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By Aeesha Sanusi Mafindi | June 2026 Maiduguri, Borno State
As citizens across Nigeria continue to grapple with the bitter economic aftershocks of fuel subsidy removal and skyrocketing Transport fares and inflation, Borno State has quietly emerged as the national blueprint for sub-national resilience, providing affordable mobility in a time of national and global crisis.
Under the visionary leadership of Executive Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the state has deployed a staggering fleet of over 3,700 vehicles. This massive armada—comprising luxury electric buses, subsidized taxis, and electric Keke NAPEP tricycles—is designed to achieve one singular, compassionate objective: delivering affordable, energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and reliable movement for the people of Maiduguri and the Jere Local Government Area.
For commuters like Hauwa, a dedicated civil servant, this intervention has radically rewritten her monthly budget. On a sweltering weekday morning, she boards a gleaming, air-conditioned bus at a roadside stop heading toward the State Secretariat. Before the transport revolution, this same route via private commercial Keke NAPEP—the primary mode of transit for the general public—always cost her ₦300, bleeding a significant chunk of her disposable income.
Today, she simply pays a flat fare of ₦50 on the government mass transit line. She arrives at her desk cool, on time, and with her financial dignity intact. Hauwa’s relief is far from an isolated stroke of luck; it is the direct product of a deliberate, well-funded, and structurally sound mass transit policy.
Confronting the Post-Subsidy Reality
When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the termination of the petroleum subsidy during his inaugural speech, the economic ripple effects hit the vulnerable Northeast region with brutal speed. Fuel prices spiked drastically, forcing private commercial operators to pass the financial burden directly onto ordinary citizens.
Because Maiduguri lacks a conventional network of private commercial buses, residents rely entirely on Keke NAPEP tricycles for daily commuting. This reliance made the public uniquely vulnerable to price gouging, as tricycle fares that once hovered around an affordable ₦100 per drop quickly jumped to ₦200 or more, squeezing low-income earners, students, market traders, and civil servants.
Governor Zulum, an academic turned administrator, refused to let bureaucratic delays stall state action. Recognizing that a crisis of mobility is ultimately a crisis of economic survival, he immediately conceptualized a sweeping palliative strategy. Speaking during the high-profile rollout of the state’s post-subsidy transit phase, the Governor explicitly outlined his administration’s philosophy to the President:
“Mr. President, after you announced the subsidy removal and your consequent directive to governors to provide immediate palliatives, in Borno State we decided to invest massively in a mass transit scheme to ensure our people are not left behind in the face of macro-economic adjustments.”
The Fleet Evolution: A Timeline of Strategic Investment
The sheer volume of Borno’s transport architecture can seem dizzying, but its success lies in a meticulous, phased rollout. The administration did not suddenly buy thousands of vehicles overnight; rather, it systematically scaled its capacity over a multi-year timeline to meet growing demand.
* Phase-by-Phase Expansion (2021 – 2026)
February 2021: Long before the subsidy crisis shook the country, Governor Zulum laid the groundwork by unveiling 90 mass transit buses—consisting of 40 units of 50-seater buses and 50 units of 14-seater buses—at Ramat Square. Managed by the Borno Express Corporation, this foundational fleet immediately provided comfortable seating for 2,740 passengers daily.
* February 2022: Turning his attention to urban congestion and job creation, the Governor launched 610 vehicles into the metropolitan loop. This included 100 Toyota LE taxis and 500 Keke NAPEP tricycles, directly benefiting over 3,200 unemployed youths. Simultaneously, the state granted ₦50 million in direct social support to 1,000 existing tricycle operators who couldn’t receive new units.
* December 2023 (Post-Subsidy Phase 1): In direct response to the subsidy removal, the state procured 120 specialized vehicles. The first wave hit 15 major strategic routes in September, crashing market rates. By December, President Tinubu personally traveled to Maiduguri to commission the second wave: a high-tech 107-vehicle fleet featuring a diverse array of all-electric mass transit buses and 50 cutting-edge electric-powered taxis.
* December 2025 (The Landmark Green Rollout): Marking an unprecedented milestone in West African urban mobility, President Tinubu returned to Borno to commission a mega-fleet of 3,620 clean-energy vehicles. This massive deployment featured 3,000 electric bicycles, 500 electric tricycles, 100 electric sedan cars, and 20 luxury 42-seater electric buses.
