In Western Nigeria, any transport corporation must be a government business. The largest one is the one owned by the Lagos state government and it must be the largest transport corporation in the country but state owned. There are no privately owned garages in Western Nigeria. You have to join the National Union of Road Transport Workers as a player in the industry and that organisation is a semi mafia organisation. They coordinate everything in the West pertaining to commercial transportation. There was a time some people in Ilesa set up a parallel union 'Self Employed Drivers or so', they were attacked and the house of their leader burnt. The case went to court. The NURTW are everywhere in the West, controlling garages and at each bus stop, collecting money from buses picking passengers. There are equivalent organisation for commercial motorcyclists too. The people collecting money are called Agberos or touts because they help transporters solicit for commuters. They make money and deliver a percentage to their superior who delivers to headquarters who deliver to government. Money collected in such a manner in Lagos everyday may be close to 500 million naira because they are all over the place in their thousands. It is a form of sharing because the sector provides income for thousands of people. If you remove them, uniformed people who can even be graduates should take their place but now working for the state as civil servants but can they be more efficient or can they do anything better, or better the society? I doubt it. So I dont think anything wrong with the agbero system. They are touts just like real estate agents or stockbrokers.



By contrast, based in Eastern Nigeria are some of the largest private transport corporations in the world with one individual worth hundreds of millions of dollars from that venture. They own garages, have staff, drivers and brand buses but is that sector better in the East than in the West? Is transportation cheaper? Are they more efficient? I do not really know. Let people find out.


The Omo onile are indigenes or area boys who will go to real estate developers and ask for their share before you are allowed to continue development. It happens in most big cities in Nigeria, even in PH and etc. It is a result of lack of organisation. Omo onile money should go to LGs. However, if they come to you, ask for the house of the Baale if you want to pay, dont just pay to anybody, so that you dont pay many times over. All are forms of sharing. If you have money to build, no big deal in dashing the community some money as well.


That is my view on the two phenomenon.