The Nation Newspaper

Category: Transportation

  • Waiting for Blue Line Train

    Waiting for Blue Line Train

    Lagosians are excited. Many of them have boarded the train as the government embarked on a two-month test drive. They can’t wait for commercial operation to commence, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

    Abdulmaroof Oloriaje was among many Lagosians invited via SMS to join the test drive on the Blue Line Rail on Wednesday, February 22. He lives at Masha, Surulere, and got to the Marina Interchange by 7.30am. What he saw was beyond description. By the time the train left the station at 10am, he, like others, had been won over by the opportunities that abound in the line.

    Since it commenced its weekly shuttle on February 13, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) had left none in doubt that the journey to developing a strong public sector transportation, which started in 2007, with the delivery of modern Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on March 17, 2008, remained on track.

     As the test drive chalks off next Monday, Lagosians, among them Abdulmaroof, are eager to see the government come out with the roadmap for its commercial operation.

     As he took the first “unforgettable” scenic ride across the lagoon, moving from Marina to Mile 2, in 12 minutes, Abdulmaroof knew the train would be a blessing given  the killing traffic he faces as he shuttles daily, to and fro his house and his Lekki office on Lagos Island.

    His station to work and back would be at the National Theatre, Iganmu, a short distance from his home.

     For him, the feat alone is enough to secure victory for the governor who is seeking a second term.

     History

     Lagos had a chequered history with the train system. Just as it became the first state government in sub-Saharan Africa to deliver a light train on January 24, 2023.

     It was also the first to have a tram in sub-Saharan Africa way back in 1902, which ran till 1933.

     The passenger line was one of the earliest public transport systems built within Lagos, carrying travellers, traders and workers from the train station at Iddo going to Lagos Island.

     Transportation took a nosedive, thereafter, until the 1980s with the Lagos Metroline network conceived by the Alhaji Lateef Jakande, during the Second Republic.

     The initial Metroline project, which cost $78 million, was scrapped in 1985 by the then Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The idea of developing a light rail network for Lagos was revived by Governor Bola Tinubu in December 2003.

     This initial $135 million proposal was part of the greater Lagos Urban Transportation Project (LUTP) to be implemented by the LAMATA. The latter initially concentrated on developing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system from Mile 12 to Lagos Island, it started on March 17, 2008.

     The BRT, as a mass transit initiative, was pioneered by the City of Curitiba in the State of Parana, Brazil which introduced conventional buses as a means of transportation in mixed traffic in 1974.

     The International Financial Corporation (IFC), the development finance arm of the World Bank extended a $50 million in financial support for the bus corridor in Lagos. In 2008, LAMATA began to make progress with the rail project, focusing initially on the Blue Line, and was to later embark on the Red Line upon its completion. In all, about seven colour-coded rail lines and a monorail were proposed for Lagos metroline with extension to border communities of Ogun State.

     The two lines are the first modern rail-based public transport in sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa to be financed by a sub-national government.The railway equipment is equipped with electric power, signalling, rolling stock and fare collection all of which would be provided by the private sector on a concessionaire basis. The concessionaire will generate its dedicated power/electricity, as the Blue line is an Electric Motor Unit (EMU) powered locomotive.

     Though the Blue line was scheduled to start generating revenue nine years ago (since first quarter 2014), funding caused a major delay with revenue expected to start rolling in from second quarter 2023 when it is expected to commence operation.

     Wikipedia stated that the first phase of the Blue Line, from Marina to Mile 2 started in April 2008, when the Lagos State Government approved N70 billion for construction of the Okokomaiko-Iddo-Marina Line, with an estimated completion date of 2011.

    Advisory services are being provided by CPCS Transcom Limited, an Infrastructure Development consulting firm based in Ottawa, Canada. Construction actually commenced in January 2010, with 2015 targeted for completion.

    Though the entire 27.5km stretch, which is expected to run from Marina to Okokomaiko with 13 stations, was eventually broken up into two phases, with the phase one, 13km from Marina to Mile 2 which has five stations, was already delivered by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

     End-to-end journey time will be 30 minutes on the first phase. It is being built as a high capacity, electrically powered rail mass transit system.

     The second phase, which was signed the same day the first phase was delivered, would run on the surface, running east-west, in the central reservation of the rebuilt Badagry Expressway between Igbo-Elerin Road (Okokomaiko) and Iganmu.

     The line will run on elevated structure from Iganmu along the south side of the expressway passing the junction with Eric Moore Road, crossing just south of the National Theatre to Marina.

     The entire Blue Line will operate over a secure and exclusive right-of-way, with no level crossings and no uncontrolled access by pedestrians or vehicles. Lagos State is financing construction of the Blue Line from its own resources.

     The General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Damilola Emmanuel, described the Blue Rail line as another feather to the Lagos State Government, which has been promoting and developing intermodal transportation since 2007.

     He said the coming on board of LASWA and LAGFerry would further cement the potential of the state to further drive intermodal transportation.

     Mr Emmanuel, who was on the maiden test-drive of the new train described, the Blue Line as a game changer in transportation dynamics as “everyone saw that the journey which could have otherwise cost us about three to four hours was concluded in 30 minutes to Mile 2 and back to Marina.

      Also, the Managing Director/CEO, Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL), Mr Idowu Oguntona, lauded Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for sustaining the dream of the Blue Line and delivering on it.

     Oguntona, who manages the bus assets of the government, which has the BRT (maxi buses), the medium buses as well as the mini-buses, called First Mile and Last Mile (FMLM) buses, said the interchange would best promote the intermodal element as people can drop off from the train, walk to the terminal nearby for any type of buses to their location hassle-free.

     For him, it is a question of time and very soon, Lagosians would no longer be tortured by traffic congestion when the intermodal system fully comes on stream.

     The Director, Rail Transportation in LAMATA, Olasunkanmi Okusaga, said the test run would continue till month end and passenger services would commence in the first week of next month.

     He said: “We are inviting a cross section of the public and stakeholders, including officials from State Ministries, Government Agencies, Students, Private Sector players, and members of the armed forces, clerics, Transport Operators and the general public at large in order to gather feedback that would come handy when commercial operation begins.”

      Okusaga further said that invitation would be extended to Lagosians to apply online to ride on the train and a date would be given to them to join the ride, stressing that the whole essence is to get feedback from them and whatever observation or opinion expressed by any member of the public will be taken in and worked upon to ensure we get it right from the outset.

     LAMATA’s Managing Director Abimbola Akinajo described the coming of the Blue Line as a legacy project made possible by the ingenuity of Sanwo-Olu.

     She said the train is projected to carry 250,000 passengers daily from Marina to Mile 2, and can process even more depending on demand.

     Akinajo said the Blue Line is an electric unit, warning Lagosians especially those living around the corridor to stay clear of the train tracks to avoid electrocution.

     The train would be powered by an Independent Power Project (IPP), with power back-ups by Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko Disco) and power generator.

     She said three rail cars had been acquired by the government to run the 13 km shuttle and when the entire corridor is completed, no fewer than six rail cars would be acquired to run the 37.5km journey and about 1.5million passengers are projected to be served by the train when it is fully activated.

     The train stations on the first phase are Marina, National Theatre, Orile, Alaba and Mile 2. When completed other stations expected to spring up along the Lagos/Badagry Expressway, which is under reconstruction are; Festac, Alakija, Trade Fair, Volkswagen, LASU and Okokomaiko.

     While the state government has expressed its commitment to repair the expressway up to Okokomaiko, the Federal Government would rehabilitate the international gateway to the Nigeria border with Benin Republic at Badagry.

     Akinajo said work is also at advanced stage on the Red Line, which she said, would be delivered before May 29, this year, adding that the first phase of this line too, which runs from Oyingbo to Agbado is projected to carry 250,000 passengers and would gross over a million when the second phase, from Oyingbo to Marina is completed. The first phase has eight stations – Oyingbo, Yaba, Mushin, Oshodi, Ikeja, Agege, Iju and Agbado.

     Some of the riders wondered if the speed would be recalibrated once passenger services commence and the plans in place regarding maintenance.

     Mr. Timothy Oladeni said the government must come up with affordable fare pricing. According to him, if the fare regime is unfriendly, it would scare patrons and affect the revenue projections of the government.

     Oladeni urged the government not to go by the global standards in setting the fare, adding that the government must be guided by prevailing economic variables in setting the train fare.

  • When NRC returns to unbundling table

    When NRC returns to unbundling table

    The Federal Government has reverted to the unfinished business of unbundling the Nigerian Railway Corporation, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

    Should Mr Mu’azu Jaji Sambo succeed in unbundling Nigeria’s longest living corporation – the Nigerian Railway Corporation – which is in its 125th year, before the curtain falls on the Muhammadu Buhari administration on May 29, 2023, it would be his greatest legacy as the Minister of Transportation.

    A man with his eyes on history, like Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, his predecessor, Sambo, who moved to the Federal Ministry of Transportation  last September, after a cabinet shuffle, had continued to grapple with straws.

    His best yet was that as Minister, he received the last batch of the abducted passengers of the ill-fated AK-09 Abuja-Kaduna train.

