Abiodun parleys Ogun transporters, set to introduce gas-enabled vehicles, electric motorcycles
Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
Poised to reduce carbon emission in Ogun State, the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration has said plans are underway to convert vehicles running on petrol to gas.
According to a press statement issued in Abeokuta on Monday by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, Governor Abiodun dropped the hint at an interactive meeting with transport union members from Ogun Central, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, at the weekend.
According to the Governor, the conversion project christened ‘Ogun Going Green Project’ is necessitated by the hazard posed to the environment by carbon emissions.
He said, “It is no news that Ogun State enjoys the crisscross of gas pipelines coming from the Delta and goes to neighbouring countries; that is why we have the proliferation of industries in the state, and we have decided to take advantage of the network of gas pipelines. We have the Ogun Going Green Project and that project allows for the reduction of carbon emissions like it is done all over the world.
“We want to start by ensuring that our vehicles utilise other sources of fuel that will reduce the amount of emissions which is the largest contributor to global warming.
“So, we are starting with our transportation sector. We are going to provide them with vehicles; these vehicles with the one they have now will be converted through a pilot project. We will be using a combination of gas and fuel, but the fuel will only be used to start the vehicles and after that, the gas takes over.”
He stated further that the first set of kits for the project would arrive in the state in the next three weeks, adding that buses, trucks and taxis, would be the first to benefit from the project, while motorcycles would be converted to electric ones.
Abiodun added that apart from reducing consumption and reliance on fuel, the project would reduce the environmental pollution as well as cost of transportation as the cost of gas is almost a quarter of that of fossil fuel.
The Governor further disclosed that the state would facilitate new vehicles for the transporters on a part-payment basis, saying the State’s Ministry of Transportation had been directed to work out modalities with the unions on how to go about the plans.
Abiodun who described the transportation sector as the life wire of any economy, maintained that his administration regarded the union members as important stakeholders in achieving its “Building our Future Together agenda.”
He stressed that transporters are too important to ignore in the scheme of things.
“From time to time, we must sit down with people like this and share with them what the administration has done for the avoidance of doubt and to further solicit from them what we want them to do. We want them to ply the roads responsively. We want them to drive safely and be our ambassadors.
“We want to know what their needs are and what we can do to make road transportation safer and more efficient,” he concluded.
The state helmsman emphasised that his administration had embarked on massive infrastructural development across the state, especially good road network in all the three senatorial districts to ease the movement of goods and people, promising that the current administration would continue to implement workable programmes and policies that will be of immense benefits to the people of the state.
In their respective remarks, the Chairman, Ogun State Drivers Association, Akinwunmi Dauda, the State Secretary, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, (RTEAN), Tiwalade Akingbade and the Secretary, Ogun State Parks and Management, Haruna Adekujo, called for the construction of a world class park in the state capital and address the issue of touts who harass their members on daily basis.
They commended the Governor for his efforts at improving on the socio-economic development of the state, pledging to support the Governor in the 2023 election.
