One year after, Lagosians hail BRT, Fashola
For Emeka Onwubiko, the Bus Rapid Transport scheme (BRT), introduced by the Lagos State government last year still sounds too good to be true. His day starts at 4am when he gets off bed to prepare for the day. At 5am, he leaves his home in Ketu, a suburb of Lagos, for his office on the Lagos Island. By the time he arrives almost four hours later, he is tired and almost useless for the day.
Onwubiko’s two children, more than often relate with their father as a stranger. His wife of six years is not in any way different. The reason is obvious, the children hardly know him. On most days of the week, the children are hardly up before he departs for office, leaving him with little or no time to share with his family.
But all that is now history. He now spends quality time with his family. His children and wife are looking livelier just as Onwubiko himself now look chubby and spending more quality time with his family.
It is an open secret that the BRT is the secret of the new-found happiness in Onwubiko’s life. Today, as against his old wake up time of 4am, he gets out of bed at 6am, leaving him with additional two hours sleep everyday. The trip, which he hitherto made in rickety buses in four hours, he does now within 40 minutes.
Semiu experience in the hands of a molue conductor is a typical example of what commuters in Lagos go through before the introduction of the BRT. “I had an interview appointment to keep on the Island, so I left home dressed in a white shirt and tie. In my rush to meet up with the time, I got roughened up by the danfo bus conductor and other passengers. By the time I arrived at the interview venue, it was better I did not attend because I was looking a man from the jungle.”
Timothy Ajala who lives in Ikorodu still believes he is in dreamland. Though he has never traveled outside the country, he is already comparing his experience with the stories he’d heard about America and Europe’s transport system. “The BRT services are okay. What I like most about the bus is that it is faster than the molues. With the introduction of the buses, we now get to our destinations faster. Again another beautiful about the buses is the payment system. All you do is get your ticket, join the queue and then move.
While comparing the BRT with the London underground transport system, Mrs. Bada is full of praises for Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola for the BRT success. Her reason, she explained was the fact that the time she spent on her daily journey from her Owode home to Lagos Island where she works has been cut down by more than two hours, and has become more pleasurable. “With the BRT, there is nothing like go slow. The buses are quite comfortable and peaceful. The BRT bus is similar to the system in London where you board bus 45 0r 103 and so on. This is our own train system in Nigeria because there is nothing to delay you on the way. The governor has really done well in this regards and the only thing that we can do now on our part is to continue to pray to God on his behalf for more wisdom.”
The story is not too different for Segun Adeoye who lives in the Isolo area of the state but works on the island. His life, he confessed is beginning to take a new meaning. “You can imagine what we went through everyday before the introduction of the BRT. I resume work 8am. But because of the nature of our transportation system, I leave home everyday by 5am. Despite this, I still got to work late, tired and tattered on most days. But since the BRT started work, things have changed. Gone are the stress and tattered clothes.”
Like most projects of its nature in the past, not many believed the BRT would work when it commenced operation last March. The stakes were high and seemed insurmountable. Many questions were asked about it workability in a mega city like Lagos. But one year on, commuters, and indeed the entire residents of Lagos now know better and they are unanimous in the praise of the state government and the operator of the BRT.
To discerning observers, the success story is rooted in the government’s determination and concert effort to put in place an enduring transport system that would both serve as a two-prong solution to see to the comfort of commuters while eliminating the problem of holdups on Lagos roads.
Septuagenarian Bayo Adekoya is happy he is witnessing such magical turn-around in transportation in the city of Lagos. Aside the free flow of traffic and the peace he enjoys in the buses, Adekoya is impressed with the moderate fare being charged by the BRT. “The BRT is a miracle. A journey from Ikorodu to Fadeyi, which before now took me three hours, has suddenly been cut down to 30 minutes. The fare is quite moderate and affordable. There is nothing like fighting in the bus. All you do is present your ticket and take your seat.”
