OYELAMI ABDUL-AZEEZ ABDULAI

I am an indigene of Ibadan North-West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria, and was born on December 26th, 1970. I am a secondary school certificate holder, having completed my secondary education at Aperin Oniyere Commercial Grammar School, Orita-Aperin Ibadan, Oyo State. I am happily married with kids and have hobbies in reading, writing and sports.

Below are my work experiences in the order of engagements:

Lister Flour Nig. Company (2000 – 2008)

The now-defunct Lister Flour Nig Company is an indigenous food processing company located within the city of Ibadan in the late 1990s. The company produces flour and other related products. It had an active workforce of 50–200 at the time of my active employment.

I worked for the company as a driver for 7 years, spanning from 2000 – 2008. I was first employed as the chairman’s comfort driver for 3 years, with the following responsibilities:

1. Bringing the chairman to and from the office: On every working day, that is Monday through Friday, I am expected to report at the chairman’s house before 7 a.m. to pick him up for the day’s job from his house, and I will have to drop him at his house at the close of the working day, pack the car before leaving for my house. This is something I do every day except for some weekends when he has other functions to attend.

2. Take and bring him back from meetings outside the company: As a personal driver to the chairman, I have to always take the chairman to and from meetings, often outside the company. Some of these meetings happen once or twice a month.

3. Take and bring the chairman to and from functions or events within and outside the company: Some of the functions or events I convey to the chairman are sometimes personal, but as a personal driver, I am expected to meet the needs of the chairman I am assigned to.

4. Run special errands as directed by the chairman: The special errands include picking up a business client from the airport, dispatching letters or memos to associates or conveying his assistant on special assignments I did diligently without complaints.

The challenge the company faced before my employment was that it was spending more money meeting the needs of the chairman. Before now, the company hired drivers on a contract basis to drive the chairman to and from his business dealings. Often, these hired drivers showed up late or disappointed the company, thereby costing the company time and money. The chairman, on the other hand, expends energy as he often drives himself to and from the office, which most times results in excessive waste of useful time and energy. My employment was able to provide solutions to the company and also to the chairman because I always showed up on time and, when needed, helped the company minimise the cost of hiring contract drivers.

While working as a personal driver to the chairman reduced the time I spent connecting with my family because working as a personal driver demands that I wake up early before 6 a.m. to prepare for work as my house is not very close to the chairman’s house or the company. The closing time of work is not certain because I am expected to drop the chairman off before leaving. This often makes me return to my family very late in the evening as the chairman is usually the last to leave the office. Another challenge I had connecting with my family while working as a personal driver is the fact that my weekends are not guaranteed because the chairman seldom requests that I drive him to functions that are sometimes not work-related.

Though the pay was not enough to meet the needs of myself and my family, I was grateful that it was always regular and was paid on time. The high point of being a personal driver to the chairman was that I was exposed to learning on the job; my driving skills improved meticulously, and I was fortunate to meet important people and visit important places. Moreover, I was fortunate to receive firsthand information about what was happening around and within the company.

Within the fourth year of my employment, I was reassigned to work as the company driver. I was given a mini truck and was expected to work with other drivers in the logistics department. I was not communicated the reason why I was reassigned, but I ensured I carried out my duties diligently and effectively in line with the company’s policies and the expectations of the company chairman. I served in the logistics department of the company until my willful resignation from the company after seven meritorious years in late December of 2008.

My responsibilities changed after I was reassigned to the logistics department, Below are the responsibilities I carried out within the 4 years of service in the department of logistics.

1. Convey raw materials from warehouses to the company: The company, being a manufacturing company, buys raw materials from warehouses and farms for our products. The logistics team which I was a part is saddled with the responsibility of conveying these raw materials from the farm or warehouses to the company. These activities happen twice or three times a month, depending on the demands.

2. Deliver products to customer warehouse and return excess or damaged products to the company warehouse: The company offers after-sales service to some of its biggest customers, which means that we, the logistics team, will have to deliver the products bought by these customers to their warehouses or retail shops

3. Convey products from one company depot to another: The company deals with flour and other related products, which are always in high demand. The company owns three warehouses within Ibadan and two outside the city. It was our responsibility within the logistics department to periodically supply finished products to these warehouses.

The high point of this reassignment was that it gave me more time to spend with my family, unlike when I was the personal driver to the chairman. Another was the flexibility it gave me to explore other cities within and outside the state. The only disadvantage I think I can remember was the information I was no longer privy to and the important people I was no longer privileged to meet. The remuneration didn’t change much; only the workload did.

Pacesetter Transport Services (PTS) (2013–date)

The next job I undertook after resigning from Lister Flour Nig. Company was PTS. I started the job sometime in August 2013 and am still on it to date.

Pacesetter Transport Services is an Oyo state-owned bus operation service that serves both domestic, commercial, and industrial clients. PTS caters for clients in different sectors and with many requirements. The services Pacesetter Transport Services provides can be categorised into corporate services, which involve commuting workers in corporate organisations from home to work, travel to and from conferences and seminars, etc. School services, which involve school bus hires, school trips, excursions, and other outings within and outside the state, Holiday getaway services include transport arrangements for long and short holiday trips. Wedding services, such as organised transport for guests to and from the wedding event. Pacesetter Transport Services also has experienced drivers for interstate mass transit, tours, and large trips within and outside the country.

