Lagos is a state in the south western part of Nigeria. We describe Lagos as the economic capital of Nigeria having previously been the seat of Nigerian government before the capital was moved to Abuja. Lagos can also be described as the melting point. It is home to all forms of Nigeria of various ethnic origin. Therefore, we can refer to Lagos as the New York of Nigeria. The capital of Lagos is Ikeja and the state historically was divided into 5 divisions. Am sure we have heard of “IBILE” use freely in Lagos. Those are the acronyms of the five divisions of Lagos. The IBILIE stands for Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, and Epe.
Lagos has a land size of about 1,171 square kilometres. The population of Lagos is in excess of 15million according to the latest projection since we have not had a credible census in recent times. This translates to about 12,000 per square kilometres. That accounted for the competition that we currently see in Lagos today.
One peculiar issue with Lagos is the perennial traffic problem in Lagos. Successive administrator in Lagos have tried to find a lasting solution to this problem but it seem this problems has defied all solutions. Lagos transportation systems has evolved over time. I remember the era of “Molue” in Lagos. The Molue was a mass transit system operated by individuals in the transport sector. The buses are usually diesel powered Mercedes truck with passenger capacity of about 48 seat. Those days, people are also allowed to stand in the bus. I remember the joke those days of 59standing and 48 sitting. They usually ply all route especially the populated areas; from Orile to Bariga, Ikeja to Oshodi and so on.
After the era of Molue, came the notorious “Danfo”. These are small version of Molue and are usually painted in yellow (yellow is the official colour of Lagos transportation). This mode of transportation has defied all odds and they are still available till today. They are mostly operated by the private sectors and cooperatives. All form of negativities has been associated with this mode of transportation. The Danfos are dreaded by the private car owners. They drive recklessly and at some point, they are notorious for the popular slogan of “one chance”. One chance is where a passenger is robbed in those Danfos. Some criminals actually use the buses to rob unsuspecting passengers.
Just very recently, the government has taken more interest in the transportation sector. Government introduced the popular BRT buses and even went ahead to create special carriageway for them. This mode of transportation has moved Lagosian from one spot to another. With BRT travel time has reduced significantly. Just very recently, the Lagos government launched the “Blue Line” rail. This railway will move passenger from Okokomaiko to Marina. This is a significant feat in the history of Lagos transportation system. The government has also assured the citizen that the “Red line” which will move passenger from Agbado to Marina will also come on board very soon.
With all these initiatives from both the private and public sector, I feel there will be more improvement in the transportation problem in Lagos. A journey of 30minutes in Lagos can span several hours but I believe that once all these initiatives are fully implemented, this will reduce significantly. At least we can have a bit of sanity on Lagos roads!
SGD
