Category: Transportation

Frythub, a leader in automotive industry, has launched its innovative Cross-Border Auto Procurement and Shipping Service to revolutionise how vehicles are acquired and imported from Canada to Nigeria.

The platform, according to Frythub Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bolaji Ojo, is set to empower individuals and businesses in Nigeria with seamless access to diverse range of automobiles from Canada’s reputable dealers and certified private sellers.

Ojo noted that Nigerian automotive market has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, with rising demand for international car procurement, adding that traditional methods of importing vehicles have often been plagued by complexities, uncertainties, and hidden costs.

He stated that with introduction of their cutting-edge service, frythub aims to overcome these challenges and pave the way for a new era of cross-border auto trading.

Read Also: Mass, cheap transportation as palliative for fuel subsidy removal

“Frythub is a pioneering force in the automotive procurement and shipping domain. With a passion for innovation and customer-centricity, we strive to redefine cross-border auto trading, empowering customers with a seamless and rewarding experience.”

He however said some key advantages of the Cross-Border Auto Procurement and Shipping Service include extensive vehicle selection, seamless procurement process, transparent pricing, secure and reliable shipping, dedicated customer support,

“Frythub’s Cross-Border Auto Procurement and Shipping Service is poised to foster mutually beneficial trade relationships between Canadian sellers and Nigerian buyers. We envision this initiative to revolutionize the landscape of cross-border auto trade, opening up new horizons for the global automotive market.”

Acquiring second-hand vehicles is a common practice among Nigerians due to factors such as affordability and availability. However, it is crucial customers are aware of their rights and the legal framework surrounding the purchase of used vehicles. Here are seven things to consider before you acquire second-hand vehicles: 

1: Right to safe and roadworthy vehicles:

As per the Nigerian Road Traffic Act and the National Road Traffic Regulations, consumers have the right to purchase vehicles that are deemed safe and roadworthy. The seller is obligated to ensure that the vehicle meets the necessary safety standards. If a vehicle does not meet the required standard, the consumer has the right to request necessary repairs or a refund.

2: Full disclosure of vehicle information

According to the Nigerian Consumer Protection Council (CPC), sellers must provide full disclosure of accurate information regarding the vehicle’s condition, history, mileage, and any previous accidents. The consumer is entitled to access all relevant information before making a purchasing decision.

3: Thorough vehicle inspection: The Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) Act empowers consumers to request a thorough inspection of the vehicle before purchase. This inspection ensures compliance with safety standards and verifies the accuracy of information provided by the seller. Consumers must seek professional vehicle inspection services to avoid potential issues.

Read Also: Auto dealers decry hike in price of second-hand vehicles

4. Insurance coverage and validity: Under the Nigerian Insurance Act, it is mandatory for all vehicles to have valid insurance coverage. Consumers are advised to verify the insurance status and validity of the used vehicle before finalizing the purchase. This will protect them from potential legal and financial liabilities.

5: Warranty and Guarantees: The Nigerian Consumer Protection Council (CPC) mandates that sellers provide warranties and guarantees for used vehicles. These warranties should cover a specified duration and protect consumers against manufacturing defects and mechanical faults that may arise after the purchase.

6. Trusted sellers and fraud prevention

Consumers should exercise caution when purchasing second-hand vehicles to avoid scams and fraudulent activities. It is advisable to buy from reputable and licensed dealers or private sellers with a proven track record. This ensures compliance with regulations and reduces the risk of falling victim to fraud.

7. Consumer protection remedies

In cases where consumers encounter deceitful practices or substandard vehicles, they can seek remedies under the Nigerian Consumer Protection Council (CPC). This regulatory body is responsible for enforcing consumer rights and can mediate disputes, provide legal assistance, and initiate legal actions against violators.

Porter Novelli has introduced a new global network model in response to evolving client needs – The Connected Core. 

The model enables the agency to cherry pick talent across the world, creating a centre of excellence for each of their clients into which they can plug in additional expertise when relevant and as required.

Porter Novelli EMEA Managing Director, Fenella Grey said: “With the rise in volatility in customer buying behaviours and increasing pressure on measuring impact due to the cost-of-living crisis, it became obvious that we needed to create something much more agile to cater for these global seismic shifts. Our Connected Core ‘lever system’, enables clients to quickly plug in (and out) expertise in accordance with priority markets and needs.”

Dariela Roffe Rakind, Director, Europe and Global Public Relations, Almond Board of California say: 

“Working across four European markets, often with common strategic goals, we need to be efficient and agile. We want to be able to plug in expertise and individual strengths when needed, whether that’s strategic support or market knowledge, creative or data insights. But we also recognise that we get great work done when we really know each other as individuals so at the heart of the way we work is a core team that really understands our business.”

Read Also: Restoring trust in mobile networks for digital economy

Within the model, there are four capability cohorts which pull together talent from across the world representing key strategic areas: Purpose & Impact, Corporate Counsel, Brand Growth and Employee engagement. At the heart is the Strategic Services hub, providing world-class content, production, strategy, planning and data-led expertise.  The Porter Novelli value proposition is built around doing business better and part of this means being able to communicate at the speed of culture. So, as trends and intelligence come in from the markets (signal IN), we apply our own data-led intelligence and expertise to deliver daily insights and external comms programmes (signal OUT).