    Sambo, whose efforts to see life back on some of the ongoing sites such as the Ibadan-Minna, or the Eastern Narrow Gauge where rehabilitation had been in abeyance after the groundbreaking efforts by Amaechi in December 2020 had failed, said last week that the unbundling of the corporation, remain key to its turnaround.

    The dream to get the corporation broken into smaller units had dithered for about five years in the least.

    In July 2018, Amaechi had broached the idea at Apapa Ports, to ensure the Railway eventually gets to Apapa and ease logistics in line with the 25-year Master Plan of the NRC, which the Buhari administration inherited and had faithfully kept aflame.

    “We are looking at the possibility of breaking the Railway corporation into at least three business units. The first would own all railway assets, including tracks and equipment, the second to operate and run the passengers and the third to handle marketing of Railway logistics.

    “I have put a team on ground to do a study of that, but I think we need to unlock what we have because they, no doubt, appears to be overwhelmed,” Amaechi had enthused.

    The team he set up had recommended that the NRC be unbundled into four business component, implementation was, however, suspended to enable the government deliver on Nigeria’s third standard gauge rail network – Lagos-Ibadan train – which was then top priority.

    The Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemi Saraki, had revisited the unbundling in November 2021 and kick-started a process for the actualisation of the dream which, she noted, would help unlock the potential and boost the revenue of of the railway.

    At a meeting with French investors in Paris that year, Saraki said the NRC would be broken into four subsidiaries: Regulatory, Infrastructure (network creation, upgrade and maintenance) Operations and Services (the rolling stock operations, rolling stock creation and procurement and rolling stock maintenance).

    She said the unbundling was a demonstration of Federal Government’s renewed commitments to the railways as a key component for the country’s socio-economic transformation.

    “Of note is the 25-year strategic plan targeted at the rehabilitation of the narrow gauge rail lines, construction of new standard gauge lines and connection to  seaports.

    “There are also connections to state capitals, mining and agricultural clusters and technological hubs by rail, as well as their operation and maintenance in the country.

    Undoubtedly, the Buhari administration demonstrated uncommon tenacity in its commitment to railway transformation and modernisation. Not only did it achieve uncommon strides in the rehabilitation of the old narrow gauge, thereby ensuring that the old rolling stocks are reintroduced to provide Mass train transit service across its two main trunks, it also recorded remarkable achievements in its eight years, with the inauguration of all three networks – the Abuja-Kaduna, Warri–Itakpe and the Lagos-Ibadan rail lines. It also secured the siting of a railway wagon assembly plant in Ogun State.

    While the three lines generated some revenue until the dastard acts of terrorists on the Abuja-Kaduna and the Itakpe-Warri corridors, the wagon assembly plant may be activated before the end of Buhari’s tenure.

    Saraki said Nigeria’s rail projects have the capacity to generate a freight growth of a 7.9 per cent from 2021 to 2025.

    The NRC accrued N2.12 billion revenue (approximately euro 4.664 million) in the first half of 2021, an increase of 31 per cent over the same period in 2019. At the same time, revenue from freight transport was down, with gains coming mainly from passenger transport between Lagos and Ibadan on the new standard gauge.

    But these gains suffered a reversal last year, as  result of the terrorists attack on the Kaduna bound train and the proclivity of the abductors using their victims as blackmail items to demand for ransom.

    The beginning

    According to the Wikipedia, the history of railway in  Nigeria could be traced to 1898, when the first railroad was constructed by the British colonial government in Lagos.

    On October 3, 1912, the Lagos Government Railway and the Baro-Kano Railway were amalgamated to begin the national rail service under the name Government Department of Railways (GDR).

    With the passing of the NRC Act of 1955, the company changed its name from GDR, to NRC and gained the exclusive legal right to construct and operate rail service in Nigeria.This makes it impossible for other stakeholders other than the Federal Government to play in the subsector.

    The golden era of the Railway was shortly  in 1964. Thereafter, the NRC entered a long period of decline, brought upon it by inept management, which swept it into sharp decline. An era of lack of maintenance of rail and locomotive assets soon followed, which was sealed by bankruptcy in 1988, and rail traffic stopped for six months.

    In the mid-1990s, train service resumed albeit skeletally, where the tracks were usable, but by 2002, passenger service was discontinued altogether.

    At the turn of the fourth republic, the Federal Government put together a long term Masterplan with 25 years gestation period and implementation of the first phase started in 2006, with track rehabilitation and restoration with plans to add new locomotives with once work finished on the rehabilitation of the two major corridors. In December 2012 regular, scheduled passenger service was restored on the Lagos to Kano line.

    The Olusegun Obasanjo administration went ahead to sign the contract for the development of Lagos-Kano standard gauge rail project, with the first Lot, Abuja-Kaduna taking off in 2005. That project, to which his successor, President Goodluck Jonathan was wholly committed was however not delivered until 2016, by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The old/new dream

    Though stakeholders readily admit that the terrorists attacks of March 28, 2022, had summarily put paid to the unbundling agenda of the Federal Government, which ought to have commenced by Q1 last year, they were happy that the new Minister of Transportation has revisited the agenda and is committed to achieving it.

    This time, the Ministry said it is open to working with other inter-ministerial agencies, the lead agency being the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), a Ministry of Finance’s special purpose vehicle (SPV), incorporated since 1958 which hold in trust all Federal Government’s assets, liabilities, treaties and properties.

    At a meeting with the top management of this agency last week, Sambo expressed the eagerness to ensure the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in line with the vision and objectives of Government’s transportation sector reforms.

    Like his predecessors, Sambo opined that unbundling have become imperative as Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) as presently constituted is not operating optimally. 

    He told the MOFI CEO Dr Armstrong Katang that the ministry would give all the necessary backing to ensuring its success in the task which according to him has been simplified by the works done on the scope of the proposed exercise. “Our charge is that we want more functional units that would continue to offer world class and cutting edge services to Nigerians.

    “One of the things I will like to see as the Minister of Transportation, through MOFI is the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).  There is a Committee set up to unbundle NRC and I will urge you to work with the existing Committee,” he said.

    The Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) was incorporated under the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Act of 1959 as an asset holding company under the Federal Ministry of Finance.  MOFI is the sole manager of all Federal Government investment interests, estates, easement and rights.

    The Minister made reference to the reforms implemented in the ports and the benefits these have brought, noting that such should be replicated in the railway sector.

    “The state that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), is today, is the way the ports were prior to its concession, prior to the Ports reforms of 2005.  Today, even the Nigeria Ports authority (NPA) workers are happier about how NPA is today compared to how it was prior to the reforms.  This means the reformed NPA is generating more revenue to support its operations and also support its workforce and its pensioners”.

    Fear of Job loss

    Expectedly, the proposed project is already causing some jitters among the NRC workforce many of who are already agitating that the government aim at cutting down on jobs.

    Joseph Abdullahi, an NRC staff said there has been palpable fear among workers since the Minister brought up the issue of unbundling.

    Abdullahi said though his view does not in any way reflect the position of the workers union as he is not an official of the Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NURW), the fear that it might lead to job loss is palpable.

    The minister had had cause to assuage such fears saying, it would rather lead to a better welfare deal if the Corporation is repositioned.

    “I don’t want the NRC staff to see the unbundling as a threat to their jobs.  If we have a better performing NRC, then we are going to have better salaries, better working conditions for its workers, more revenue for the FG and therefore the ability to even build more rail networks” the Minister said.

    Sambo pointed out that the issue of encroachment on railway property will soon be a thing of the past as “MOFI was berthed by the Federal Government to take control of its assets and create optimum value for them.”

    The Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, extolled the capabilities of the Managing Director, MOFI, Dr. Katang, saying he has full confidence that the MOFI team will deliver and reposition the NRC.

    The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani has assured the MOFI team of the cooperation of the Ministry in their assignment to unbundle.

    The Chief Executive Officer, MOFI, Dr. Armstrong Katang, stated that the visit was to discuss how to create a more effective and efficient partnership between MOFI and the Ministry of Transportation.

    Katang said the areas that have been identified for collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation included enumerating and valuing the Nigerian Railway Corporation to ensure that its value is captured in line with the current realities.

    According to him, other areas included enumerating and capturing other critical assets in the Ministry especially its infrastructure assets and establishing a task force with representation from the Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Finance, with clear terms of reference  to untangle the burdened Corporation.

  • PDP will retain Oyo in 2027, says Makinde

    PDP will retain Oyo in 2027, says Makinde

    Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will remain in office beyond 2027 in the state.

    He added that the party will also reclaim the presidency and win massively in the next general elections.

    The governor stated this on Monday at the Oyo State PDP State Congress, citing the party’s respect for internal democracy and the amicable conduct of its congresses as a pointer to its strength.

    He spoke while addressing party faithful at the Basket Ball Area of the Lekan Salami Sports Complex, Adamasingba, Ibadan, venue of the state congress, which was attended by the PDP Ward and local government executives, ad-hoc delegates and stakeholders of the party from the 33 local government areas of the state.

    The governor commended the rancour-free congresses held by the PDP from the Wards to Local Governments and the State levels, noting that the process would ensure the party’s retention of power beyond 2027 in Oyo State.

