BENIN CITY – The rising cost of transportation is forcing some Nigerian workers to spend nights in their offices during the working week, as the increasing cost of commuting puts additional pressure on already stretched household incomes.
Reports from Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Benin City and other major cities indicate that some civil servants and private-sector employees have resorted to sleeping in their workplaces from Monday to Friday in an effort to reduce daily transportation expenses.
Our correspondent gathered that the affected workers reportedly arrive at their offices with small bags containing clothes, food and bedding, effectively turning their workplaces into temporary residences. They return home on Friday evenings and travel back to work on Monday mornings.
One worker, who spoke about the situation, said the cost of commuting had become difficult to sustain on his salary.
“I spend over N3,000 daily on transport. My salary cannot carry it. Sleeping in the office is not comfortable, but it is better than spending all my pay on bus fare.”
Another worker described how the practice has increasingly taken on the character of living at the workplace.
“We cook in the office, we bathe in the office. It is like we now live at work.”
The development highlights the growing financial pressure facing workers as transportation costs continue to consume a significant portion of their earnings. For workers who commute long distances, daily transport expenses can amount to tens of thousands of naira each month.
Some of the workers therefore appealed to the Organized Labour and relevant bodies to promptly rise to the occasion, stressing that if the current hike in the pump price and other adverse economic factors affecting the living standards of the majority of Nigerians are not addressed, the development could also take its toll on family life.
