EBEN ENASCO REPORTING
In a colourful ceremony in Benin on Thursday, Nigeria's First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, inaugurated 50 Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, buses and launched a N1 billion economic empowerment programme for 5,000 beneficiaries in Edo State.
Oluremi Tinubu, who performed both ceremonies, said the initiatives of Governor Monday Okpebholo demonstrated his love for the people and would improve transportation, strengthen small businesses and create opportunities for women, youths and vulnerable groups.
"I am glad to be in Edo today after quite a long time for the commissioning of 50 compressed natural gas buses for the benefit of the people," she said, commending the state government for what she described as important steps toward improving livelihoods.
Commendable on paper, no doubt.
Those perceived as the fools, the just, the right thinking, politicians, artisans were all in attendance, perhaps waiting for an after thought
But the question Edo citizens are asking on the streets today is simple: Was the First Lady told the whole truth?
Was she told that Edo has only a handful of CNG dispensing centres to service 50 new buses added to others already in operation?
Was she told that drivers now spend hours in long, frustrating queues to refill, while commuters wait endlessly at bus stops?
Was she told that without more CNG outlets across Benin, Ekpoma, Auchi and other parts of the state, this beautiful initiative may end up compounding the hardship it was meant to cure?
The people appreciate the buses.
The people appreciate the one billion naira empowerment.
What the people want now is not just inauguration — it is infrastructure that makes the initiative truly relieving.
Because empowerment is not in commissioning. It is in sustainability.
It was meant to be a relief. Fifty brand new, Compressed Natural Gas buses, rolled out with fanfare, to ease transportation hardship in Edo State.
A commendable initiative, no doubt. For this, we must thank the authorities. In a time when fuel prices bite harder than ever, any government that thinks alternative energy must be applauded.
But applause must not silence questions.
And in Edo today, one question is louder than the engine of those buses.
Who will build more CNG outlets to reduce the long queues?
Go to the few dispensing stations in Benin City today and you will see the irony of progress.
Long queues. Endless waiting. Drivers spent four, five, six hours in most cases a whole day not on the road carrying passengers, but on a queue waiting for gas. Motorists frustrated. Commuters stranded.
We provided the buses, but we forgot to provide where they will breathe.
It is like buying fifty generators without buying fuel. Like building a beautiful estate without an access road. The buses are here, but the infrastructure to power them is not.
The consequence is painful and immediate.
For the motorist, it means less trips, less income, more man-hours wasted.
A driver who should do five trips a day now does two, because three hours were spent queuing for CNG.
For the commuter — the market woman going to New Benin, the student going to Ekpoma, the civil servant going to the Secretariat — it means waiting longer at the bus stop.
It means getting to work late. It means the transport relief that was promised is gradually becoming transport frustration.
And let us be honest, what is the essence of 50 buses if only 10 can be on the road at a time while 40 are in queue for gas?
Lagos understood this. When they rolled out CNG buses, they simultaneously expanded refueling infrastructure.
Ogun did the same. Even private investors were encouraged to build CNG mother stations and daughter stations.
But here in Edo, we celebrate the buses while ignoring the bottlenecks.
If this initiative must succeed, the government must move beyond symbolism to substance.
We need an urgent rollout of more CNG dispensing centres across the three senatorial districts — Benin, Auchi, Ekpoma, not just one or two outlets in the capital.
We need to invite private sector participation with incentives to build CNG stations.
We need a proper scheduling and refueling plan so that not all buses rush to one point at the same time.
Because if not, what we have done is replace fuel queues with CNG queues. And that is not progress.
That is transferring the problem from one pump to another.
Again, we thank the authorities for the 50 CNG buses. It is a bold step in the right direction, a step towards cleaner energy and cheaper transport.
But bold steps need strong legs to stand on. And those legs are infrastructure.
Without more outlets, those 50 buses will not ease suffering — they will queue it.
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