* April 2026 (Fuel Price Surge Response): When fresh global oil market tensions pushed domestic petrol prices upward again, Governor Zulum activated his strategic reserves. Within 72 hours, he ordered the immediate deployment of 20 luxury electric buses onto the busiest metropolitan corridors. Capable of traveling over 400 kilometers on a single charge, these fully air-conditioned buses cushioned the sudden economic shock for residents instantly.
A Green Vision for a Vulnerable Region
Governor Zulum’s deliberate shift toward Electric Vehicles (EV) is a masterclass in combining economic relief with environmental stewardship. Borno State sits squarely in Nigeria’s semi-arid zone, making it highly vulnerable to the realities of climate change, desertification, and ecological degradation.
By anchoring the state’s public transit system entirely to clean energy, the administration effectively addresses two crises at once: bypassing expensive, imported fossil fuels while mitigating urban carbon emissions. While the Borno State government is yet to officially launch any CNG initiatives, its pioneering work in electric mobility has set a continental standard.
To ensure the long-term sustainability of this infrastructure, the state has constructed the largest solar-powered EV charging terminal in Nigeria, strategically located along the Maiduguri-Jos road. Capable of charging up to 50 large commercial vehicles simultaneously, this terminal operates entirely independent of the national grid. This means that even during total national grid collapses or regional blackouts, Maiduguri’s public transport network remains 100% operational.
Crashing the Fares: The Financial Reality on the Ground
The economic impact of this intervention is best understood by looking closely at how the governor’s fleet broke the monopoly of skyrocketing transit costs. In the absence of a formal commercial bus culture, commuters in Maiduguri were previously at the mercy of private Keke NAPEP operators. Following the fuel price shocks, standard private Keke fares climbed aggressively from a baseline of ₦200 per drop to an unsustainable ₦300 or more for standard metropolitan routes.
The introduction of the government mass transit scheme completely shifted this competitive landscape. Today, the state-subsidized Borno Express buses offer a flat fare of just ₦50 per drop across all major metropolitan routes. For commuters utilizing the state’s newly deployed electric taxis or subsidized youth-operated Keke NAPEPs, the fare is locked at a modest ₦100 per drop.
In a post-conflict economy recovering from over a decade of regional instability, these saved naira notes represent food on the table, school fees paid, and small business capital retained.
Seven Years of Leadership Over Politics
What makes this intervention truly remarkable is what it reveals about the character of Borno’s leadership. Even after seven years in office, a period where many elected officials succumb to political fatigue or shift their focus toward backroom political maneuvering—Governor Zulum continues to act as a hands-on leader focused entirely on providing real succour for the poor.
Rather than behaving like a typical politician who relies on lofty rhetoric and unfulfilled campaign promises, his administration has consistently delivered concrete, measurable infrastructure that shields ordinary citizens from macroeconomic shocks. This consistent commitment to people-centered governance has earned the administration ringing endorsements from the highest levels of government. During his official state visits to commission the fleets, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not hide his admiration for the Borno model:
“Your Excellency, Governor Zulum… this is exactly what we mean by ‘Hope Renewed.’ Thank you for your good job always. Thank you once again for being innovative and creative; for your deep concern about your people and the exceptional level of good governance you provide to Borno State.”
Youth Empowerment and the Road Ahead
Beside providing cheap, reliable movement, the mass transit initiative serves as a major driver of youth employment. Instead of running a top-down bureaucratic agency where drivers are merely low-wage employees, the Zulum administration pioneered a unique cooperative-ownership model.
The Keke NAPEP and electric taxi units distributed during the various phases were handed over to groups of unemployed youth under flexible, highly subsidized hire-purchase agreements. This ensures that the transit scheme simultaneously addresses two critical issues:
* Lowering transit costs for commuters.
* Creating self-sustaining, long-term entrepreneurial livelihoods for thousands of operators.
In a region that has shown incredible bravery in surviving years of security and economic challenges, a dependable public infrastructure serves as the ultimate bedrock for socio-economic recovery. Every ₦50 bus ticket issued at a Borno Express terminal is more than just a receipt for a ride; it is a profound testament to effective governance. It stands as clear, undeniable proof that when a leadership team pairs genuine empathy with administrative competence, the government can successfully absorb severe economic shocks on behalf of its most vulnerable citizens.