    He tasked the new state executive members to work hard towards ensuring the victory of the PDP in all elections beginning from local to the national levels.

    He assured party members in the state who were yet to be compensated that they had not been forgotten by the government.

    Makinde said, “I want to congratulate all of us in advance because I believe, in this party, we won’t all labour in vain. We will all reap the fruits of our labour in this government.

    “Let me assure us once again that those who are yet to get something from this government will be reached soon.

    “This exercise is to ensure that the PDP continues to remain in power in Oyo State beyond 2027. So, the executives that will emerge from this exercise; your mandate is clear — deliver PDP from the Presidential to the Councillorship position in 2027.”

    At the congress, Hon. Dayo Ogungbenro was re-elected as the chairman of the PDP in Oyo State, while Alhaji Wasiu Adeleke has been elected Deputy State Chairman, with Oyelami Oyeyemi, Olawumi Elizabeth Toyin and Bello Kazeem Olalekan elected PDP State Secretary, Women Leader and Youth Leader respectively.

    At the Congress, 4, 050 delegates were accredited, total votes cast was 4,031, 74 valid votes and 19 absentees.

    The State Chairman won by 3,957, Deputy state chairman won by 3,957 votes, the state secretary won by 3,957 votes as well as all other winners.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman, Oyo State PDP Congress Electoral Panel, Senator Austin Akobundu, commended Governor Makinde, party leaders and stakeholders for their commitment and efforts towards fostering unity in the PDP, stressing that the congress was of great significance to the party.

    He added that the PDP in Oyo State, under the leadership of Governor Makinde, has been one of the strong chapters of the party, recording unprecedented growth and transformation through the governor’s political goodwill.

    Akobundu, who urged members of the party to remain orderly, assured that the PDP would return all its candidates in the 2027 general election.

    He said: “We thank God for the safe arrival of all delegates. They are here in their numbers. Today’s event has great significance for our party because Oyo State PDP has been one of the strongest chapters of our party in the country.

    “Under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde, this party has grown from strength to strength. The testimonial is the recent bye-election into the House of Representatives, which the PDP won.

    “I want to thank the governor for the strong leadership that he has provided and for the growth we have witnessed.

    “Today, we expect nothing different from what we have done before. Most congresses here have been very seamless, and I can see that the event is well-organised today. This is a reflection of the acceptance of the PDP.”

    In their separate goodwill messages, former Deputy Governor of Oyo State and PDP National Deputy Chairman (South), Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; former Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu and Senator Gbenga Babalola, described the peaceful conduct of the state congress as a demonstration of the PDP’s commitment to internal democracy.

    They commended Governor Makinde for stabilising the party and prayed for a more united PDP in Oyo State and Nigeria.

    Giving his acceptance speech shortly after he was declared elected, the State Chairman, Hon Ogungbenro thanked Governor Makinde and all the leaders of the party for their support and commitment, assuring that the party would work hard to deliver its candidates for the 2027 general election.

    Also in his brief remarks, former Governor of Jigawa State and one of the founding fathers of PDP, Alhaji Sule Lamido, congratulated the 39 newly-elected state executive members, charging them to continue to work for the progress and development of the party.

    The exercise was monitored by a team from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The congress had in attendance the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Barr Bayo Lawal; former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Engr Hamid Gbadamosi; Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Adebo Ogundoyin; serving and former National Assembly members; State House of Assembly members; leaders and delegates of the party from the 33 local government areas in the state and local government chairmen, among others.

  • Wider, faster spectrum

    Wider, faster spectrum

    Deployment of telecoms services riding on the fifth generation (5G) technology is expected to take a firm foothold. The information communication technology (ICT) sector will not only play increasing roles in economic growth, but also in the assuredness of the political governance process. Lucas Ajanaku reports.

    Over the years, the telecom sector has remained the pillar of the nation’s economic growth as her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.25 per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of last year with strong support from the telecom sector.

    The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the growth rate, however, declined when compared to the 4.03 per cent growth achieved in corresponding period of last year.

    It blamed this on the base effects of the recession and the challenging economic conditions that impeded productive activities.

    Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, Prince Semiu Adeniran, had said data for the analysis were obtained from the quarterly establishment survey conducted by the NBS.

    He said the third quarter economic growth was driven by the non-oil sector which grew by 4.27 per cent in real terms.

    He explained that the rate was lower by 1.18 per cent points compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2021 and 0.50 per cent points lower than the second quarter of 2022.

    “This sector was driven in the third quarter of 2022 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication); Trade; Transportation (Road Transport); Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Agriculture (Crop Production) and Real Estate, accounting for positive GDP growth,” the report said.

    This growth trajectory is expected to be accelerated this year ceteris paribus.

    Sustained boost in mobile lines

    According to October figures of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the number of connected lines across the mobile networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile continued to grow rising to 319.6 million.

    However, only 244.3 million of these lines were in active use. The implication is that a total of 104.9 million lines on the networks have become inactive.

    MTN sustained its dominance accounting for 38.85per cent with a total of 83.2 million active subscriptions.

    Globacom maintained its second position with a market share of 27.82 per cent, having recorded 59.6 million active lines in the period under review.

    Airtel’s market share stood at 27.37 per cent with 58.6 million active subscriptions.

    9mobile, on the other hand, had only a 5.96per cent share of the mobile market with 12.7 million subscriptions.

    5G consolidation

    Consolidation is expected this year after the August 24 rollout of services on the 5G spectrum by MTN Nigeria last year. The carrier is one of the two winners of the 5G licences in the country.

    The second winner, Mafab Communications Limited was however granted a five-month extension to roll out over delays in obtaining its unified operational licence (USAL) and Numbering Plan from the Commission. It only secured the two vital documents at the end of July. The five month extension however ended last month with no indication of its preparedness to roll out.

    The two companies had won the two slots put on offer during the auction that had $197.4million as reserve price. MTN and Mafab had paid the balance of the bid price of $253.86 million before February 24, 2022. While MTN beat the deadline, Mafab paid at the expiration of the deadline.

     Chairman of Mafab Communications Limited, Dr. Mushabu Bashir, had said in a statement that the company remained resolutely committed to the deployment of the technology in the country.

     “We are fully committed to bringing the benefits of 5G services to Nigerians and deploying a network that will drive economic development with increased broadband capabilities nationwide. I have no doubt that the service will help deliver improvements in the fields of education, business, smart cities and entertainment.

    “The goal remains to launch before the five-month extension period and we will be sharing more information in the near future,” he said.

    The 5G will offer Nigerians higher data speed, improved reliability and availability. The benefits are far reaching as the service will enable Nigerians to achieve more with broadband and increase the nation’s broadband penetration, quality of service and capabilities, he added.

    According to the roll out schedule contained in the information memorandum (IM) of the spectrum auction, by June 2024, they were expected to roll-out service in at least six states in each of the geo-political zones of the country while by June the following year, MTN and Mafab were expected to have completed the roll-out of services in all the geopolitical zones of the country.

    As part of the auction put in place by the Commission in the IM, the two winners and Airtel Networks Limited had submitted bids with an initial bid deposit (IBD) of $19.74 million, representing 10 per cent of the Reserve Price of the 3.5GHz spectrum by the close of the bid submission date of November 29, last year

    The NCC had issued the final letters of awards of 5G spectrum and in line with the 5G auction’s IM, the two licensees are now expected to accelerate deployment of 5G network that will usher Nigeria into a more robust Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and a more digitised Nigerian economy among the comity of nations.

    Coast clears for Airtel 5G spectrum licence

    The coat must have cleared for Airtel Nigeria to get 5G licence in the country. NCC had announced that by the close of business on December 5, 2022, only Airtel Networks Limited (Airtel) and Standard Network & Connections Limited (Standard Network) had expressed interest in the auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum band.

    However, only Airtel paid the Intention to Bid Deposit (IBD) as stipulated in the IM whereas, Standard Network sent an email appeal for the deadline to be extended by 12 working days which was not acceptable in view of the auction timetable.

    “Having met all the provision in the IM, Airtel has, therefore, emerged as the sole bidder.

    Consequently, there shall be no further bidding and the Commission will proceed to the Assignment Stage in line with the published Information Memorandum guiding the licensing process,” NCC had said.

    Airtel had rooted for discretionary award of the spectrum licence to it based on its participation the first bid round which it argued deepened competition and boosted cash to the Federal Government. NCC had however insisted that it was going ahead with competitive bidding process.

    Sector analysts say the coming of Airtel Nigeria will open the space for competition. The fear of a monopoly emerging in the sector had been raised when MTN Nigeria expressed interest in bidding in the last round.

    Meta and Nigeria’s elections

    Facebook’s parent company, Meta, said since 2016, it has quadrupled the size of its global teams working on safety and security to about 40,000 people and has invested more than $16 billion in teams and technology ahead of Nigeria’s February elections.

    Speaking on the steps it is taking to protect the integrity of the elections, it said it is also combating the spread of misinformation and making political advertising more transparent.

