Why we suspended free school shuttle bus scheme — Ondo govt

The Ondo State government on Thursday said that its Free School Shuttle Bus Scheme was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Our correspondent reports that the free shuttle buses were used to convey pupils of public primary and secondary schools to and from schools in the state to reduce the amount parents spend on the transportation of their wards.

The free shuttle bus project was initiated by the immediate past administration of Dr Olusegun Mimiko in 2012 to ease the movements of the pupils across the 18 local government areas of the state.

Mr Tobi Ogunleye, Special Adviser on Transport to the State Governor, who stated this at a news conference in Akure, explained that the scheme was not cancelled.

Ogunleye also said the buses were not used for the political ambition of Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the wife of the state governor, as being speculated in some quarters.

“We suspended it as a result of the pandemic in 2020 because the government could not afford the conditions by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

“The NCDC asked us to reduce the number per bus from 100 to 30 students boarding the bus. This is not economically wise; no responsible government can sustain that.

“The NCDC also said that we should be fumigating the buses at least four times in a week.

“They said that disposable nose masks should be provided for the students. When we weighed the options, we decided to suspended the scheme.

“We did not disband it; we did not cancel it and we did not move the buses to Imo State as being speculated or rumoured.

“You can see them(buses) in our premises. They were 90 buses but four were burnt during Endsars crisis at Okitipupa.

“The buses cannot be used for other purpose nor being commercialised,” he said.

Ogunleye noted that the state government would reintroduce the scheme with stipend to be paid by beneficiaries.

“We are trying to reintroduce it but we cannot just jump into it. The last meeting we had with Parents Teachers Association (PTA), N100 was agreed to be paid by each beneficiary to and fro because the scheme cannot be sustained free any longer.

“But with economic reality of today, N100 cannot sustain the scheme. Price of diesel has jumped up. That is why we will have a robust and holistic meeting with stakeholders next week to decide on realistic fee.

“We will still do a thorough overhauling of the buses and other work because they have been there for almost two years.

“The new innovation can’t bring hardship to anybody. We are not wicked nor mischievous. We have not sold any of them nor being given to any other purpose,” he said.

According to him, the scheme is not a right but a privilege.

Ogunleye said that the reintroduced scheme would cut across 18 local government areas of the state.