Prior the introduction of the BRT, the transportation situation in Lagos, was to say the least, chaotic. It reminds one of the late Afrobeat legend; Fela Anikulapo’s hit song, entitled: Suffering and Smiling. It was a case of 30 passengers sitting while 99 would either stand or find anything to cling to. The private operators and individual bus owners’ main and only concern was maximization of their profits. For them, no space should be spared.
Several efforts by successive administrations yielded little or no result as the problems deified all solutions. Popular bus stops like Oshodi, Mile Two and Ojota among others were controlled by men who made life difficult for the commuters.
Hence the need for Africa’s first Bus Rapid Transport scheme. Where else was best for the take off other than the city of Lagos. It however required adequate and well-laid plan which started with the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The plan started with the construction of dedicated lanes for the buses. The lanes, which run across designated areas like the Ikorodu Road, Mile 12, Ojota and other major roads, were meant to allow the buses unhindered movement from one point to the other.
Investigation by National Life has shown that the project has recorded unprecedented success in the last one year. A staff of LAMATA at the Mile 12 terminus, who pleaded anonymity, estimated the numbers of passengers that board bus for various destinations at the terminus to be over 100,000.
According to him, the passengers who have found the BRT buses more convenient and comfortable now prefer it to the popular molues and danfo buses. “We have more and more passengers everyday. I believe the people are beginning to realize that the BRT is better and more convenient than the danfo buses.”
Aside from making life better for commuters in Lagos, the BRT scheme has at the same time created jobs for thousands of hitherto jobless people across the state. When National Life visited the Ketu Maintenance office of the BRT, different kinds of artisans like mechanics and other allied and support staff were seen carrying out their various duties.
Taju, a mechanic was busy with repair work on one of the buses. He told National Life that he has acquired new experience since joining the service of the BRT. “I have attended many training programmes since coming here. This is something that you cannot get outside. I am now a better mechanic.”
In the same vein, the BRT scheme, which is collaboration between the state government and the private sector, is fast becoming the model for successful private sector/government collaboration. A source explained to National Life that the scheme involves the Lagos State government, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and some banks.
For Emeka Onwubiko, the Bus Rapid Transport scheme (BRT), introduced by the Lagos State government last year still sounds too good to be true. His day starts at 4am when he gets off bed to prepare for the day. At 5am, he leaves his home in Ketu, a suburb of Lagos, for his office on the Lagos Island. By the time he arrives almost four hours later, he is tired and almost useless for the day.
Onwubiko’s two children, more than often relate with their father as a stranger. His wife of six years is not in any way different. The reason is obvious, the children hardly know him. On most days of the week, the children are hardly up before he departs for office, leaving him with little or no time to share with his family.
But all that is now history. He now spends quality time with his family. His children and wife are looking livelier just as Onwubiko himself now look chubby and spending more quality time with his family.
It is an open secret that the BRT is the secret of the new-found happiness in Onwubiko’s life. Today, as against his old wake up time of 4am, he gets out of bed at 6am, leaving him with additional two hours sleep everyday. The trip, which he hitherto made in rickety buses in four hours, he does now within 40 minutes.
Semiu experience in the hands of a molue conductor is a typical example of what commuters in Lagos go through before the introduction of the BRT. “I had an interview appointment to keep on the Island, so I left home dressed in a white shirt and tie. In my rush to meet up with the time, I got roughened up by the danfo bus conductor and other passengers. By the time I arrived at the interview venue, it was better I did not attend because I was looking a man from the jungle.”
Timothy Ajala who lives in Ikorodu still believes he is in dreamland. Though he has never traveled outside the country, he is already comparing his experience with the stories he’d heard about America and Europe’s transport system. “The BRT services are okay. What I like most about the bus is that it is faster than the molues. With the introduction of the buses, we now get to our destinations faster. Again another beautiful about the buses is the payment system. All you do is get your ticket, join the queue and then move.