Jessica Mullan, Director of International Communications at Blueprint Medicines said: “We are fiercely committed to our work, so we need a partner who cares about our mission as much as we do. We also need a partner who is three steps ahead of us – moving with agility and speed to help us capture opportunities to strengthen our value proposition across Europe. The Porter Novelli team does this and more.”

The proposed new road tax appears to be ill-conceived and ill-timed, going by the perception of motorists, experts, academia and other stakeholders, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

What do you know of the Proof of Ownership Certificate (POC) for vehicles in Nigeria? If you believe it is a certificate obtained once in the life of any vehicle upon purchase, to affirm you as the rightful owner, you are perhaps of the old school.

That perspective is about to change. On June 27, this year, the Federal Government purportedly announced in Lagos, that the POC is annualised, i.e. vehicle owners are to renew their ownership yearly.

Announcing the development at a press briefing, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Abduhafeez Toriola, said the initiative, coming from the Joint Tax Board, is to help drive safety and security, two cardinal factors sacrosanct to vehicle administration. He said Lagos State would start enforcing the policy in July.

Explaining the policy thrust, Toriola said the policy, which would be enforced nationwide is in accordance with the National Road Traffic Regulation 2012 (as amended), No 101, Vol. 99; Section 73 (1), which states “there shall be proof of ownership certificate for all registered vehicles. This is further reinforced by section 73 (6) that the commission – FRSC, shall establish and maintain a central database for vehicles and drivers for the federation.”

Toriola further explained that the POC would contain vital information like the vehicles registration details, such as the licence number plate, model, year of manufacture in addition to owner’s name and address for a reliable nationwide statistics of vehicular population and reduce to the minimum cases of theft and boost recovery of stolen vehicles among others.

The beneficiaries of this drive ultimately, are FRSC, state governments and the consultants who proposed the initiative.

With the Federal Roads Safety Commission’s (FRSC) claim that over 12 million number plates have been registered since the introduction of the new number plates in 2011. At N1,000 per vehicle, the JTB hopes to cash in about N12 billion to be shared as Toriola confirmed by the States, FRSC and the consultants, with the latter being the greatest beneficiary.

At their best, earning N500 only per vehicle, none of the states could get anything close to N1.5 billion even if all vehicles in their domain complied, an informed analyst Andrew Ogunderu said at the weekend.

Though the Federal Government has been mum since the news broke, Nigerians who are at the receiving end, have been riling at the new policy which flies in the face of a slew of Executive Orders by President Bola Tinubu to free the economy from the claws of double taxation and make living more bearable for Nigerians.

Describing the new annualised POC as laughable, Mr. Paul Achulor, a media executive, said the Federal Government would soon start asking Nigerians to renew their marriage certificates yearly before they could be legally recognised as married couples.

A Lagos-based driver Mr. Muyiwa Lawal wondered why the government would introduce another POC alongside an existing one. “This is a law that does not make sense,” he told The Nation.

Former Dean School of Transportation and Logistics, Lagos State University (LASU-SOTL) Prof. Samuel Odewunmi also wondered why Nigeria needs another POC while the yearly renewal of vehicle licence serves the same purpose.

The don described the policy as ill-timed at a time when motorists are reeling under the crushing weight of fuel subsidy removal. It is capable of painting the Tinubu administration as “insensitive”, he said.

Odewunmi challenged the Federal Government to stop it as it did the purported energy tariff increase as the collection of new N1,000 per vehicle yearly would largely create ‘food’ for the consultants. 

General Manager Adroit Metering Services Limited, Olusesan Okunade, described the new POC as exploitative. Soon, he said, a state like Lagos would be demanding proof of ownership for Cof O yearly like the Land Use Charge.

Okunade, who was part of a panel that examined the POC initiative on national television recently, said: “When I heard the Permanent Secretary talking of databases, I wondered where the FRSC had been logging those data collected from motorists who have been using cars for over two decades. Don’t forget that when you sell your vehicle, the new owner is obliged to obtain a proof of ownership from the government, as the new owner. Subsequently, yearly, he renews his licence.

“In fact, the last that we heard from the government is that if you are selling your vehicle, don’t give out the plate number because it is personal and traceable to you.

“If you add the new cost of insurance jerking the cost of third party from N5,000 to N15,000, to this and other costs of other documents, you need to have with that of fuelling your vehicle, you will realise that owning a vehicle is becoming a burden and from the point of vehicle administration, the government itself is killing the economy.”

For road safety specialist, Mr Patrick Adenusi, the basis for pushing the new road tax is so difficult to swallow. “Nigeria leaders have a thinking problem and nothing else. Rather than FRSC increasing enforcement and compliance, the JTB is rallying states’ revenue  officers to tax Nigerians, Adenusi said.

Corroborating Adenusi, former Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Kayode Opeifa said the JTB has no business dabbling into the transportation sector.

Opeifa, who is the Executive Director of Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CenSMAD), said the essence of road tax is to raise funds to address the challenges in the transport sector.

According to him, all over the world, revenue from transport tax is usually sizable. In the City of New York, United States, money that comes  from road fines constitute a major part of funding, so there is nothing wrong in road taxes.”