    Its Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa, Adaora Ikenze said the steps also included over 15,000 content reviewers, who are located across the globe, in every major time zone. Collectively, these reviewers are able to review content in more than 70 languages- including Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.

    This work, she said will continue in the lead up to, during, and after voting and builds on Meta’s experience and learnings from supporting elections across sub-Saharan Africa and globally. Meta’s approach has also been informed by conversations with human rights groups, NGOs, local civil society organisations, regional experts and local election authorities – to help ensure the safety of people using Meta’s family of apps, customised election strategies for Nigeria, maintaining the integrity of its platforms and keeping users safe.

    Adaora said: “We know we have an important responsibility when it comes to helping keep people safe during the elections. Using lessons from the past including input from experts and policymakers across the national spectrum; we’ve made substantial investments in people and technology to reduce misinformation, remove harmful content on our platforms, fight voter interference and promote civic engagement during the elections. We continue to work closely with election authorities and local partners in Nigeria to ensure we’re preparing for the specific challenges in Nigeria and taking appropriate steps to stay ahead of emerging threats.”

    She added that some of the steps the company is taking to prepare for the Nigerian elections include creation of a dedicated cross functional team spread across the world as we0ll as locally focused on the Nigerian elections. This includes a number of people from Nigeria and people who have spent significant time in the country, as it is recognised that local understanding is critical. The team also includes individuals with global expertise in misinformation, hate speech, elections and disinformation. These teams are working hard to prevent any abuse of our services before, during and after Nigeria’s 2023 general elections. Locally, Meta has workers that reside in Nigeria and work in the public policy, & public policy programmes and communications, she said.

    Adaora said the company will continue to outline its Community Standards that publicly explain what is and isn’t allowed on the platforms to prioritise integrity during and after elections.

    “On WhatsApp bulk or automated messaging is a violation of our terms of service. If we find instances of people misusing the service we remove those accounts. We continue to constrain forwarding and earlier in 2022 we announced that any message that has been forwarded once will now only be able to be forwarded to one group at a time, rather than five, which was the previous limit. When we introduced the same feature for highly forwarded messages, it reduced the number of these messages sent on WhatsApp by over 70per cent. We also label ‘forwarded’ and ‘highly forwarded’ messages to highlight when something has been shared multiple times. We’ve introduced forward limits to Messenger too, so messages can only be forwarded to five people or groups at a time.

    “Taking aggressive steps to fight the spread of misinformation on our services in Nigeria, because we know it’s important for people to see accurate information on Facebook and Instagram. We’re removing misinformation which could lead to imminent violence or physical harm and working with our fact-checking partners in Nigeria  – AFP, Africa Check and Dubawa – to review and rate potentially false content on our platforms, label it, and place it lower in our feed, so fewer people see it. To further educate Nigerians on how to spot false news and the actions to take, we’re partnering with local radio stations to create ‘#NoFalseNews’ radio dramas in English and Pidgin, executing a WhatsApp awareness campaign #YouSaid in Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Pidgin to educate users to verify information before sharing and running online ads on Facebook and radio in Yoruba, Pidgin, Hausa and Igbo to educate people on how to spot false information,” Adaora said.

    She said the company has made political adverts transparent in the country. According to her, anybody who wants to run political ads in Nigeria must go through a verification process to prove who they are and that they live in Nigeria. ‘These ads are labelled with a disclaimer, so you can see who paid for them and stored them in our public Ads Library for seven years, so that everyone can see what ads are running, what types of people saw them and how much was spent. We also offer controls so that people in Nigeria can choose not to see any of these political ads which run with a disclaimer.

    “We are also promoting civic engagement; helping to build informed and civically engaged communities are central to our work around elections.  Our dedicated teams have engaged in training and conversations with civil society organisations, academia, political parties and government to inform them of our election integrity efforts,” she said.

    NCC Digital Park for completion, inauguration

     The first Digital Industrial Park (DIP) of the NCC will be completed and inaugurated early this year. Ahead the inauguration of the project in Kano State, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, paid an inspection visit to the site of the ongoing construction of the project where he got an unequivocal commitment from the contractors that the project will be completed this month.

    The inspection was part of the routine visits to ensure close monitoring and effective supervision of important projects that will have great impacts on the country’s socio-economic development.

    During the visit, the EVC, who was accompanied by the NCC’s Head of Projects, Philip Eretan, and the EVC’s Chief of Staff, Malam Hafiz Shehu, among others, with the Special Adviser to the Kano State Governor, Prof. Yusif Alhassan, in attendance, stressed the need for the contractors to expedite efforts in completing the project on schedule.

    Addressing the contractors, Danbatta said that both the Federal and the State governments are following the progress being made at the construction site with keen interest owing to the value addition the project would make not only to the economy of the North-West geo-political zone but also to the country as a whole.

     “This is a project that Nigerians are eagerly waiting to be completed. The Federal Government and the State government are following it with keen interest, and at NCC, our responsibility is to ensure that there’s no further delay in delivery as we have been doing everything possible to ensure that we have the project commissioned in the next few months.

     “While I promise you that we will give you all the support you need, I also demand that progress report to be sent to me fortnightly over the two months period in order to ensure effective monitoring by us at NCC,” he had said.

    Speaking further, the EVC commended the State Governor for proving land at a prime location in Kano for the project, which he said is an indication of the value the government attaches to the project.

    The DIPs being built across the six geo-political zones of the country by the NCC are expected to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by digital innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes. The parks are also designed to provide broadband services and to have access to constant power supply.

    This is not the first time the NCC boss would pay a visit to the construction site of the project located at Audu Bako Secretariat in the ancient city, which doubles as the commercial nerve centre of northern Nigeria.

    The EVC’s latest visit was sequel to a similar visit to the construction site in July 2022 and other visits he had made much earlier, essentially to assess the level of work that has been done so far to ensure that the project is delivered within the set deadline.

    During the July 2022 visit to the construction site, Danbatta pointed out that the project was conceived to support the Federal Government’s digital drive by facilitating the availability and accessibility of digital services across the country, and promoting their adoption and usage across all sectors, as well as providing youth employment in the country.

     “The idea of putting these two things (that is, skill acquisition and innovation) at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and other Nigerians,” he said.

    Danbatta had also stressed that no part of the country would be left out in benefitting from the initiative. “The project is another move to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government,” he had said.

  • Cautious optimism

    Cautious optimism

    The transportation sector is expected to gather speed on the back of emerging successes. But the odds remain, writes Adeyinka Aderibigbe

    The Federal Government is desirous of consolidating the gains in the transportation sector.

      The 2023 Budget signed into law last week gave a peek into the mindset of the government. The consolidation of the gains of railway modernisation, which began in 2002, but gained accelerated traction in the last seven years, is a priority of the government.

    The administration would be spending N4.310 billion of its N21.5 trillion budget on the acquisition of new locomotives, coaches and wagons for the nation’s growing rail networks. This is from the N20.452 billion budget, allocated to the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) in 2023.

    Although 2022 could be described as the year of the locust that nearly drained the gains of the transportation sector, yet it ended on a positive note. The federal and some other sub-national governments, especially, Lagos, the fifth largest economy in Africa and Black race’s first megacity, hope to consolidate rapid transformations that promise profound changes for more than 200 million Nigerians.

    For 2023, the Federal Ministry of Transportation, one of the biggest beneficiaries of President Muhammadu Buhari’s last budget, after the Ministry of Defence and Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, gets N126.53 billion.

    Out of this, N70.45 billion goes into capital projects, N30.7 billion to finance bilateral and multilateral loans, while N18.01 billion goes for recurrent expenditure.

    As at last December, Nigeria, like other nations of the world, has a mix of narrow and standard gauge rail line networks. While it has 2,603kms of narrow gauge rail lines bifurcated into two arteries – Eastern and Western Lines, which covered largely the whole country, (Western Line has 558.90kms while Eastern Line 2044.1kms); it also has a total of 670 kilometrage of standard gauge lines distributed between Abuja-Kaduna (AKTS), Itakpe-Warri (IWTS) and Lagos-Ibadan (LITS), as (Abuja-Kaduna 187 km, Itakpe-Warri 326km, and Lagos-Ibadan 157km).

    Though the standard gauges were  at various stages before 2015, Buhari, largely can be acknowledged as the architect of the modern rail system in Nigeria as all were delivered in the last seven and half years.

    Though much of the strides to connect the other parts of Nigeria with the standard gauge were aborted in 2022, due to terrorists attacks which sacked the nation’s Northcentral, Northeast and Northwest, the Buhari administration seemed to have consigned itself into history as not having tried, but hampered, thereby opting to consolidate on the lines constructed by providing them with adequate rolling stock to improve passenger traffic, thereby easing the yoke of loan repayments on the government.

    Perhaps the greatest expectation, which arguably, may be of concern to every Nigerian is to ensure that whoever takes over from the Buhari administration has the same commitment to transportation and to see the railway as the main artery for mass movement in the country, thereby continuing on the task of connecting all the state capitals by rail in the foreseeable future.

    Though none of the candidates have addressed issues bordering on transportation, it is not too certain that any of them could elevate the sector to a matter of national priority which the Buhari administration accorded it in its two terms in government.

