The Honourable Lagos State Commissioner for transportation, Prof Dele Badejo recently spoke to the ONN crew involving the Publisher and the Society Editor in his office at Alausa, Ikeja. The university don cum politician highlighted a number of issues including the famous LASTMA officials and the operations of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system. Excertps:

 Would you say the journey so far has gotten to a state of Eldorado?

Obviously, the whole idea of BRT project started about a year and a half ago, the essence was to re-invigorate the comatose state of mass transit system in the city. It is a World Bank concept which Lagos State believes in and all over the world, there are only three countries where the BRT system has worked; Lagos happened to be the only country in the whole of Africa. BRT started with 126 buses and as at today, we have over two hundred buses; over ten million people were carried in the first 100 days. The challenges are how we can be running an operation along the corridor and at the same time, keep the road maintenance norms. But thank God, the roads are being re-surfaced. The most important thing is that the project has been very successful, highly welcome and highly acceptable. However, we still need to do more in the area of making the buses neat, in the area of improving the drivers driving culture, and also general public relations.

Lagos is known to be a state of aquatic splendor and some experts are of the opinion that it would be cheaper investing more on water transportation. What is your take on this?

Thank you very much, I don’t know how much you’re familiar with the ten point agenda of this administration. One of the agenda clearly identifies road and infrastructural development, the other one is intra-modern integrated transportation development in which water is identified as a very significant component that would improve the mobility need of the people.  To that effect, we sought for public private partnership programme in the development of water transportation. Having examined the legal framework, we went ahead to push forward a bill that would pave way for Lagos Inland Water Way Authority. Secondly, we have started to identify some corridors as well as building jetties for investors to come in. Presently, the state is developing Badore terminal, Ipakodo terminal and Oworonsoki terminal.

The activities of touts at motor parks are fast becoming a pain in the neck of commuters, what is your ministry doing to curb these?

There is no where you don’t have touting, it is common in all major cities across the world; it is one of the challenges you face as a mega-city. Some people come to Lagos believing that when they get to Lagos; all their problems will be solved only to find themselves in a fix. Now, with increasing modernities in the transport sector, there will be gradual move away of touting in the industry. There is something we call substitution by elimination, if you eliminate something you must substitute it with something else. If you don’t, what you think you have eliminated will soon come back. All our nooks are being redesigned and our parks are being concessioned out for private organizations to manage; the private sectors are coming in to build conventional infrastructural terminal and this will make our parks more organized. The Ojota Park has been concessioned out while Mile-2 is being re-appraised. By the time the re-appraisal stage is over, we’ll get there. That as it may, the state has also established a micro-finance bank and skill acquisition centres for people to go in and learn a skill. All these will gradually fizzle-out touting activities in the state.

Lagos State Command of FRSC sent us a press release alleging an incursion by your ministry in the issuance of drivers license, what is your response on this? 

I don’t want to comment on that issue now because the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Umar Musa Yar` Adua is currently intervening in the matter

Sir, what are you doing to bring to control, the incessant clashes of LASTMA officials with commercial bus drivers?

As the commissioner of transport, my tenure has not recorded any crisis whatsoever, what I know is that if there is a sectors of transport operators that constantly violates rules, it is the commercial bus drivers, and because LASTMA is a law enforcement agency and in an attempt to contravene them, there’s disagreement; I don’t think such disagreement should be regarded as crisis. It is very unfortunate, the slightest clash on the highway, people attribute it to LASTMA. This is because out of all the law enforcement agencies, only LASTMA is visible. Please, use your medium to help us educate people.

Lastly, what do you think an average Lagos commuter can do to contribute positively towards the responsibilities of your ministry?

Attitudinal changes, obey traffic rules, obey speed limit and respect traffic regulatory authorities. We also want them to know that Lagos has very serious robust plan for the development of transport sector. Alternative road from Ikorodu to Isheri is being considered. And the expansion of Badagry express road to a ten lane road is on; the divide has been done already. The BRT we are talking about now and we’ve just concluded the phase one. We are working on other phases especially from Apapa to Lagos Island, expressway to Marina and so on; dualisation of Lekki expressway is on going and all these are meant to ease the transportation problem in the state.