Opeifa opined that in Nigeria, vehicle administration is a residual matter and largely it was an offshoot of Asiwaju’s advocacy who established the Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), which started the administration of vehicle licence and it was there that the started the number plates production at LASTMA Yard at Oshodi. Lagos State was the originator of modern MVAA in Nigeria. The late President Umar Yar’Adua and his Attorney General Aondaka agreed that this matter is a residual matter. In the United States, if you leave the city of New York and you go to Connecticut, your document would be valid only for six months after which you are expected to change the number plate, and your ID Card. Once your ID Card changed, your Plate number must change to your place of residence and that was the reform Lagos brought into the MVAA, that if you come from Abuja or Kano, as soon as you get to Lagos, you must change your plate number. That is a source of revenue itself.

Continuing, Opeifa said, in 2009 similar argument ensued on drivers licence and in 2010 a unified driver’s licence started. In 2008, Lagos State established five licence centres, established five drivers’ institutes. Lagos ensured that vehicle and drivers licence are not what you collect on the road as they are security document.

Opeifa wondered why the promoters of the new POC would tell Nigerians that there’s no data base in Nigeria. “That is not correct,” he says, adding, “except it is destroyed, Nigeria’s drivers and vehicle database is manned by the Federal Road Safety Corps.”

“When they also say we have only so much number of vehicles on the road, that is not the way to account for the number of actual vehicles on the road, there is what you call the annual vehicle renewal, that is the one they are questioning that people don’t come back to renew. If people don’t come back to renew, we should put in processes and systems. How come in Lagos at least 1.2 million people come back to renew. From what we gather, they said only Lagos and Abuja have records. FRSC does not have a database, they should ask them that question.”

When I joined FCT as Transport Secretary, I found a database there. The issue is we don’t upload our data on time, that could be true, but it has improved. “If you have people not coming to renew, put up processes. We did it in Lagos, it worked. If a driver violated any law, they would ask him to produce his tax document, before he would be able to procure a renewal as everything is tied up with the LIRS as MVAA shares their data with LIRS. To make it worse most states Board of internal revenue, not MVAA or VIS and that is why the National Council of Transport had consistently requested that all states establish a transport ministry, or at worst MVAA not an Inland Revenue managing transport.

He said the inland revenue would only focus on revenue, while the MVAA would add safety and security to revenue, that is why many states have done so now. In Abuja, we have the Directorate of Vehicle Inspection Services, in Lagos, it is the MVAA or the Ministry of Transportation that does that. This happens in many other states.

According to Opeifa, when you buy a car, the law says you are entitled to a proof of ownership, they also give you a plate number. The plate number contains the vehicle colour, the vehicle brand and the year of make of the vehicle. That is what they called proof of ownership for you to prove that you are still the owner of that vehicle, you go to the MVAAto renew your vehicle licence to operate on the road. The moment you have done that, you have gone back to the database. That is what they say people don’t come back for. If people don’t come back for that there are many reasons: poverty, there are not enough processes and there is no enforcement. When you have this scenario, the option is not to tax the people again, because the cycle would repeat itself.

For him, if the issue is a data issue, approach the Federal Government who collects a certain percentage of the road tax to release the money to maintain the database. That is what FRSC should do, not calling a meeting of the joint tax board. That is desirable, but it has no legal basis. The National Council of Transport as far as it is advisory should be the one to push this.

He said the number of stolen vehicles that can not be traced cannot be that significant as to warrant taxing the entire country. How much would it cost to build a new database, am sure it can’t be up to N1billion. You are going to collect that N1 billion in just one year and you’ll keep collecting the amount, it doesn’t make sense. What do you need to develop a database, if every state of the country is to develop a database, it can’t be up to N500 million. The proof of ownership document is a security paper.

He urged the Federal Government to put a stop to the new POC and invite all those who have worked on transforming the motor vehicle administration agency between 2004 to 2010 especially in Lagos State to push further reform of motor vehicle administration in Nigeria and not allow any flight by night consultant to fleece Nigerians.

The much-expected roll out of commercial operation of the first phase of the Blue Line component of the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) is generating excitement among Lagosians, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE.

Finally, the waiting game for the Blue Light rail is over. Well, almost, just 50 more days … or less.

Though the Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had, last December, announced an April take-off date for the commercial operation of the first phase of the Lagos Blue Line, this could not materialise due to the need for the completion of dedicated electricity feedstock, and the need for an elaborate test run of the rolling stock, which started on February 9, this year.

Though residents had begun to wager on the reasons for the delay and some were giving up on seeing the project go into full commercial operation, their fears were put to rest last week when the government announced commercial operation would begin on the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT), from Marina to Mile 2, known as the Blue Line in August.

Read Also : Lagos Blue Rail line begins commercial operations August

A cross section of Lagos residents, including the academia, media executives, market men and women, professional bodies, agencies and parastatals of the government and other well-meaning Nigerians, have enjoyed the two-way ride from Marina Interchange to Mile 2, a distance the train made both ways, in less than 25 minutes.

Announcing the imminent take-off of commercial operations, the Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, said residents along that corridor would have the rail as addition to the land and water modes between Mile 2 and Marina.

Speaking at the first Investors’ Forum organised by the agency in Lagos, Akinajo said the Blue Line, inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 24, this year, is Africa’s first intra-city electric rail – Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) by any state government. She said the line would begin passenger operation in August.