    The railway rehabilitation and modernisation, which the administration gave prime attention steeped from a 25-year Railway Masterplan, which comes to term in 2027. This means that one of the key assignments ahead of the incoming government was to attend to the Masterplan and come up with another long term plan of maybe 20- to 30-year plan and follow through with requisite strategy to achieve set targets of getting all state capitals connected by rail to enable sub-nationals connect to the national trunk rail network for their various people.

    With the amendment to the NRC Act 1945, states among other investors can invest in the rail system.

    Perhaps 2023 would see the rolling out of assembled coaches and locomotives from the Assembly plant at Kajola, Ogun State.

    Also projected for completion was the University of Transportation in Daura, Katsina State, which all things being equal, ought to throw its gates to new intakes this year for the training of qualified manpower for the burgeoning transportation industry. The institution is a gift from China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation as its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

    Mota Engil also pledged to give Nigeria a multilateral university at Port Harcourt for the same reason, which has yet to take-off.

    Divergent views

    Experts have continued to express divergent fears about the sustainability of the standard gauge dream after Buhari. Former Vice Chairman of the Federal Government Committee on the restoration of discipline in Apapa axis, Dr Kayode Opeifa, said such fears are not misplaced as Nigeria had a very rich repertoire of policy summersaults.

    Opeifa, now Director of Centre for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CenSMAD) said the railway being a major factor in the mobility mix, which links people and places and ensures social harmony and development must continue to occupy a central place in the heart of the government. It is so notable that no matter which party wins, the strides attained must be sustained to ensure the progress of the sector and the country.

    “Nigerians must not be retarded again. We have had enough concentration of a mono-modal system, time is of essence to continue on the development trajectory of the Buhari administration by sustaining the strides on railway,” Opeifa, who is also a Member of the NRC Board asserted.

    President, Chartered Institute of Transportation Administration (CIOTA), Prince Olusegun Ochuko Obayendo, said 2023 offered another opportunity for Nigerians to demonstrate readiness to develop  modes of transportation as envisaged in the resilience and transparent dedication and commitment to the development of the rail system, especially the standard gauge, which according to him, proved beyond doubt that it could be trusted as a cheap, affordable and safe alternative to the roads.

    He said CIOTA will continue to partner with the government in ensuring the robust development of all modes of transportation in the country.

    Already, many of the milestones are lacking, triggering doubts in some quarters. One of such legacy lines which ought to be delivered last December, but was yet to get off the ground was the Kano-Maradi gauge with a spur (a railway branch line) to Kaduna. The project is central to the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFcTA), as it ought to assist landlocked nations in Central and Eastern Africa to the Ports thereby promoting Nigeria’s global competitiveness in international trade.

    Meeting the contractor –Mota Engil Nigeria Limited, a Portuguese concern in January last year, the former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, had pledged to deliver the rail line by year end. He never did.

    But the success of the Kano-Maradi line itself was contingent on the successful completion of another, for which funds are being sought by the government. This is the Ibadan-Kano standard gauge, which is the third and final; LOT III, in what is the modernisation of the Western Line.

    Besides the Kano-Maradi line, which The Nation checks discovered, had suffered as a result of the terrorists attack on the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service on march 28, 2022, the Muazu Jaji Sambo-led Ministry had also hoped to deliver on the rehabilitation of the rust Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge (Eastern Line), which was being funded directly from the Ministry’s budget. The project, which coursed through the Ibo heartlands and would terminate at Gombe (which is the safest point for now due to Boko Haram insurgency) have also refused to take off.

    Many flayed the Federal Government for merely rehabilitating the Eastern Line, and not considering it befitting of standard gauge system, a development Amaechi in his days had carpeted severally, drawing attention to the fact that rail development is determined by its own economies and not political consideration.

    Besides such consideration, it is not expedient for the country to obtain a loan to construct what may not be sustainable as instability may continue to dog its profitability.

    Other projects on which work is expected to commence based on the availability of funds are the Ibadan-Kano standard gauge, from which the Kano-Maradi line would be oxygenated.

    The standard gauge line suspended at Ibadan could only mean the haulage component of the business to Kano, with a spur to Kaduna had to be aborted. The haulage was projected to increase freight tonnage to about 10 million metric tons yearly from 2022.

    With haulage being the cash cow, do you then still wonder why China still dither on approving any further loan to Nigeria to accomplish the dream?

    Though President Buhari inaugurated the Lagos-Ibadan line on June 10, 2021, it beggars belief that the spur to Apapa had continued to drag unmet.That was the only area in which Amaechi and the Minister of State for Transportation Senator Gbemi Saraki (who handled the ports) failed abysmally.

    Muazu and Adegoroye who succeeded them have been running in circles, achieving nothing as both APMT and the Nigeria Customs continue to deny them the prized dream that would make it possible for the Federal Government to exploit the endless potential of Nigeria’s international waters.

    The resultant effect is the partial maximisation of its potentials which is expected to see the full exploitation of the Wasinmi/Kajola (Ogun State) and Ibadan (Oyo State) Dry Ports.

    Another project which would continue to wait is the Lagos-Calabar Coastal line, (designed since 2014), but had continued to suffer delays due to paucity of funds. This line is meant to connect all the 17 southern Nigerian states. Had he achieved this, Buhari would have achieved his dreams, set out in 2015, to connect all state capitals by rail by 2023.

    Also in abeyance was the rehabilitation of the Eastern line with the various spur lines, which is meant to ensure the administration’s dream of linking all state capitals by rail.

    Other hurdles

    But perhaps far more reaching would be the tinkering with the National Transportation Policy. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, had recently expressed the commitment of the Ministry to berth for the first time in Nigeria’s 63rd year, a policy to drive the sector.

    Also hanging is the issue of an agency to drive the sector. Transportation remains the only sector that has yet to have an agency of state to drive its activities and coordinate its regulatory and administrative responsibilities. The result has been a sector that has become an all-joiner.

    Perhaps the 10th Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, would be able to pass its concurrence on the bill meant to establish a Nigerian Transportation Authority to regulate the sector.

    Other agencies 

    However, while the outgoing government continues to concentrate on the railway element of the land transport this year, the government had said it would continue to push  agencies and departments under it, both in the land and maritime sub-sector to achieve the aim of refocusing the transportation sector to take its pride of place as the (critical) nerve centre of the nation’s economy.

    Arguably outside oil, agencies under the sector, such as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), contributed the largest to the nation’s GDP. Though the Federal Government seemed to have handed off the management of the Apapa Port Access and Corridor to the host state government, Lagos, there is no doubt that the access road would continue to engage the attention of the state this year.

    CIOTA believes the transportation sector, if adequately exploited, could contribute a whopping N7.5 trillion yearly to the economy. With a budget of N21 trillion, it means, the transportation sector alone could provide a quarter of the nation’s budget and bring relief to a nation that is fiscally asphyxiating.

    For experts, with a population approximately 220 million (according to WorldOmeter), Nigeria’s wealth can be unlocked if it changed the mono-modal transportation narrative and engaged other modes safely without fear of attacks, molestation or under the atmosphere of insecurity as witnessed in 2022.

    Stakeholders argued that critical regulatory obligations such as transportation safety, quality control, documentation and licensing, information sharing and data mining, professional education and public enlightenment; enforcement of the rules and standardisation of procedures for collaboration among statutory agencies with complimentary mandates are imperatives and could serve as low hanging fruits for anyone who wins the February 25 Presidential elections to reposition and turn transportation into a viable sector.

    Obayendo said the Federal Government’s continued massive investments in the transportation sector, especially in the areas of rail, road, air and maritime is aimed at achieving the potential of transforming Nigeria as a major transport hub within the African continent.

    For him, transportation is the livewire of any economy, and the nation’s economic and social wellbeing depended on transportation.

    But beside the Federal Government, many of the state governments also have introduced initiatives aimed at boosting the sector.

    The Lagos example

    At the national Council on Transportation summit in Lagos last year, the case was made that the Lagos State Government exploits on transportation was worthy of copying for other 36 states of the federation.

    For instance, later this month, President Muhammadu Buhari is slated to be in Lagos State for the commissioning of the Blue and Red Light Rail lines – two legacy projects that would redefine transportation narratives in Africa’s leading megacity.

    The first phase of the two flagship projects would be completed with 10 train stations apiece, with the Blue Line having two interchanges at Mile 2 and Marina. Buhari will on the same day flag-off the construction of the second phase of the Blue Line from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko.

    The two light rails are part of the six lines and one mono rail, into which the entire Lagos metropolis had been calibrated. The other lines are: the Yellow, Green, Orange and Purple Lines.

    The rail projects would complement other land elements such as the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Under the scheme, coordinated by LAMATA, a total of 14 BRT routes besides 485 individual bus routes have been established.

    There is also the new bus reform, under which LAMATA has injected medium and small buses known as the First and Last Mile (FMLM) buses to commuters’ movements thereby reducing the risk of commuting via rickety buses or unsafe commercial motorcycles which remained banned as a means of transportation in the state.

