By Shuaibu Sharifat
It is a familiar wait for Adeshina Saheedat Adeola most mornings: standing at the bus stop, watching the Amana Ride bus fill, one passenger at a time, toward its full complement of eighteen, before it can move. Not long ago, she says, she wouldn’t have had to wait this long.
“Obviously, before the fare hike, it was more comfortable and faster. You could board from the bus stop to school without waiting for the full 18 passengers to load, which saved me a lot of time. But now, because of the hike, I have to wait for the 18 passengers to get full. So I end up getting to class late,” said Adeola, a Mass Communication student.
Amana Ride, a dedicated transport service at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) offering female-only buses, safe campus shuttles, and tricycles, recently raised its fare from ₦200 to ₦300. The ₦100 increase has stirred frustration among many female students who rely on the service for daily movement around campus.
The hike lands at a difficult time for many students already stretching thin budgets. Nigeria’s headline inflation stood at 15.91 percent in June 2026, with transport costs remaining one of the largest single pressures on household and student spending nationwide, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
For many UDUS students, that pressure compounds an already-strained monthly allowance: NELFUND’s federal upkeep support, the main source of living expenses for thousands of beneficiaries, has provided as little as ₦20,000 a month, an amount students have described as inadequate against the current cost of living, even before accounting for a rise in a single daily transport fare.
Amana Ride was established to provide safe, efficient, and accessible transportation tailored to female students’ needs, according to Dr. Shadi Sabeh, the service’s founder, speaking at its launch.
While many female students were initially receptive to the service’s mission, the ₦100 increase has sparked mixed reactions. Pen Press UDUS spoke to more than 20 regular Amana Ride users; some praised the service for its comfort and safety, while others said the new ₦300 fare undercuts the accessibility it was built to guarantee.
Adeola described the new fare as unfair given the alternative available to students. “We all know the regular bus is ₦200 and that is a fair price for students. ₦300 eventually made me stop entering it. We can’t have two different buses conveying students to school, with one at ₦200 and the other at ₦300, just because one is for ladies and the other is for both genders. I would rather take the one I can afford, regardless of the gender difference,” she said.
Still, she was careful to credit the service for what it offers. “We should praise them for the comfort and compatibility, not just rant about the high hike. They can do better,” she said.
Salahudeen Iyiola Taye, a 300-level Microbiology student, said the price is not fair. As a student who plans finances carefully, Iyiola said they would rather take the regular bus to protect their budget.
Tijani Aminat, a 100-level English student, described the increase as unfair to students already surviving on tight budgets. “I was surprised when I heard it’s now 300. I had to take the lesser option because I can’t afford the increase,” she said.
Zakariyau Zainaba, a 500-level student of the Faculty of Agriculture, said the fare should not exceed what the regular bus charges. “It’s not fair. Since it is for students, I think the money should be equal to or less than the general bus, because the aim is to make things easier for female students,” she said.
She added that she would rather use the ₦200 bus. “They are in the same place, so I will rather take the ₦200 bus,” she said, urging Amana Ride to reconsider. “It will affect them seriously as far as students are concerned. The bus stop wasn’t the destination, meaning we still have to take another bike. We students work with calculations, and that will make us not take their bus.”
Pen Press made repeated attempts to reach Amana Ride’s founder for comment on the reason behind the fare increase, without success. The service’s coordinator was also unreachable by the time of filing. During a visit to the park, one driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed to relay Pen Press’s request for comment to the founder.
Many riders say they are hoping Amana Ride will revisit its fare structure to reflect both the realities of campus life and the mission the service was founded on.