By Michael Nnebife
What to do to realize the second term ambition of the Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, is now a top priority of the Anambra Keke Drivers’ Forum, AKDF, for the continuity of Soludo’s work in the state.
The Coordinator of the AKDF, Mr Osita Obi, made this submission on Wednesday, May 28, in Awka, while reacting to the purported inauguration of the Anambra Tricycle Riders’ Association, ANTRA.
Mr Obi, who advised the members of the ANTRA to operate within the ambit of the law, said forming or joining a union was a right of any person, but did not matter much, instead, the agenda or interest the union stood for.
Obi noted, ‘AKDF has come to stay, and other unions have every right to exist; but in whose interest? Are they working for the interest of the Keke drivers?
‘Just on Monday, we unveiled a sticker for Mr Governor; other unions want to come to the main road and start extorting money from the keke drivers.
‘But AKDF is not doing that; we are talking about how to get the governor re-elected to continue his good work. This is what worries us,’ the Keke Drivers’ leader stressed.
According to him, AKDF was the only Keke Union that had taken over 1,000 Keke drivers to inspect Governor Soludo’s projects.
‘We have gone to Ogbaru to see Okpoko. We went to the Solution Fun City, the new Government House and Governor’s Lodge, including many other project sites.
‘We have seen what Mr Governor is doing; that is why we unveiled the sticker to endorse Mr Governor.
‘We are going to use the sticker for his campaign when the time comes,’ Mr Obi said, and added that the relationship between Keke drivers and the Soludo Government had been cordial, emphasizing that the Governor had done much for the drivers beyond expectations.
He noted, before the advent of the Governor Soludo’s Government, Keke drivers were madly exploited.
‘For instance, there was what is called ATMC, Anambra State Transport Management Code. For this, every Keke driver was forced to pay N4, 600 yearly.
‘There were an emblem and a bucket, for which each Keke driver paid N6, 800 yearly.
‘There was daily payment, that is, N450; if you bought Keke and want to come out to the road, you must register with the union, with N50, 000.
‘But when Soludo came, he cancelled all these things, including the one called renewal of ID card every year, and told the Keke drivers to be paying N15, 000 every month.
‘But they cried, and he reduced it to N10, 000, and later reduced it again to N8, 000.
‘So, when people said that the tax is overbearing, I laugh; there is nothing like that.
‘Taxation of Keke drivers in Anambra State has a human face,’ Obi said.