    This is besides the administration’s massive investments in road rehabilitation and, or reconstruction, which continues to see the delivery of new road infrastructure expanded to accommodate Non-Motorised Transportation NMT, the new initiative being promoted under the FMLM transportation initiative.

    LAMATA also established 20 new water routes which are being developed by the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), all in the bid to open the state’s inter-modal transportation capacity and maximize the state’s over 22 million population who daily needs these elements to move from place to place daily.

    Addressing these initiatives recently LAMATA’s Managing Director Engr. Mrs Abimbola Akinajo likened Lagos State to an expectant mother. “Lagos,” she says, “is heavily pregnant with several projects aimed at relieving the people of their transportation and traffic nightmare. When these projects are eventually delivered it would bring much relief to the people and change the transportation ecosystem in the state forever. Our desire is to bring relief to Lagosians and we would deliver many of these projects that would promote intermodal transport in 2023.”

    Sanwo-Olu believes that a new Lagos State is rising and transportation being the first of the six pillars of change under the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda remains the key to unlocking the new frontiers in the New Year.

  • West Link Airlines chair backs NCAA on policy review

    West Link Airlines chair backs NCAA on policy review

    Chairman, West Link Airlines, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia, has described as a  welcome development plans by the Director-General, Nigeria  Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to review the National Aviation Policy for the betterment of the industry.

    He said although he had submitted his proposals for the exercise, the pilot trainer criticised what he described as disingenuous state weather minima laws, Msheia wondered why the country would pay so much to acquire CAT 3 equipment for airfield  lighting  that  could land aircraft in zero visibility with pilots trained to carry out such exercise in adverse weather, but are prohibited from such due to antiquated regulation on weather minina.

    Mshelia was reacting to the DG NCAA’s assertion last week that he had sent out an All Operators Letter ( AOL) to stakeholders to contribute views that would help regulate the industry better but met with limited  responses.

    Mshelia, who expressed support for the review, said it was impressive because no nation develops its aviation sector without the contributions of  stakeholders.

    Mshelia said: ”Well, talking about National Aviation Policy. I think the DG did very well in pushing for a review, the last one was 2013. It’s due for review; ideally every 10 years or anytime it’s necessary. He’s done well there, he sent out that AOL to everybody I can vouch for, he is correct, I received it. I have contributed my quota with a letter to his office. I’ve done my contribution.

    “I am, particularly, impressed he sent an AOL and attached the 2013 document and he did assure us that he is willing to work with us so that we bring all our problems and change it. I sat down and did my own and submitted it to the DGs office directly before I closed for the holidays.’’

    On the DG’s submission on very poor responses, he said: “I agree with the DG. Part of the problems why the government has not been able to put fingers on challenges and fix them is because of us, the so-called professionals.

    “…. So, yes, the reason the DG is saying this is because the truth of the matter is no nation builds itself, the citizens build the nation.We do have experts and all claim experts but why is our aviation system still the worse around here? This is because there is no good intention.’’

    On the state weather minima, Mshelia said the law was an impediment but stressed that pilots have no choice but to comply with the laws or be cited for violations, which no pilot wants as it affects their careers and employability.

    He said a pilot is trained to fly through adverse weather and normal weather knowing when to do what, and when not to go as he/she is certificated by the CAA only to be limited, especially during harmattan.

    He said: ”A pilot is trained to fly through adverse weather and normal weather he knows when to do what, he knows when not to go, he is certificated by the CAA, then the government limits the pilot’s ability, especially during harmattan and say, ‘you cannot fly unless the weather is 800 metres and above’ I have been shouting about this for a long time but nobody is listening, we are trained on this’.

     “Now Nigeria has ILS Category 3 in Lagos Airport and complemented with the AFL we can land in zero visibility, why are we limiting it to 800 metres? So, why did we have to waste that money? Why didn’t we put that money on hospitals that we need? Or food for our people displaced in IDP Camps due to insurgency? Why did we take that money to buy Category 3 ILS that we can only use in adverse weather like this one and then you  say we can fly to the ground with zero visibility, but the law forbids us to do so, when the time to practise comes we are never allowed. When you train it’s for practise but when reality comes we are never allowed.’’

     “I’ve flown in Lagos airspace for 40 years, there is no time that you get visibility less than 400 metres. I’ve never seen 300 or 200 metres never  and that facility can fly you down under zero visibility. There is something  fundamentally wrong.

     “When you are coming in and request information and the ATC gives you all you need and ends with you are below State Minima, if you land, they will file a violation. No pilot wants to get sited with a violation, it affects your being employed, in fact you become a dangerous pilot. So, you have to now divert somewhere else.

     He added that there were Air Laws that counter the practice here in the country but it is left for those in authority to look at it holistically and repeal any archaic impediment to operations especially when the technology is available to do so.

     “Meanwhile, even Category 2 ILS on 200 metres you can land but still State minima has been there since I was a young pilot, so who put that? Someone in power somewhere and no one had bothered to do anything. For example, I think the Minister of Aviation has the power to change that. It’s not in the Act, or the aviation policy

     “I don’t think it’s the DG that can change it the DG is supposed to supervise FAAN, NAMA every service provider is subject to the supervision of the NCAA but I don’t think it is under his purview to change and you know why, I think people had an accident; but if a car had an accident therefore should you park all the vehicles?”

  • Addressing aviation’s value chain in Africa

    Addressing aviation’s value chain in Africa

    As global air transportation recovers from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, regulators on the continent’s value chain are sizing up the landscape for air transportation as authorities look into issues erecting a clog to growth. KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR reports.

    Efforts to recover lost grounds in global air transportation from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have not abated as countries in the globe continue to unveil measures that would fast-track recovery.

    From the review of procedures and processes that will make it easy for passengers to pass through the airports unhindered, passenger traffic is getting rebound across continental routes.

    But, the last one year has seen dramatic developments in the global air transport sector.

    Narrowing it down, a pandemic triggered a crisis that disrupted the travel space causing global carriers to lose a combined $42 billion in revenue.

    Assessing the sector, the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), Secretary-General,  Mr. Abdérahmane Berthé, said notwithstanding the shock of last year, the air transport industry would return to profititability in 2023 with a  forecast  $4.7 billion profit on $779 billion worth of revenue. 

    In an interview, Berthe said though the recovery train is moving at various speeds in the various markets around the world, Africa’s airlines were yet to recover from a $638 million loss by last year.

    He said in the face of macro-economic headwinds and the increased vulnerability of several African economies, the continent’s airlines should reduce these losses by about two-thirds, falling to $213 million this year. 

    This, he said, would be driven  by a 27.4 per cent rebound in passenger traffic and capacity increasing by 21.9 per cent.

    With economic uncertainty, the cargo markets, which achieved unprecedented highs during COVID-19 pandemic, he affirmed, would come under increased pressure in the year. 

    However, the state of the industry in Africa, he said, is an indicative of some key regional challenges, including connectivity, market access and regulatory reforms.

    Others include taxes, charges and rising costs, environmental sustainability and safety.

    The AFRAA scribe said context plays a huge role in determining development.

    He said: “Context is everything and while most of the traffic numbers are encouraging, Africa is one of the most populated places on earth, yet it accounts for just 1.9 percent  of global passenger and cargo traffic, thanks largely to the dearth of intra-African connectivity and barriers to market access. It is a reminder of how much work that  has  to be done and the urgency with which it needs to  be accomplished.”

    He described the latest African Civil Aviation Commission, AFCAC Pilot Implementation Programme (PIP) as a welcome initiative, on the conditions that  it enjoys sufficient buy-in and fair-play among its 17 participating countries, saying only then, would it consider a powerful demonstration to the continent’s other 38 nations, which awaits its  commercial, economic and social benefits.

    The AFRAA scribe quipped: “But let us not kid ourselves and get carried away patting ourselves on our backs. The PIP is a step towards the Single Africa Air Transport Market. Fifth freedom traffic rights are the most visible and attractive component of SAATM, but the devil is in the detail.  Not only do we require a common understanding of what these market freedoms are, but also of how they are to be applied and administered. It requires just as much commitment to removing other protectionist instruments such as inconsistent and differential charges as well as administrative obstacles that run counter to the spirit and intentions of SAATM.

    “If we zoom out and consider inter-continental markets, it is distressing to see certain African carriers failing to operate key routes on which they are the sole designated airline for their countries.

    Despite the reciprocal countries’ carriers expanding their operations, they can only do so up to the limits set out in the bilaterals. 

    “This is leaving many markets under-served. By choking capacity in this way, commercial opportunities are being squandered and slowing the recovery of lucrative long-haul foreign source-markets for tourism and trade.  

    “The solution is not necessarily to start or prop-up unviable airlines.  It is to reform the current regulatory regime and replace it with one that is fit for purpose.

    Recall that the International Air Transport Association  (IATA) has over the years called on African countries to operate cost-recovery tariffs to boost the growth of its air transport sector.

     IATA Chief Executive Officer, Willie Walsh, noted in an interview that lower tariffs and airport charges would propel the rebound of air travel post-pandemic.

    On infrastructure, taxes and charges, the AFRAA scribe  said  another threat to Africa’s traffic recovery and future growth is poor or inadequate  infrastructure, resulting in sub-standard passenger service.

