Students who used the Great Ife Students’ Union’s subsidized ‘Journey Back Home’ bus service on Wednesday, 16th September, have raised concerns over long delays and discomfort experienced while travelling home at the end of the semester.
Habeeb, a Part 1 student, expressed his dissatisfaction with the bus ride provided by the Great Ife Students’ Union to ACJOAU. He said, ‘The experience was terrible. The bus was supposed to move by 9 a.m. They came up with some excuse, saying we should hold on for an hour.’
He further explained that the bus arrived around 11 a.m., after which two hours were spent arranging the passengers’ luggage. After the luggage had been arranged, passengers were asked to wait for other buses to arrive so they could leave together, despite the buses being headed to different routes.
‘The bus eventually left around 3 p.m., and I later arrived home at about 8 p.m. because we stopped at Iyana-Ipaja while some students who headed to Oshodi arrived home even later. Although the ride itself was fine and smooth, the organisers did not do a good job.’
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Similarly, Covenant, an X user, took to her social media handle to lament her experience while boarding a bus from the Great Ife Students’ Union.
She tweeted, ‘I’m so disappointed in Great Ife Students’ Union and Safetafi. I paid ₦7,500 for the Students’ Union Lagos bus from Obafemi Awolowo University today. Public transport at the campus gate was ₦7,000, but I paid extra for comfort. We were told the bus would move by 9 a.m.; the bus came at 3 p.m. We were told to sit on bags for ₦7,500’
Covenant’s account further highlighted the discomfort experienced during the journey despite paying an additional ₦500 for the convenience of travelling with the Students’ Union bus.
However, the Great Ife Students ‘Union responded to her tweet, saying that the issue has been brought to their notice and the Welfare Director is currently addressing the situation. The Union apologised for any discomfort caused. ‘This issue has been brought to our notice, and the welfare director is currently addressing it to ascertain the situation. We apologize for any discomfort caused, and it will be publicly announced if there is any redress obtainable for those who suffered any discomfort.’
Another student, Motunrayo from the Department of International Relations, described her experience as bad overall, and the ride was not satisfactory, even though she sat comfortably.
Welfare Director Response
During an interview with the Great Ife Students Union Welfare Director, Afolabi Opeyemi, he stated that this coastal bus service was a partnership with S&T company; it was adopted for the comfort of the students travelling back, and these bus movements are to 2 places, Lagos and Abeokuta, with 4 routes in Lagos (Ikorodu, Iyana Paja, Oshodi, and Berger).
‘The innovation was a partnership between the Union and a company which has been in Motion since the Administration of S&T; the problem we were hoping to address was the comfort of our students while they are going home.’
He also addressed that the main problem was the traffic in Lagos and the arrival and departure of the bus, despite the welfare team helping in the organization of the students and their loads.
Opeyemi stated the service was supposed to hold for two to three days, but because of late plans, delays, and the tightness of the semester, they had to host it for just one day. He promised those who used the one they hosted on 16th of September, and those who haven’t tried it out yet, that the next one, which they would be hosting, tagged ‘Journey Back To The Union’ for resumption, would be better than the last one, and it would be available in Lagos down to Ife
‘We would be hosting another one during resumption, from Lagos down to Ife. This one will be more sophisticated than the last one; the students would not regret it’.
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