By Adadareporters
Technical engineers from India are currently in Ogun State to commence the process of converting vehicles from fuel to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Our correspondent gathered that the initiative was to cushion the harsh impacts of the removal of fuel subsidy by President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, which currently has increased the economic woes of a majority of Nigerians.
The Ogun initiative begins the E-Mobility and Gas Mobility Programme of the state government, which involves the conversion of mass transit buses from fuel to gas and tricycles and motorcycles to electric.
The technical team are to work on the pilot project, initiate the first phase of the Gas Mobility Programme and subsequently prepare a plan to scale up and do a phase-wise implementation on all the commercial buses in the state.
Gov Dapo Abiodun had, in March this year, in partnership with Nigerian Transport Solutions Limited (NGTSL), took delivery of the CNG conversion kits for the pilot phase of the state’s mass transit buses to be fueled by the CNG.
The secretary to the state government (SSG), Mr Tokunbo Talabi, told newsmen in a release that the Indian engineers ‘are in the process of starting the conversion process’.
The state’s mass transit buses will start running on CNG in the coming days, he said, adding that, “The CNG team are on the ground. I was part of the team that received the CNG kits on behalf of the government early in the year. I visited the project site on Tuesday. His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun is a man of his words and such a highly progressive governor deserves all necessary support for Ogun State to continue to progress.
“The aim is to improve and modernise bus operations in Ogun State through conversion of buses to Compressed Natural Gas by equipping them with the latest technology to improve environmental and operational performance.
“Moreover, the newly fitted buses are expected to improve public transportation reliability, safety and efficiency and reduce polluting air emissions. The pilot project will commence with the conversion of twenty buses from diesel to CNG and exploring the performance before rolling out the programme.”
According to him, the process would take between four and six weeks, involving the Bus Mass Transit buses currently in operation in the state capital, Abeokuta, as well as others to be deployed in the fleet to serve the planned Mowe-Berger axis.
Talabi said the scheme would relieve the burden imposed on the people of the state by the subsidy removal through cheaper means of transportation.