She said: “I am happy to inform you that we are rounding off all-testing processes, and are prepared for the commencement of full passenger operation on the Blue Rail in August.”

Akinajo said the first phase of the Red Line (Agbado to Oyingbo) is also nearing completion and would begin testing and passenger operations also in August.

Addressing the investors,  Mrs Akinajo said the forum was held to call attention of the business community to the opportunities of using the state’s transport infrastructure for the prosperity of their businesses and for the government to earn income that would enable it to strengthen the existing transport infrastructure and provide more.

She said investors have opportunities, especially in the branding and Out-of-Homes advertising.

The LAMATA Chief said opportunities exist for investors in bus and rail advertising as well as in branding or advertising on fixed assets such as pedestrian bridges, bus shelters, bus terminals and interchanges.

Legacy Project

The Blue and the Red Rail (which is diesel propelled, unlike the Blue Line), are legacy projects which Lagos State, Africa’s fifth biggest economy, is single-handedly handling to improve public transportation and deepen government’s share in public sector transportation across the available modes of road, water and air.

For the government that has been tinkering with increasing public sector share in transportation to take off the road the inadequate, rickety, mini- and midi-buses (Korope and others) considered inefficient have added to traffic congestion in the state. 

Since 2007, when the government started with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) initiative, the government has been providing cheap, reliable, and sustainable transit options for the people.

The Blue line, which started in 2002, however, had suffered financial strain forcing the contractor – China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC Nigeria) – to shift the completion and handing over dates several times, until the Sanwo-Olu administration delivered it this year.

The Blue Line delivery is coming 121 years after the first Steam Tramway connecting the mainland to Lagos Island on the same alignment – from Marina to Okokomaiko, which started in 1902, stopped working on the streets of Lagos.

The coming of the Blue Line would, undoubtedly, recreate the story of rail movement in Lagos and soon, a generation of Lagosians would grow that would be able to tell the rich story of a mega city that deploys all modes of transportation in a sustainable manner to tackle the twin issues of population growth, and inadequate public sector transportation that is safe, secured, affordable, and reliable for members of the public.

To further boost the Blue Line initiative, the French Development Agency (AFD) has developed two interchanges at Marina and Mile 2 for the Blue Line operations.The Marina interchange is being developed into a major transportation interchange that would accommodate the Red and the Green Rail Lines link to the hub.

A Professor of Intermodal Transport, Prof. Samuel Iyiola Oni, lauded the government for keeping faith and completing the Blue Line.

Oni, who is Head of Centre for Multimodal Transport Studies, in the University of Lagos, was happy to be involved in the new train planning and execution. He said the train option would offer the people more alternatives to ensure that transportation is seamless in the state.

Former Dean School of Transportation and Logistics, Lagos State University (LASU-SOTL) Prof Samuel Odewunmi also praised the government for delivering the Blue Train.

Describing the Blue Line as the culmination of grit and determination, Odewunmi said now that the project had been delivered, the government must ensure it is maximised by ensuring that it is affordable by the average members of the public who it was meant for.

“I would appeal to the government to make the train affordable to make riding on it attractive, he said.”

Odewunmi said he was happy that the government considered the take-off of the second phase immediately upon the commissioning of the 13km stretch, adding that if this is done, it would bring a lot of relief to people living along the Mile 2 to Badagry, corridor who have been hard hit by the various road rehabilitation of the government.

Like the academia, economic experts equally hailed the project projected to further unlock the state’s economy.

They argued that the rail systems when they fully come on stream would accelerate growth and enhance transportation in the Centre of Excellence.

Lagos accounts for more than 30 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is equally the nation’s economic and commercial centre as well as Africa’s fifth largest economy, and home to 10 per cent of the nation’s population.

Charles Daniels said the new Blue Line if well maintained would be a go to for the upwardly mobile middle class whose offices lined the Marina-Victoria Island and Lekki axis.

Mrs Romoke Adeyemo, a school proprietor in Iganmu, in Lagos Mainland, said the project would help relieve Lagos of the burden that traffic continued to constitute a drain to human and economic resources of the state.

Noting that transportation is key to economic development, former Transportation Commissioner Dr Kayode Opeifa said the new train would provide safe, secured, efficient means of transportation for Lagosians living along the corridor to move from Mile 2 to Marina.

Opeifa, who is the Executive Director of Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CenSMAD) applauded the Sanwo-Olu administration for delivering on the Blue line. He said both will no doubt alleviate the suffering occasioned by reducing the people to one modal transport system which has hindered the state’s exponential growth.

Opportunities

LAMATA’s Technical Adviser, Corporate and Investment Planning, Engr. Osa Konyeha, listed investment opportunities in Lagos state’s transportation sector to include the development of the Abule Egba-Sango Tollgate Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor; (a 7.6-kilometre bus route with a daily projected ridership of over 63,000 passengers).

Also available is the Oworonsoki-Apapa BRT, a 28-kilometre route with a projected daily ridership of about 430,000 passengers.

Konyeha further explained that the government is willing to partner with investors in the refurbishment of 300 non-operational buses and the decarbonization of existing fleet and their transition to cleaner energy, either gas (CNG) or EV (Electric Vehicles).

On rail transportation, the government is seeking partnership in the management of advertising and Out of Homes (OOH) concessions within the stations, including the construction and management of multi-level car parks, skywalk bridges at Ikeja and Marina, while also looking forward for concessionaires for the Green and Purple lines which have a combined distance of 133 kilometres.

