NAN-AE-6
Wash
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, March 28, 2017 (NAN) The culture of washing cars among many FCT residents had continued to thrive, following increase in patronage by customers in recent times.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that car wash operators in Abuja have expressed joy, saying this culture was part of what drives their business.
Some operators told NAN correspondent on Tuesday that in spite the economic challenges facing the nation, they still had cause to thank God for surviving in the business.
Mr Umar Yakubu, an operator in Wuse Neighborhood Garden, said his business witnessed boom, adding that many car owners trooped in to his garden to wash their cars, daily and during weekends.
“I usually charge between N500 to N1, 000 to wash a car; if I am to wash the engine, I charge N1, 500 or N2, 000.
‘‘We may be lucky to wash between eight and 10 cars daily, some days, it could be lower,” he said.
Yakubu said he ventured into the business in 2012 when he lost his job as a driver of a multinational company, adding that he had been able to employ two men to assist him in the business.
He, however, complained of instances where officials of the Abuja Environment Protection Board come around to ask them to vacate the location.
The operators called on relevant authorities to provide permanent location to car wash operators to enable them carry their business unhindered and pay tax as their quota to national development.
To Manasseh Agbo, an indigene of Ogoja in Cross River,said he ventured into the business for survival.
He said he had been able to provide for his immediate family and also able to save some money by engaging in car washing.
Agbo said his location, close to the Apo gardens, was deliberate to enable him wash cars for fun seekers, as they relaxed from daily hustles.
“I have been working here for the past three years, the business has been lucrative, the only issue is that, we are been told to leave our location.
‘‘If we leave this place, how do we feed, does government want us to go into crime, this is the only way we could survive; there is no job anywhere.
“We get water from private water tankers, most of us have storage tanks to save the water, that is how we survive,” he said.
NAN correspondent, who visited POW Mafemi Crescent in Jabi, reports that no fewer than 20 car wash boys were seen hustling to get the attention of drivers to wash their cars.
Another operator, Yinka Adeleye, said as the number of car owners increased, car washing business attracted large numbers of unemployed youths.
Adeleye said most of the vehicles he washed in the morning belonged to private cars, saying in the evening, taxi drivers patronised him and his colleagues, more.
Adeleye, who said that commercial car washing was not as easy as people thought, however, emphasised that it was better than staying idle.
An official of the FCT Administration, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said indiscriminate car wash centres constitute one of the hazards to the environment.
According to him, such activity leads to water flowing along major roads, thereby destroying such infrastructure.
“Everywhere you find these roadside car wash centres, you will see water flowing on the road.
‘‘By the time they operate from that same spot for two weeks, you will see potholes on those roads.
‘‘The truth is that, government cannot afford to close its eyes to this,’’ he said.
The solution to the problem, according to him, is for the government to regulate the business and ensure that operators create proper water channels for the centres. (NAN)
TAK/MOL/DUA
==============
Edited by Mustapha Lamidi/Dada Ahmed