Many states are gearing for nationwide lockdown to prevent community transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes on how this may affect transportation

PERHAPS the biggest debate across the country in the last few days is whether or not the Federal Government should declare a nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A nationwide lockdown, health experts averred, is to prevent the  spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in communities. With the nation’s fragile health system, health workers fear containing the ravaging virus may become more complex leading to an upward spiral in casualties.

Residents of Lagos and Abuja have been under a lockdown since March 30. The aim was to limit the spread of the deadly infection and   enable those who have contracted the illness to stay at home for the symptoms of the sickness to manifest so they could be evacuated, a procedure, which takes between five and 14 days. The stay-at-home order was to the limit of exposure of those who are yet to contract the sickness.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had put the figure of total number of cases in the country at 131, with two deaths. There were 81 cases in Lagos, 25 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and three in Ogun State on March 31.

As at last Saturday, despite the partial lockdown, the figure had risen to 1,182, with 222 discharged and 35 deaths. More states have also joined the growing list taking the figure to 26 states out of the 36 and Abuja.

Same Saturday, no fewer than 12 prominent persons in Kano had died mysteriously of a sickness, which source has confounded the state government.

For most of last week, many states, especially from the Northeast and Northwest, reportedly resorted to turning back travellers from states like Lagos and Kano.

Instructively, the lockdown extension, directed by President Muhammadu Buhari seems to be failing across the two states of Lagos and Ogun and Abuja, where it was declared. Across these three states, the restriction order was obeyed more in breach.

For instance on Saturday, no fewer than 20 buses were impounded in Lagos by the government. Also arrested were motorbikes running both commercial and logistics.

Many of the offenders complained that the lockdown was already taking a huge toll on their health and economy.

Julius Adewole, whose motorcycle was impounded, said he was recalled by his company, a logistics firm that runs delivery services last Wednesday. He wondered how they would survive if they were denied operation.

A trader, Mrs Judith Ugwu, whose return from Mile 12 Market was truncated as her car was impounded by the government operatives made up of Lagos State Transportation Management Authority (LASTMA), Nigeria Police and the state’s Task Force, wondered how traders would get their products to the market if their vehicles were impounded.

The Special Adviser to the governor on Transportation Oluwatoyin Fayinka said the government had embarked on the enforcement to prevent further transmission of the deadly virus.

According to him, what the government would have desired is voluntary compliance, which he said it enjoyed from the people in the early days of the restriction ordered by the governor and eventual lockdown by the President.

He added that the state is bothered about the rising cases of the pandemic and would do everything to ensure that cases , which are the highest in the country are reduced.

The rising cases in Lagos State were affecting the relevance and necessity of the lockdown. A former governor of the nation’s Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo only last week argued that African countries, including Nigeria, should review the lockdown.

For him, with largely informal and subsistent economy, the countries can not copy wholesale the solutions of the west and Asian nations. “African governments,’’ he said, ‘’cannot pay their citizens to stay at home as developed nations do,’’ warning of huge socio-economic disorder if the regime of lockdown continues.

Yet, health workers insist the number has continued to grow nationally because many of the citizens have continued to flout the stay-at-home order. They said two factors – the grown capacity for testing, occasioned by more states coming up with testing and isolation centres, and the prevalence for many citizens to travel despite the restriction order.

A wellness and nutrition expert Olajide Atanda said the Soludo solution flies in the face of logic. He said had some countries, such as United States, applied total lockdown early, it would not now be the world’s Coronavirus pandemic casualty capital.

Both cases and death rates in the US are the biggest because the President refused to apply the breaks, thus promoting community transmission.

For Atanda, though Nigeria has a subsistent economy with 60 percent of the population in the informal sector, this period is so precarious that all should cooperate with the safety protocols as enunciated by the health experts, especially the NCNC.

Atanda was not alone. Many insisted that though there were pockets of restlessness across the country and violence already recorded in some states, such as Lagos, which recorded the resurgence of the One Million Boys, a band of hoodlums, who visited several communities with violence in the last two weeks, yet, these were not enough reason for the government to abdicate its responsibility of protecting lives.

A lawyer, Dare Olufusi, said the government has a constitutional responsibility to protect the lives.

According to him, what Nigeria needs is not only an extension of the lockdown in some parts of the country, but a nationwide lockdown to prevent movement.

For him, many still embark on inter-state travels. Several travellers use the dead of the night to move from state to state, with such movements serving as a fertile ground for the transmission of the disease.

For health experts, flattening the curve might become more complicating, if Nigerians continue to wilfully flout the stay-at-home order.

They argued that community transmission would continue to proliferate where people refuse to abide with the protocols of safety, such as the social distancing, which implores people to stay at least two metres away from one another, wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their mouth, ear and nose with their dirty fingers.

Read Also: COVID-19: Can working remotely be sustained after lockdown?

 

Other protocols include the use of facemask, regular use of sanitisers and hand gloves to prevent contamination.

For many still embarking on travels at these difficult times, many of these protocols are being flouted at will. Many of the buses impounded on Saturday in Lagos had sandwiched passengers as usual without recourse to leaving at least a seat space in between passengers.