Investors would also have opportunity to bid for the upgrade of bus shelters, rehabilitation/construction of the Oyingbo Bus Terminal, construction of Ikorodu and Maryland Terminals and transport interchange facilities at Iju, Mushin, Ajah, Agege, LASU-Iba as well as Megabus terminals at Ojodu Berger, Odogunyan, Sango-Ota, Epe and Agbara.

The death of 150 persons in a boat accident in Kwara State was a wake up call for the state government to rework waterways, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

Sulaiman Abdullahi’s world almost crashed penultimate weekend. Had he not been a good swimmer in his hey days, perhaps, he too, would have been one of the casualties. His 15 year-old son, Usman, a tailor, was not lucky. He died along with so many others.

According to Abdullahi, there must have been between 180 and 200 villagers at the wedding. After the event, at night, they boarded an old dugout boat, big enough to carry them, but barely three minutes after take-off, right in the middle of the river, the boat cut into two, throwing the passengers into the river. Few of the men swam to safety; others, men, teenagers, girls and women, who could not drowned.

At the last count over 160 passengers, young and old, including children who have been recovered, had since been buried along the river bank in what has gone into history books as one of the worst waterways tragedies in recent history.

From Eboti to Ebu and other rural communities in the Pategi area, the rural people alleged massive neglect.

Pategi village Head, Liman Ahmed, said because there was no access road linking the contiguous communities, the people had to use the boat. “There is no road linking Ebu to the two other communities and a permanent solution is to create an access road.

Ahmed confirmed that the number of casualty in the accident was about 180. “We had about 200 passengers in the ill-fated local boat returning home from that wedding. Some of the men among the passengers were able to swim out of the water, while women and children among them drowned.

During his condolence visit to Pategi, (which was about six hours by road to Ilorin, the state capital), the  state Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said no stone would be left unturned in ensuring that the tragedy is the last on the state waterways.

Speaking with reporters after the visit, AbdulRazaq said his government would not only focus on opening up Pategi roads and ensuring that the people were not unduly exposed to developments that could threaten their lives. He announced that he would be approaching the Lagos State Government, to learn how to make its waterways safe for all users.

The National President, Waterfront Boat Owners and Transporters Association of Nigeria (WABOTAN), Babatope Fajemirokun, said the union is determined to prevent avoidable accidents on the waterways.

Fajemirokun vowed to ensure that  its members complied with the Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) safety measures.

President, Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA) Prince Olusegun Ochuko Obayendo,  said it was sad that boat mishaps continued to occur.

For Obayendo, the rapidity of these accidents were reminders of the  need to prioritise safety in intermodal transportation, especially the waterways by littoral states.

He called for the strict enforcement of standards by relevant agencies, especially on waterways transportation to make that mode of transportation safe and avoid the needless accidents and attendant deaths on the waters.

Obayendo added that the agencies should prioritise safety and ensure that operators comply to the maximum capacity of boats or water vessels and to ensure that none use the boat except they are properly kitted with a life jacket before embarking on water transportation.

Read Also: LASWA: An inland waterways template for littoral states

He agreed with AbdulRasaq that fostering stronger partnership with states with states with strong waterways operation presence would afford the state the opportunity to ensure safety on the waterways.

Obayendo explained that CIOTA would continue to explore ways of ensuring that states continue to explore ways of making intermodal transportation safe for users and ensure that no lives is lost needlessly while transiting on any mode in the country.

Last month, the General Manager of the Lagos State Waterways Agency (LASWA) Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel had advocated that littoral states adopt the LASWA template to improve water transportation.

Emmanuel wondered why of the 28 coastal states in the country only Lagos has a viable water transportation mode. He urged the states to look improve it.

Calling on the states to adopt the Lagos template, Emmanuel insisted that with over two decades’experience in water transportation, Lagos  stands on a very enviable pedestal to offer opportunity for sister states.

Lagos with 24 million population as at last year (Lagos State Bureau of Statistics) has a total road network of 2700km. Its roads host over five million cars and 200,000 commercial vehicles, and a vehicle density of 740 per kilometre, which is clearly above the national average of 11 vehicles per kilometre.

LBS also showed that over 22 million round trips are made daily in Lagos.

With the dominance of road transportation despite the huge population and the attendant effects of the concentration on this mode of mobility, especially as the billions of Naira committed to road constructions, there is no gainsaying that alternative modes of transportation can be explored by the government, just like Lagos is doing.

The LASWA Model

In the 80s, Alhaji Lateef Jakande started a strong intervention in water transportation with the establishment of the Lagos State Ferry Service (LAGFerry). That feat was taken several notches further in the fourth republic by then Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (now President), and consolidated by his successors – Babatunde Raji Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode and Babajide Sanwo-Olu, all of who have continued to massively invest in water infrastructure in Lagos. Despite its small size, Lagos is home to over 10 percent of Nigeria’s total population.

In 2008, the state established the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) regulates and promotes the use of Lagos inland waterways, encourage sustainable investments, and develop lasting waterways solution for the people of Lagos.

The Lagos water transport sector over the years has grown to become a model and a benchmark for inland waterways development in the littoral states in the country.