The essence of giving background information on what PTS is and what it does is for clarity so that you can better understand my story and appreciate the type of job I do.

The work environment at Pacesetter Transport Services is very dissimilar from what I experienced in my previous employment. I work as an interstate commercial bus driver for Pacesetter Transport Services, and I must confess the experience I got from my previous workplace is a healthy advantage in this current job.

The responsibilities I carry out in this engagement are similar to those that operate in regular mass transit parks, except that PTS is more organised, better managed, larger, and better structured. The responsibilities I carry include the following:

1. Interstate Travels: Interstate travel is one of the categories of services Pacesetter Transport Services offer. With its many parks scattered all over the State, as a PTS bus driver, I commute travellers in and out of the state, especially to the State capital, Ibadan. I work between Monday and Saturday as a family man, and the working condition is programmed so that I work two days on the road and one day off. This is to ensure that I have more time to rest and for my family, too.

2. Luggage and Logistics: Aside from conveying human beings in and out of the state and country, Pacesetter Transport Services also specialises in logistics services. The company, due to its efficiency in meeting and exceeding customer expectations, has grown to have many loyal customers who will always prefer to have PTS handle their logistics against all others. When there are many interstate items or packages to deliver, the company assigns me to handle the delivery.

3. Tours and large trips: Pacesetter Transport Services is one of the best options to choose when considering an option of good bus transport company for your tours, large business trips, intercontinental travels and the like. Since joining the company, I must say this is the part I enjoy most. Though not as frequent as the regular interstate travels, PTS tour trips may come twice a month and the large trips may come once or twice depending on the season.

The challenges the company had before I joined included a shortage of experienced drivers. My previous work experience improved my driving efficiency because the company made sure we had monthly driving reassessments. This driving assessment exercise is outsourced to a driving competence company that takes us on a 3-day test to certify that our driving proficiency improves and that we adopt new driving and road regulations to ensure safety and safer practices. This periodic assessment from my previous job has helped my driving efficiency on the new job, and I can proudly say that I am among the most experienced drivers in Pacesetter Transport Services. Another challenge I proffered a solution to is the issue of accountability. Because it is a government-owned transport service, most drivers often don’t show up when due which negatively impacts the productivity of the company. With someone like me and a few others, the company can rest assured that we will always be available and committed to the job.

Talking about how the job affects my connection with my family, I must say that being in the transport service industry affects the time one spends with his family. Let me start by comparing what the experience was like in my previous job to what it is now. In my previous job especially during the time I was assigned as the personal driver to the chairman, I barely had any time to spend with my family. I left home as early as 6:20 am to beat early morning traffic. I must arrive at the chairman’s house before 7:15 am because he must be at the office before 7:45 am for daily brief meetings with supervisors and line managers. The company closes by 5:30 pm., but the chairman leaves the office sometimes at 7:30 pm or 8 pm in most cases and I will have to take him home before I leave for mine. My weekends also were not guaranteed because I often received calls from the manager on Sundays to come and pick him up at a function which is most times work unrelated. My experience in PTS is very different because I work two days stretch and one day to rest for interstate travels, for tours and large trips, I am expected to go for only two trips in a week.

I will say that I have more time to spend with my family on weekends because the job schedule is now more predictable and the company is very considerate to ensure drivers have more time to spend with their families. The company makes sure drivers assigned for tours and large trips don’t stay too long away from their families. For large trips, for example, the company sends two drivers on the same route; the first driver will take the passengers or clients on the trip and the other passenger brings them back at the end of the trip. The one that takes them on the trip will return to his family following the other company bus.

The high point of working with Pacesetter Transport service is their vision and commitment to providing a safe and memorable travel experience for their customers. The buses are well taken care of and the parks are comfortable enough.

The reason I consider beginning a new job or having a new working experience is the poor remuneration. Even though it is a government-owned company, the take-home pay from Pacesetter Transport Services hardly takes the drivers home. The cost of living is on the high side but the salary has remained the same since the end of last year. We have communicated this displeasure to the chairman of the company but he only keeps promising but never has he fulfilled any. Many drivers are threatening to resign before the end of this year if nothing is done to review their salaries.

Another reason why I would consider a change to a new job is the poor health package. My previous job had a comprehensive health package for its employees including the drivers. The health package covers my health and 3 of my immediate dependencies. This is to say that the health of me and my family was fully catered for, which saved me costs. But in PTS, the health package doesn’t include any dependency, coupled with the little salary I earn which is barely enough to take care of the home and talk more of their health.

I need to experience new challenges in a new job beyond what I am getting in PTS. I need to improve my skills beyond driving. I want to serve in new capacities and also explore new opportunities in different areas of life. Lastly, I want to give my family and my children the kind of life they deserve.

I hope you find the short story of my work experience worthwhile. I must say thank you for reading and for this invaluable opportunity to share my experiences