While comparing the BRT with the London underground transport system, Mrs. Bada is full of praises for Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola for the BRT success. Her reason, she explained was the fact that the time she spent on her daily journey from her Owode home to Lagos Island where she works has been cut down by more than two hours, and has become more pleasurable. “With the BRT, there is nothing like go slow. The buses are quite comfortable and peaceful. The BRT bus is similar to the system in London where you board bus 45 0r 103 and so on. This is our own train system in Nigeria because there is nothing to delay you on the way. The governor has really done well in this regards and the only thing that we can do now on our part is to continue to pray to God on his behalf for more wisdom.”
The story is not too different for Segun Adeoye who lives in the Isolo area of the state but works on the island. His life, he confessed is beginning to take a new meaning. “You can imagine what we went through everyday before the introduction of the BRT. I resume work 8am. But because of the nature of our transportation system, I leave home everyday by 5am. Despite this, I still got to work late, tired and tattered on most days. But since the BRT started work, things have changed. Gone are the stress and tattered clothes.”
Like most projects of its nature in the past, not many believed the BRT would work when it commenced operation last March. The stakes were high and seemed insurmountable. Many questions were asked about it workability in a mega city like Lagos. But one year on, commuters, and indeed the entire residents of Lagos now know better and they are unanimous in the praise of the state government and the operator of the BRT.
To discerning observers, the success story is rooted in the government’s determination and concert effort to put in place an enduring transport system that would both serve as a two-prong solution to see to the comfort of commuters while eliminating the problem of holdups on Lagos roads.
Septuagenarian Bayo Adekoya is happy he is witnessing such magical turn-around in transportation in the city of Lagos. Aside the free flow of traffic and the peace he enjoys in the buses, Adekoya is impressed with the moderate fare being charged by the BRT. “The BRT is a miracle. A journey from Ikorodu to Fadeyi, which before now took me three hours, has suddenly been cut down to 30 minutes. The fare is quite moderate and affordable. There is nothing like fighting in the bus. All you do is present your ticket and take your seat.”
Prior the introduction of the BRT, the transportation situation in Lagos, was to say the least, chaotic. It reminds one of the late Afrobeat legend; Fela Anikulapo’s hit song, entitled: Suffering and Smiling. It was a case of 30 passengers sitting while 99 would either stand or find anything to cling to. The private operators and individual bus owners’ main and only concern was maximization of their profits. For them, no space should be spared.
Several efforts by successive administrations yielded little or no result as the problems deified all solutions. Popular bus stops like Oshodi, Mile Two and Ojota among others were controlled by men who made life difficult for the commuters.
Hence the need for Africa’s first Bus Rapid Transport scheme. Where else was best for the take off other than the city of Lagos. It however required adequate and well-laid plan which started with the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The plan started with the construction of dedicated lanes for the buses. The lanes, which run across designated areas like the Ikorodu Road, Mile 12, Ojota and other major roads, were meant to allow the buses unhindered movement from one point to the other.
Investigation by National Life has shown that the project has recorded unprecedented success in the last one year. A staff of LAMATA at the Mile 12 terminus, who pleaded anonymity, estimated the numbers of passengers that board bus for various destinations at the terminus to be over 100,000.
According to him, the passengers who have found the BRT buses more convenient and comfortable now prefer it to the popular molues and danfo buses. “We have more and more passengers everyday. I believe the people are beginning to realize that the BRT is better and more convenient than the danfo buses.”
Aside from making life better for commuters in Lagos, the BRT scheme has at the same time created jobs for thousands of hitherto jobless people across the state. When National Life visited the Ketu Maintenance office of the BRT, different kinds of artisans like mechanics and other allied and support staff were seen carrying out their various duties.
Taju, a mechanic was busy with repair work on one of the buses. He told National Life that he has acquired new experience since joining the service of the BRT. “I have attended many training programmes since coming here. This is something that you cannot get outside. I am now a better mechanic.”
In the same vein, the BRT scheme, which is collaboration between the state government and the private sector, is fast becoming the model for successful private sector/government collaboration. A source explained to National Life that the scheme involves the Lagos State government, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and some banks.
By Segun Ajiboye
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