The creation of LASWA and robust investment by the Lagos State Government have boosted patronage of waterways, high safety standards and increasing reduction in boat accidents and attendant casualties.

Aside the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Lagos State example have shown that other coastal states may need to establish their own agencies to develop, control and regulate their waterways transportation just like the Lagos model.

Like the Kwara State Governor envisaged, the replication of LASWA in the states could mean the duplication of the successes of the authority in those states.

The argument here is that littoral states in Nigeria be allowed and encouraged to set up state-controlled safety, regulatory and development agencies for water transportation. There is therefore no doubt that the following states with potential of water transportation will climb phenomenal and unprecedented pedestals by following the Lagos template through the creation of State regulatory and development agencies or authorities to anchor their water transportation initiatives.

The states are: Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara.

Mr. Emmanuel said the status quo where NIWA controls inland waterways in the states, is inimical to the development of water transport potentials of the affected states.

For instance, NIWA unlike LASWA does not engage water guards that monitor boat operators and ensure safety compliance at the jetties to the waters in all those states, this might be one of the reasons for incessant boat mishap in those affected states.

Between January 2020 and October 2022, at least 701 persons lost their lives in 53 boat accidents in the country, according to The Punch.

Conversely, since the establishment of LASWA, boat accidents in Lagos have significantly reduced and this has boosted the confidence of riders who now preferred water transportation to road transportations.

Despite the millions of riders recorded annually on water transportation in Lagos, the highest by any state in Nigeria, minimal cases of boat accidents were recorded since the creation of LASWA.

Though the control of the Lagos Inland Waterways and the duplication of regulatory functions have remained a challenge between NIWA and LASWA, the dispute between the two agencies between the Federal and the State Government over the control of the Lagos inland waterways has resulted in a plethora of legal battles. A Federal High Court in Lagos in a suit filed by fishermen in Eti-Osa with suit no: FHC/L/CS/1098/07 affirmed Lagos State Government’s Authority and power to legislate territory of the state inland waterways while stating that the National inland waterways Authority lacked the constitutional power to regulate inland waterways within the state.

A seasoned waterway expert Michael Olatunji said the National Assembly is empowered by the constitution to legislate on any matter on the Exclusive legislative list set out in part 1 of the second schedule to the constitution especially items 29, 36 and 64 which lists items on the exclusive list to include international and interstate waters, adding that there is nothing in the exclusive list that deals with intra-state waterways either in Lagos or any other state.

The absence of the Lagos state intra waterways in the exclusive list means it is automatically a residual item that falls within the legislative competence of the Lagos State House of Assembly.

The above position was reaffirmed by the Court of Appeal in a matter between Lagos State Waterways Authority & 3ors V The incorporated trustees of association of tourist boat operators & water transportation in Nigeria & 5ors (including NIWA) APPEAL NO. CA/L/886/14 where the Court held that the Lagos State House of Assembly is competent to make laws in respect of the intra inland waterways in Lagos State except the intra State waterway declared as international or interstate waterways under item 5 in the second schedule to the National Inland Waterways Act which falls within NIWA’s jurisdiction.

The Lagos State Government owned seven terminals, 14 standard jetties and 29 community jetties, which are being managed by the Lagos State Waterways Authority. About 316 registered ferry operators plies the 28 commercially viable routes on the Lagos Inland waterways and the ridership figure according to LASWA source is hovering around 2 million passengers monthly.

In the last 13 years of its existence, LASWA has invested billions of naira to make the state’s inland waterways navigable all year round, constructed standard jetties/terminals, removed shipwrecks and water hyacinth, channelisation, installation of marker buoys and safety signages on the routes for smooth navigation.

Governor Sanwo-Olu’s massive strides in the investments in water transport infrastructure and services has repositioned LASWA into a model of excellence, whose partnership, NIWA now courts.

Upon assumption of office the governor approved the employment of additional water guards to coordinate safety activities at jetties and terminals, bought two new patrol boats, two jet skis and other safety equipment.

He also approved the establishment of a Search and Rescue Unit, and recently, he commissioned first of its kind Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Center (control room) at LASWA’s Falomo Headquarters.

The state’s Ministry of Health in conjunction with LASWA recently launched the Waterways Floating Clinic, a fully fitted medical ferry that serves as Emergency Floating Clinic on the Lagos Inland Waterways while also attending to the health needs of the riverine communities in Lagos State.

The Lagos State Government through LASWA periodically donates thousands of life jackets to ferry passengers, commercial boat operators, riverine school children in all parts of the state, while also sensitizing the people on waterways safety measures and precautions on a regular basis.

In Nigeria today, Lagos is the only state that has developed a multi-modal transport system having the Road, Rail and Water transport networks linked together, and a transport fare payment system called Cowry card to complement the commuter’s trip experience.

Also, the five-cowry ferry terminal at Falomo Lagos which equally serves as LASWA head office is rated as world class water transport infrastructure. The facility has a car park, floating pontoon, fuel dump, an ATM centre, ticketing area, relaxation spots, a cafeteria, arrival and departure areas among others.

LASWA under various governors in Lagos has become a success and a model worthy of being copied by other coastal states looking for how to boost their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) if they replicate the template, first by creating state-controlled waterways regulatory authorities to attract investment from the private sector that will ultimately lead to efficient waterway transport system and safety of lives of the waterways.

