Temidayo Babalola
Amb. (Prince) Adebayo Samsudeen Apelogun, the National President of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle and Tricycle Owners, Repairers and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN), and GMD of Allrounder Groups, has congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR on his victory at the tribunal.
In a press release from his office, Apelogun asked the President and particularly the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Sa’idu Alkali to properly harmonise and strengthen every sub-sector of the transportation industry as commuters now see motorcycles and tricycles as the cheapest means to their transportation needs, cushioning the effect of petrol subsidy removal, while the riders also see it as a source of livelihood, reducing the level of unemployment in the country.
He said, “We introduced uncompromisable enforcements mechanism to regulate riders’ attitude, adherence to Safety, compliance to traffic regulations, proper identification of riders and effective monitoring their operations to ensure local and national security is not breached.”
“The Ministry of Transportation should foster collaboration with the Motorcycle and Tricycle Riders Association to create a special registration number with Riders’ codes that can be easily verified through any Mobile Telephone Network provider. The workability has being carefully explained on our website (www.acomoran.org), the adoption of the idea by the present government will give the transport sector a better operational leverage compared to what it was several years ago”
“Lagos Blue Rail line project and the Abuja Metro Line forms part of the standard transport systems, however, the use of Motorcycles for public transportation which started in Nigeria in the 1970’s in about 5 States, before spreading to Lagos and other States in the 1980s can not be undermined especially in the rural communities where road network are very poor and almost non existent where the food basket of Nigeria is located.”
“The fact remains that Commercial motorcycles and tricycle unions rank among the front-liners in revenue generation in some states as well as one of the highest employers of labour in Nigeria considering the over 25 million membership strength. Hence, the importance of the impactful standardisation of the union which Prince Apelogun has embarked upon in the last five years.”
“The transportation sector of any economy is always its backbone. This is the network that connects every part of a country together, it connects homes to religious gatherings, connects farms to markets and even connects students’ accommodation to schools however, Public transport is a critical means by which citizens can effectively access goods and services across the expanse of today’s cities,” Apelogun said.
The National President has religiously ensured that the Ministry of Transportation and other management staffs are carried along with the activities of the union in order to foster collaboration, evident in the timely and regular exchange of ideas and brainstorming on areas of interest with a view to building the transport sector and improving the union.
Apelogun, who is well known to many as “All Rounder” given the thick and thin he has been through in the days of core and the capacity to rise to prominence in the union, is believed to have a magic finger with a calm and gentle mien of achieving any set goal.
Without delay, he put the machinery in motion to ensure he doesn’t disappoint his teeming supporters and well-wishers by commencing a nationwide consultation across the 36 states to find ways out of the woods for the union.
It is on record that under this dispensation in the ACOMORAN, all the 36 state chapters, including the Federal Capital Territory, are functioning effectively without any scores to settle with their respective state governments.
This is due to the dynamic leadership of the man at the helm of the affairs of the union. Under the watch of Alhaji Apelogun, the union successfully conducted elections in Ogun, Oyo, and Osun states and successfully put new leaders in place.
It is on record that there had never been a time in the history of ACOMORAN before now that the union had a better relationship with relevant government agencies such as this. The Apelogun-led administration has been able to move ACOMORAN closer to government agencies in a way that has placed the entire union at a vantage point.
However, the efforts of the present leadership of ACOMORAN have changed public perception about commercial motorcycle and tricycle operators.
In Nigeria today, Alhaji Adebayo Shamsudeen Apelogun is without doubt writing his name in gold with his sterling leadership qualities through which he is driving the affairs of ACOMORAN for greater opportunities across the country and beyond the shores of Nigeria. And it would not be out of place to say that a model for other transport unions in the country is here!