Enugu State-born grass to grace mass transit mogul and Chairman of Peace Mass Transit (PMT) Limited, one of the leading transport companies in Nigeria, Sam Onyishi Maduka has given an indication of taking the firm to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) very soon. In an interview published by The Sun, he revealed that “I want to have a minimum of 10,000 workers before I retire. My children and staff are there always there to continue. God willing, I will like to take the business to the Stock Exchange”.
Analysts say if he achieves the feat, PMT will be the second mass transit group after ABC transport to hit the bourse.
On how he has been funding his business without any form of loans, he averred that “I don’t believe in getting loans. I have people that give me buses without any interest. Chief Mike in Victoria Island discovered us over 19 years ago and has been supplying us buses. His post-dated cheques have never bounced for once. Yes, another name for Sam Maduka is integrity.
Giving further insights on his management strategy and market share growth, Maduka made it clear that “ I am an ethical operator in the sense that I mind my business. I don’t do anything to undermine other people’s businesses. I do my competition by working on the roadworthiness of my vehicles by making my firm friendly and I believe in making money through turnover”.
“That is when my profit is low and my turnover is high. I do my competition on the road while some people do theirs on the social media. When your vehicle is involved in an accident, they go and edit it ten times and use it as breaking news. Every day, they post our vehicles as being involved in accidents. We have suffered a lot of social media campaigns.
On his business edge over others, PMT boss explained that “The edge I have is that my customers believe in us, despite all this social media campaign. It is because these people have tested our service for many years and they know who we are. We are not going to join them in this social media campaign because if we do, we are going to kill this sector”.
“We are the largest flight operator in Nigeria. It can be investigated. By the time you check Lagos, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Ibadan, Kano, Kaduna, Abuja, then you know who is who in Nigeria. That is why I am encouraging the Federal Road Safety Corps to come up with a clear term of assessing safety of transport companies and publish it yearly.
“The road safety officials are trying but I want them to do more by coming out with a clear way of assessing transport companies. I delivered 30,000 passengers safely everyday and out of our 30,000 buses, we have over 2,000 everyday on the highway. Each bus carries 15 passengers and 15 passengers’ times 2,000 buses give you 30, 000. That is simple arithmetic. I deliver 60, 000 trips every month and we are still the safest.
“There are ways that these things can be checked. Anybody that cannot guarantee safety should leave the business. We have to use our local drivers and the effect of inflation is affecting everybody. It is even difficult recovering your investment in the country today. If the condition of the roads should continue, I tell you, there is no road transporter in this country that would be able to buy just one bus. The prices of vehicles have doubled and depreciation has increased due to the bad roads. Cost of spare parts has also doubled, Sam Maduka, PMT owner noted.