    “Some of Africa’s largest airports have recently completed, or are undertaking major expansion programmes, many of them are positive. However, from the airlines’ perspective, such CAPEX projects should be concluded between airports and airlines.They require demonstrated cost-benefit analyses and a robust  interrogation of asset efficiencies as these infrastructure plans will impact on future user-charges.

    “Regulation is also needed to prevent abuse of market power and to ensure that providers’ capacity plans are aligned with market realities.

    “Every member of the air transport value chain experienced pain during the pandemic. But now is also not the right time to be increasing levies, hiking carbon taxes or introducing new taxes on air transport, trade or tourism. We are mutually co-dependent on each other.

    “Every increase deters cost-sensitive customers, resulting in fewer travellers and even less revenue, not just for airlines, but for all stakeholders across the value chain, including airports, ground handlers, suppliers and air navigation services. Ultimately, they set back economic growth and curtail opportunities to create and support jobs and livelihoods.”

    Besides IATA, the global civil aviation regulator, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), had rolled out a template for member countries in Africa to comply with.

    An ICAO data on the development suggests:  “The message here is simple: governments’ adherence to ICAO’s policies on charges and infrastructure through a process of consultation with airlines and industry is paramount to ensuring fairness and cost-effectiveness.

     “When it comes to safety there is no room for compromise. While in 2021, African airlines on the IOSA registry had zero accidents, incidents across Africa by regional and global operators continue to be experienced. Regrettably, the region’s accident rate remains the highest. 

    “This should serve as sharp reminders that we need to work together towards enhanced safety oversight, particularly in the areas of reporting and investigation of incidents and accidents.’’

    “Adopting a more aggressive approach to addressing the highest recurring operational risks.

    “Prioritising safety data and information exchange by  stakeholders is a must, not a nice to have to build an accurate picture across the continent.

    “Promoting the understanding of the critical importance of aeronautical information to aviation safety, addressing as priority the regional deficiencies, with a clear commitment to improve by all states and stakeholders.

    “Focusing on operational Resilience; the region is fraught with disruption to flight operations bringing with it operational risk. It is essential we review the processes for Contingency Coordination for the region, not only to ensure minimum operational disruption, but to ensure at no point there is any degradation to service provision or safety.

    “We are in recovery mode, but we could be tripped up.  Proper planning, coordination and the provision of adequate staff and appropriate resources by airports, ANSPs and other service providers are crucial.”

    “Aviation and tourism are not to be treated as easy targets for collecting taxes and charges without reinvesting in improved infrastructure, training or service delivery. Some of the most expensive airports in Africa are also ones with the lowest service levels and infrastructure.This disparity between cost and quality is unacceptable.

    “Connectivity is precious. The pandemic demonstrated that everybody suffers when aviation stops. It also dispelled the myth that flying only benefits the rich. A financially viable air transport sector, in a fit-for-purpose and enabling regulatory environment supports jobs, promotes transformation and will be a driving force for Africa’s economic recovery and future growth.

    “We call on Africa’s governments and industry to work closely with each other to drive a harmonised agenda for air transport. In doing so, we will unlock even greater economic prosperity throughout the region.”

  • A bitter pill

    A bitter pill

    How has the transportation sub-sector fared under the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration in the last three and half years? It’s been a mixed grill of bitter pills despite huge wins, reports ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

    Mr Babatunde Fashola’s deep and insightful response on national television, that the delay in the delivery of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway among other critical highways was a bitter pill for a better tomorrow, was a fitting summation of Lagosians’ experience regarding transportation in the outgoing year. It remained as it has been for over a decade: A bitter pill of nightmares.

    But that is not for want of trying. Infact, none before him grappled with Transportation and Traffic Management like Sanwo-Olu. It was for him, a canon. So much so that he made it the first of his T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, and has grappled with all its forms and modes in the last three and half years.

    State with positive burden

    As a former Federal Capital, a state noted for its smallest land size in the country; Lagos, with its 25 million population, is home to a 10th of the country’s population.

    In the last 30 years, Lagos has also risen in status. Not only is it Nigeria’s economic artery and centre of commerce, it has become the black man’s first megacity and Africa’s fifth largest economy. Lagos is home to headquarters of about 80 percent of Nigeria’s corporate bodies, contributes more than 70 percent to Nigeria’s GDP and has a vehicle density that is above the national average, which signifies that it has a healthy private sector.

    But all these positives come with a burden. Chief among them is transportation, considered as the oil that lubricates the wheel of the economy. No fewer than 20 out of its 25 million population must move from one point of the state to the other. They do these through the various means available – air, water, land modes. Though to various degrees, all three modes are active with air and land modes being the most patronised while waterways despite successive efforts remained the least.

    The air remains the exclusive preserve of the rich and affluent. The state has no presence yet in the mode, though it secured just recently a license to build an airport on its eastern flanks to ease commuting on the Free Trade Zone emerging along the Lekki corridor.

    Till date, about 70 percent of transportation needs of the 20 million people are done on land, via the various modes – walking, two (bicycles or motorcycles) or three wheeler (tricycles), automobiles, vehicles, categorized into private, or commercial/public – small,  medium and large capacity vehicles (LCV). Solving the challenge of intracity commuting had been a mutating plague for successive administrations as continued over dependence on a mono-modal transportation had become incapable of solving the huge transportation needs of residents.

    Planned City

    The older generation would readily agree, albeit arguably, that the best time of Lagos was during the pre-independence era. That era was when planning made any meaning, when the population was manageable and the infrastructure, especially roads, were barely adequate.

    Everything turned nosedived since Lagos became the Mecca for all states of the federation and every family in the country jostled for a foothold in the city-state of aquatic splendor, better known by its epithet – the State of Excellence.

    Again, Fashola, a former governor and current Minister for Works and Housing, believes it is not illogical that the state’s population, a source of its wealth, will, by the same stretch, be its worst albatross. Fashola said the challenges merely provided opportunities for her leaders to think outside the box to fix the jigsaw.

    A return to a multi-modal system was one such way. With its sparse population, Lagos of the pre-independence era enjoyed a steam tramway as at 1902. The tram connected the Island – Marina, with the Mainland at Okokomaiko (then called Kokomaiko). The tracks later got to Ibadan, becoming the precursor of the Nigerian Railway Corporation’s Western Line.

    When the steam/coal trams stopped rolling in 1913, they were replaced by automobiles, which came in more fancied saloons and medium capacity buses – most of which were converted freight movers, called Bolekaja or Mammy wagons. It morphed into Molues which became ubiquitous to Lagos. On the lower scales were Danfos the midi buses, popularly called Vanagon, with bicycles and later motorcycles, completing the transit modes. Up till the turn of the millennium, the roads in most parts of the state were narrow, single carriageway roads. Successive governments have been working on expanding the roads to increase their carrying capacity.

    The petrol dollars of the early 70s and 80s put more money at the disposal of the working class and with this came a boost in lifestyle, exemplified by acquisition of new automobiles. It became more fashionable to own a car than to hop into public transportation that was cramped, derelict contraptions, rotted, unsafe and largely inefficient in capacity. This period also saw the proliferation of the Taxi culture providing a transit alternative to the masses who are consigned to the Molues.

    The Tinubu administration fought to get the Molues off the roads in Lagos paving the way for the Bus Rapid Transit buses regime.

    Though until the turn of the fourth republic, transportation was a hard nut difficult for successive administration to crack, the tide turned after Tinubu, the emeritus governor and All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate who with the instrumentality of the law, established the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (LASTMA) which became the special purpose vehicle that undertakes on behalf of the government all the planning, designs and implementation of the government’s interventions on transportation.

    LAMATA took the burden off the state government since its coming in 2002, in bringing reliefs to Lagosians, as many of the works aimed at making the roads more functional were not only completed and efforts made to activate the other modes of transportation, especially the waterways for which the state has a huge comparative advantage with its over 4,000kms of navigable waterways and channeling of 14 commercial water routes.

    Summing up Sanwo-Olu’s achievements in the last three and half years, the Commissioner for Transportation Dr Frederic Oladeinde said the government carried out 41 junction improvements and is currently handling 13 others, while six others are at concept design stage. He said where these projects have been delivered, there has been significant improvement to traffic congestion.

    For effective management of traffic, the governor, he said, employed 1,000 LASTMA personnel, whi have been distributed to the five divisions of the state to reduce traffic infractions and enhance recovery by about 87 percent.

    The Sanwo-Olu administration constructed a befitting operational headquarters for the Vehicle Inspection Service, while the Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA) now has a one stop shop in all the 57 local government areas of the state to make vehicle administration easily accessible to the general public.

    The state’s parking authority he said had also commenced operation, while the srivers institute has improved drivers’ education.

    Oladeinde said the government is optimizing traffic by installing traffic signalization in 60 gridlock points, completed 431.84kms of road marking and painted about 1,513,487 kilometres of kerbs in the last three and half years.

    “To improve traffic enforcement and service delivery, the Ministry has installed 24 fixed and 10 mobile cameras across the state to ensure compliance with road traffic laws and minimize physical interactions between motorists and law enforcement officers,” Oladeinde said.