The CEO of Auto Prince Technologies Nig. Ltd., Osondu Larry Banks Ulonna has recognised the need for eco-conscious transportation solutions in Nigeria.

Ulonna, who founded Auto Prince Technologies Nig. Ltd., a pioneering company dedicated to developing and promoting sustainable mobility options, with a particular focus on electric vehicles (EVs), urged the auto industry to adopt sustainable and eco-friendly practices.

He said: “I witnessed firsthand how other countries were embracing green technologies and the positive impact it had on their environment. I wanted to bring that same change to Nigeria, a nation grappling with significant environmental challenges

“One of the major obstacles was the limited infrastructure for electric vehicles in Nigeria Establishing charging stations across the country was a daunting task. We had to collaborate with government agencies and private entities to develop a comprehensive charging network, creating a seamless experience for EV users.”

Ulonna further said: “We have witnessed a significant shift in consumer preferences. More Nigerians are recognizing the benefits of electric vehicles, such as reduced carbon footprint and lower operating costs

“This paradigm shift is encouraging other automakers to invest in sustainable technologies, leading to a positive ripple effect in the industry.”

Advising aspiring professionals in the field, Larry Banks emphasized the importance of perseverance and innovation.

He said: “Challenges are inevitable, but it’s crucial to remain focused on your vision and adapt to changing circumstances. Seek partnerships and collaborations to overcome obstacles collectively”

With the new pump price regime which came into force last week, Nigerians may have to begin coping with the new realities, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

Kabila Muhammed is an Ingas man eking out a living as a commercial motorcyclist in Lagos. Last week was a litany of lamentations, especially since the increase in pump price of fuel.

His lot was no better than that of Kayode Adesola, a Keke Marwa operator who runs intra-city shuttle. His main worry is how to keep being in business.

“This business is no longer profitable,” he told The Nation flatly”. He  now spends N5,000 to fill the fuel tank of his tricycle.

Semiu Adebayo, a business executive posting on his Facebook Timeline a week ago, said he just paid N45,000 ($60) to get himself a full tank of fuel. That means he would need N180,000 (about $240) to fuel just one car monthly.

An apostle of subsidy removal, the new price means just one thing for Adebayo – a radical adjustment to his family’s standard of living. He has two cars. He needed no one to tell him that he might have to ditch one of them soon.

Thomas Jackson, a Lagos-based school owner, said he had stopped school shuttle service. Stopping, he said, remains the only way to cut cost.

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“With N500/litre fuel ($0.67), it would cost me N30,000/week ($40) or N120,000/month ($160) and N360,000/term ($480) fueling just one school bus. Fuelling the four buses would cost me N1.4 million ($1,866) per term, or N4.2 million/session ($5,600).

“This is besides other incidentals such as maintenance/servicing, and salaries of at least four drivers,” it is just unrealistic.

But for Nathaniel Ekpenyoung the new price regime is birthing other realities. He said the noise of electricity generators in many homes across many communities have stopped since the new price regime.

He said: “In my own compound, for instance, many co-tenants whose generators usually disturbed us till day break are now silent as they can’t afford the new price. We now sleep more soundly since the increment. It makes no economic sense to spend N5,000 on fuelling of generator while other needs are still gaping.”

But as it affected many who needed fuel for domestic use, the same applies to others who needed fuel for commercial purposes, who are reeling in pains as their businesses are gradually being paralysed with the new pump price.

Suraju Tiamiyu, a vulcaniser, told The Nation bitterly that he had hardly made any sales since last Monday, because he could hardly afford to buy fuel.

“Our customers are still resisting the price adjustment by our union directed last month which raised the price of pumping of tyres to N300. How much do we now charge?” he asked rhetorically.

He pleaded with the government to bring the price further down in the interest of the masses.

Economists, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, have called on the Federal Government to stop the subsidy regime which has always favoured the rich against the poor.  Nigerians continued to waste scarce resources with the Buhari-led administration indicating that Nigeria would spend N6 trillion in the year, if the incoming administration failed to remove it.

Since President Bola Tinubu declared an end to fuel subsidy during his inauguration a fortnight ago, the nation has been on tenterhook over the new price regime.

As if on cue, the price had taken on a wild spin, with many marketers, who had stopped selling the commodity to customers across the country, since May 28, arbitrarily jerking their prices to between N700 and N1,000 in Lagos, Abuja and other places.

Sanity soon returned, when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) released a nationwide pricing rate, pegging the new rate between N488 (which obtains in Lagos) and N500 and N550 for other states.

The readiness of Tinubu to stop the fuel subsidy scam, from take-off brought with it a mixture of excitement and anxiety among Nigerians who were divided over the new price regime.

The Buhari-led administration, since last year, had expressed the need to end fuel subsidy. It however stopped short of implementing the removal, pushing the needle to the new government.

But with the government forcing the pill down the throat of Nigerians, without putting in place any palliatives, it would seem the Tinubu-led government started on a hurting note with millions of Nigerians already feeling the negative impact of the new fuel price.

Justifying the new pump price, NNPCL’s Managing Director, Mr. Mele Kyari, said the need to keep the economy afloat necessitated the government’s decision to end the subsidy era. He said the Buhari-led administration paid N3 trillion yearly on subsidy.

