financial decisions confronting management as painful.
“Every month I have to make evil decisions — do we buy diesel? Do we buy parts? Do we pay staff? Those are the realities”.
Tinubu insisted that the sustainability debate must move beyond sentiment.
“We need a business model that will still be running 20 or 50 years from now. Shiny buses are not enough. Sustainability is key”.