    Under the administration the Ministry, according to the commissioner, has deployed AutoVIN Technology to eliminate multiple vehicle registration, improve vehicle security and enhance accident investigation. “We now manage, coordinate and regulate e-hailing services in a bid to promote safety, security of lives and property.”

    He said the ministry has added First and Last Mile buses to complement the BRT buses aiding the transit from their homes and back, enhanced water transportation, fixed bad roads, expanded BRT networks and decongest traffic by connecting more communities with new link roads and bridges.

    To fight carbon emission, the government Oladeinde said started a pilot phase of running BRT on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) thereby promoting climate change and the war against commercial motorcycle operation which has taken roots in 25 out of the 57 council areas of the state.

    The icing on the cake of the Sanwo-Olu administration’s strides on transportation is the Blue Line rail, which was unveiled last Wednesday.

    Acknowledging the inconveniences that Lagosians have had to cope with in the last three and half years, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the various infrastructure projects are to bring more comfort to the people. He said more than before, the government is opening up all parts of the state.

    Acknowledging that more still needed to be done, he said the government would not rest on its oars but would continue to work at bringing more relief to the greater number of the people.

    He however urged Lagosians to take ownership of the infrastructure provided by the government.

    Nagging Issues

    But beyond what he considered as the low hanging fruits, which the provisions of infrastructure portends, Prof. Samuel Odewunmi demanded the unveiling of the state’s transport policy, to help coordinate all the transportation initiatives.

    Odewunmi, a member of the policy drafting committee, wondered what the policy which was completed in 2019, shortly before the handing over of power to the incumbent was still doing in the cooler.

    Such a policy, which encapsulated all the gamut of the various modes of transportation and government’s initiatives and their inter-relatedness ought to be unveiled by the Sanwo-Olu administration to guide the state’s engagement.

    Odewunmi, a former Dean, School of Transportation and Logistics of the Lagos State University (LASU-SOTL) said Lagos would be the first sub-national government to come up with such policy and it would be a thing of pride if the state could release it ahead of the Federal Government which have continued to pay lip service to having a national transportation policy.

    He however commended the government for “the giant strides already taken and those still in the pipeline” aimed at improving the driving and motoring culture. He said the last few years have been tasked with the patience of Lagosians and everything possible should be done to ameliorate their pains in the coming years.

  • Guinness, LASDRI to train instructors, operators

    Guinness, LASDRI to train instructors, operators

    Guinness Nigeria Plc. has partnered the Lagos State Drivers Institute (LASDRI) on Train-The-Trainer for instructors and operators as part of its safe driving advocacy under the Wrong Side of the Road (WSOTR) initiative in Lagos.

    The Wrong Side of the Road e-learning module, which uses story-telling techniques was presented at the workshop to over 100 participants.

    The module, an initiative by Guinness Nigeria’s parent company, Diageo, in partnership with United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), helps people understand the effects, and impact of drunk driving.

    Guinness Nigeria Corporate Relations Director, Rotimi Odusola noted that the brewing giant said drivers should not drink while driving.

    “We support the agenda of LASDRI to accentuate the importance of safety on our roads, and the participants of the training, are important stakeholders. It is also why we collaborate with the FRSC on our responsible driving initiatives annually. This is an opportunity to work in partnership and it marks the beginning of many opportunities that we are sure to be organising with LASDRI,” Odusola assured.

    General Manager, LASDRI, Hajia Afusat Tiamiyu, said: “We aim to continue to create responsible road users who are also conscious of the health and safety of everyone on the roads in Lagos State.’’

    Guinness Nigeria Plc Sustainability Manager, Nike Onakoya, presented the modules to the participants to show the nexus between the necessity of training the driving operators and instructors on the need to avoid consumption of alcohol before or while driving.

  • Enhancing security on Lagos waterways

    Enhancing security on Lagos waterways

    With the launch of Lagos State Waterways Authoriy (LASWA) data centre, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu aims to boost waterways safety and security, reports ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

    With the activation of  the Waterways Monitoring and Data Management Centre (WMDMC) at the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) headquarters, Five Cowries, Falomo, last Friday, commuters and watercraft operators are poised to get an expecting experience.

    Lagos has continued to deepen its comparative advantage in water transit since the late Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande Administration, with the Ita Faji, Baba Kekere, and Eko Akete ferries of the Second Republic.

    However, despite sustained investments in the 4,000kms of navigable waterways , Lagos waterways have remained the least attractive to commuters.

    The major challenge for commuters remained safety. Many who would have patronised the waterways fear the high rate of fatal incidents on the waterways.

    But all that has started changing for the better. This is, however, expected to translate into a surge in passenger throughput as Sanwo-Olu, pursues safety that is challenged on the 14 routes.

    Yearly, LASWA distributes life jackets to operators from the five divisions of the state and compelled  water travellers, no matter the distance, to do it. This was capped by regular training/seminars, where the dos and don’ts on the waterways are drummed into the ears of the operators by LASWA.

    Many of these have been brought under control – over speeding, overloading, and night travels – are few of the challenges that kept dogging safe, but the waterway has been sanitised in the last three and half years, resulting in noticeable reduction in waterways fatalities.

    The government stated that its efforts at sanitising the waterways have started yielding dividends as accidents from low capacity vessels such as dugout canoes and light watercraft have been reduced from an average of 16 accidents yearly to two, this year.

    Beside the centre, the governor also inaugurated the Search and Rescue Unit.

    The centre, the first of its kind by any state government, is a centralised monitoring base station for  Lagos waterways. LASWA is empowered to deploy technology to generate real-time information on any part of its vast water asset, enhance safety and boost data gathering for continuous improvement of the inland waterways.

    Sanwo-Olu maintained that traffic management and transportation remained the key to his government’s economic development plan, stressing that waterways transport had enjoyed special attention in the last three years because of the need to link it with rail and road transportation networks.

    He said: “In the last three and half years, our administration has invested massively in waterways infrastructure with a view to deliberately encourage and promote water transportation in Lagos. We are committed to a safe and secure ferry operation on our waterways. We are opening a command and control centre dedicated to monitor and protect our waterways.

    “We are launching advanced DJI Aerial Drone, and BlueEye Pro drone for underwater searches, and U-SAFE rescuing gadgets.

    “These gadgets are acquired and installed to consolidate our efforts in making our waterways safe for users and further simplify monitoring activities.”

    For the governor, the investments to boost waterways safety are to demonstrate, “our commitment to providing a viable alternative transport solution that will complement other modes being introduced by the government.”

    He said he would continue to  build more jetties.

    “In the coming weeks, we will be commissioning eight newly built jetties out of the 15 we are building,” he said.

    Sanwo-Olu said Lagos had not only been a responsible regulator of waterways transportation, the state continued to lead other players in ferry operations across her established routes, to boost passenger traffic and make water transportation a viable mode for investors.

    The governor said over 1.1 million passengers had travelled on the about 20-high and medium-capacity boats in the LAGFERRY fleet since February 2020 when it commenced commercial operations without recording any accident.

    He said passengers on board any boat in the LAGFERRY fleet enjoy life insurance coverage throughout their journey.

    Sanwo-Olu said: “We have invested so much in LASWA that we are beginning to see the effects. Over the past three years, daily commuter ridership has increased to 43,000 passengers monthly and over 1.4 million passengers yearly. There has also been a visible reduction in boat mishaps achieved through our massive intervention in safety equipment and donations of free lifejackets across the 15 local government Areas accessible by water.”

    Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladehinde, said the installed technology was deployed with the objective to solve economic issues associated with mobility delays and improve reliability of water transportation.

    He said studies showed waterways transportation remained the safest if necessary measures were in place. He encouraged Lagosians to use the waterways to decongest the road traffic.

    LASWA General Manager, Damilola Emmanuel, said digitalizing the state’s inland waterways operations through the setting up of the command centre, would enable the regulatory agency to have intelligent vessel tracking and monitoring along operating routes.

    He said: “This is another milestone delivered in line with the administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S. agenda. The WMDMC has a multi-sensor, multi-layer, continuous surveillance with fully integrated fusion. It can detect and track any vessel of any size. It can identify all boats, automatically monitor vessel activities and send alerts on any illegal or suspicious behaviour.

    “The centre can generate digitized information files available on any vessel containing the entire history, ownership, and licensing. It is equipped with an integrated and automated system integrated with alerts to enable efficient operator handling of events. It also allows field operators to check and verify vessel identities and pass to external parties.”

    Executive Assistant on Maritime Matters to the Governor, Prince Yomi Sopitan, who is the brain behind the Data Management Centre, said the innovation had raised the state’s surveillance capability on waterways and addressed safety concerns.

    Sopitan said Sanwo-Olu and Lagos State became the first to undertake a complete study, survey and marking of the State’s inland waterways, which led to the removal of impediments on the established routes.

    “Prior to installation of advanced technology gadgets, private boat operators in Lagos used to record an average of 19 water accidents yearly. The State recorded only two major water accidents in the year, testifying to improvements we have achieved in the last two years,” Sopitan said.