Kyari added that though the NNPCL had adjusted the pump price, the price would be modulated by market forces. He said the Tinubu-led government started on a right note as fuel subsidy payment had no cash backing in the budget, despite being accommodated till this month.

He assured that the Tinubu administration is determined to bring at least one of the refineries back to life before the end of the year.

Notwithstanding this, or the imminent take-off of the Dangote Refinery, the pump price might not drop any time soon, he said.

However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) after a deadlocked meeting with the government demanded a reversal of the new pump price.

Though the government is still holed up in series of meetings with labour leaders, President of the NLC Joe Ajaero who served the government notice said labour is mobilizing members to embark on a nationwide strike beginning from tomorrow (Wednesday) if the government refuses to rescind its decision. As on Sunday, the NLC gave the government a N190 roof for increment, beyond which the strike would be inevitable.

The NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are on the same page on the pump price reversal. They insisted the N500 is not only arbitrary but unrealistic. They wondered with who the government reached such agreement or whether the removal of subsidy would mean a death sentence on the average Nigerian.

Ajaero described the new price regime as “an ambush for labour unions” by the Tinubu administration, accusing the government of not holding any meeting with the labour leadership on the need for pump price adjustment.

“The meetings held were with the former administration and they declared they would not be implementing the new price regime, so it was inconclusive. This government had barely spent a minute in office and had not had an opportunity of meeting anybody before announcing an end to such a critical policy issue,” Ajaero said.

His TUC colleague Festus Osifo however called for a wage review by the Federal Government. He is also willing to continue negotiation with the government to resolve the thorny issue. 

Director Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Development (CenSMAD) Dr Kayode Opeifa however urged the labour leadership to be circumspect on the issue of strike as the new administration could hardly afford to continue the subsidy ride.

Opeifa, former Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos and a former Special Adviser on Transportation in the FCTA, speaking on a popular television programme on Saturday, opined that the removal is inevitable. He urged the labour leadership to sheathe their sword and allow the government to have its way as it has promised some interventions to alleviate the peoples’ sufferings.

A media analyst Joshua Okwong pushed that coming at a time when the minimum wage is N30,000 the new policy regime merely mean that what the Federal Government gave with the right hand, it has taken with the left.

“With the national minimum wage at N30,000 a month, Nigerians are vulnerable especially as the government’s infrastructure is virtually non-existent and the welfare structure is zero.”

Rather than rush to town comparing how much the commodity costs in several countries with the local cost here, Okwong said the government could have done better by taking necessary steps to cushion the effects before implementing the removal.

John Michael said it is preposterous that a government that proposes to deregulate is at the same time allowing an entity that has become a private sector operator to fix the price of oil.

Michael said by the arbitrary increment announced by NNPCL, which has remained the sole importer of the commodity, the federal government has shown too early that what it merely set out to do is to modulate the price of fuel and not any attempt to liberalize the petroleum sector.

Like Michael, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, had punctured Federal Government’s new price regime. He declared the new price regime as illegal.

Speaking on Channels Television on Saturday, Falana declared that NNPCL has no legal backing to set a price benchmark for petrol. He said since the cabinet has not been formed; only President Tinubu can announce a new pump price of fuel, saying that NNPCL, a private concern, should not set any price for competitors in business since it is no longer a regulator.

He urged President Tinubu to prevent further crisis reversing the new price regime as demanded by labour leaders before the expiration of the deadline to prevent further degeneration and escalation of a bad situation.

But Senator-elect Gbenga Daniel (OGD), (Ogun East Senatorial District) argued that President Tinubu ought to be saluted rather than condemned for taking the bull by the horn from the outset of his administration.

Daniel, who was on Arise Television said with the open admittance that the Buhari administration made no cash backing for subsidy for the month of June, it is unrealistic for Nigerians to expect the new government to go ahead with subsidy payment.

He welcomed the idea that the government should roll out intervention programmes to help militate the effect of the increase, arguing that such would help reduce the impact of the pump price on the people.

Managing Director of Rotimi Idowu and Company, Mr Rotimi Idowu cautioned against politicization of the fuel crisis. Idowu, who urged Nigerians to be realistic said: ”Anyone with basic knowledge of economics knows that endless borrowing to finance subsidy in the face of dwindling revenue will eventually crash the economy. What negotiation should be centred on now, is the palliative government will put in place to cushion the effect of the rising costs of living as a result of fuel subsidy removal. Bringing partisanship into the matter to take a position as if some people love Nigerians more than others is simply playing politics with the collective destiny of Nigerians and Nigeria as a country.”

 The Director, Media and Publicity of the defunct Bola Tinubu/Shettima Campaign Committee, Bayo Onanuga had accused the labour unions of unduly politicizing the fuel subsidy policy of the new Tinubu administration.

He wondered where lies the honour of labour leaders who were seen campaigning for the Labour Party Presidential candidate Mr Peter Obi who had also supported fuel subsidy calling it a scam.

He called for greater understanding with the new Tinubu administration.

He equally called on labour leaders to thread softly and not overheat the polity or destabilize the new administration.

Onanuga who argued that all the candidates had supported subsidy removal during the campaigns wondered why the labour leadership would appear to be fighting a wrong-headed war. Rather he urged them to help the government appeal to their members to continue to support the new government which would soon come up with interventions to cushion the effect of the new pump price of fuel.