For some of the vehicles found to have the right to be on the road, government officials, had to force the passengers to obey the seat distance directive.

A media executive reviewing the situation said the fear was that the lockdown may be ineffectual if extended nationwide.

For the media executive who preferred not to be mentioned, the case of Lagos has shown that the lockdown has failed in many parts and the government should review its application as it might not succeed, if extended to all states.

Ahead of such possibility, the Nigerian Governors Forum at its emergency meeting last week, had acquiesced to a nationwide lockdown.

They argued that with several governors already locking down their domain, a federal seal might not be out of place. They, therefore, agreed to a 14-day lock-down in the first instance, meaning that the window of an extension exists.

As if this is not enough, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture last week also unveiled strategies to ensure the regular movement of food and other agriculture produce from the production centres to the various markets across the country.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Sabo Nanono, who inaugurated a seven-man Joint Technical Task Team on Emergency Response to COVID-19, said the team is mandated to ensure free movement of agricultural products across the country.

Nanono urged governors to ease the team’s efforts by facilitating free movement of agricultural products across the country.

He charged the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to ensure that transporters who convey agricultural products adhered strictly to the guidelines for movement of goods, adding that vehicles ferrying agricultural products should not convey passengers, saying such is against guidelines.

As Nigerians brace for an indefinite extension of lockdown declared by President Muhammadu Buhari in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states, ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes on the pains of the clampdown on motorists.

 

 

THe picture went viral penultimate week of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the Lagos State crime bursting outfit, arresting some motorists at the Ketu-Alapere in the mainland.

Among the vehicles arrested were two loaded interstate buses which were headed for Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The passengers were discharged and the vehicles impounded at the Alapere Police Station.

With the inevitable indefinite extension of the lockdown over the coronavirus, transportation may continue to be greatest casualty as the government seeks the masses’ voluntary compliance to contain communal transmission of the dreaded pandemic.

Since the nation recorded her index case on February 27, via an Italian expatriate, who traversed Lagos and Ogun states on a business trip, the nation has moved within six weeks has recorded 318 cases. Lagos has grossed over 120 of the cases, becoming the nation’s most burdened state.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) last Saturday said Nigeria has recorded 318 cases; 70 have recovered and were discharged, while the number of deaths has climbed to 10. Painfully,  the disease has spread across the nation’s six geo-political zones with Kano, joining neighbouring Katsina as at Sunday as an index case was captured at the newly flagged off Aminu Kano Stadium isolation centre.

America’s leading coronavirus research centre at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering agreed with the Nigerian figure, adding the total number of confirmed cases worldwide last weekend stood at 1,779,099, while 108,770 have died and 402,709 have recovered.

Determined to arrest the rocketing figures, the federal and state governments across the country have announced lockdown, restricting movements to only people on essential services.

In states, such as Lagos and Ogun, the leadership of the transport unions have assured of their members’ compliance. This is even as the governments through various avenues have continued to engage them on the need to partner them for the containment of the disease.

There is no doubt that transportation is key to grounding the states and achieving the projections of flattening the curve of the pandemic whose rise is worrisome.

Until the presidential lockdown, public transportation had remained chaotic with many routes in major urban cities recording the same over-crowding (overloading), despite the social distancing mantra.

While this has abated as most roads are deserted as a result of the lock-downs, what is prevalent is that people still flout the stay-at-home order as many have resorted to trekking as public transportation becomes extremely scarce on the roads as a result of the clampdown on their operation.

An Anambra State official raised the concern of communal transmission via this channel of transportation at the weekend.

Fielding question on a national television on Saturday, the official said free movements of people living in border communities may continue to promote community transmission of the dreaded disease despite the prevention of public transportation.

In states, such as Lagos and Ogun, there are recorded movements of the people, fuelling concerns whether any further extension of the lockdown would bear any meaningful fruit. For instance, our correspondent observed that last week, virtually the roads were busier than they were the previous week when President Muhammadu Buhari announced movement restriction in Lagos, Ogun and Abuja.

Not only are the roads busier, even the markets were. People stormed the markets and available spaces were crowded out with traders and customers without any consideration for social distancing or personal hygiene that could protect against the ravaging virus.

Also observed were apparent breaches by public transporters as okada (commercial motorcycle operators) and tricycle operators stormed the streets for passengers.

The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) Marshal Dr Boboye Oyeyemi said moral suasion remains the only way to achieve maximum compliance of the motorists, especially tricycle drivers and okada operators.

Felicitating with Christians on the just-concluded Easter celebration, Oyeyemi urged motorists to continue to adhere to the maximum safety and health standards amid the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

He said his men would continue to enforce the directive on overloading of vehicles and mandatory adherence to social distancing directive as the country continues to battle the pandemic, emphasising that attention would be high on Lagos, Ogun and FCT where the presidential lockdown was imposed.

A safety expert, Patrick Adenusi, however, said notwithstanding Oyeyemi’s determination to join hands with other security operatives to enforce the stay-at-home order, Nigerians must see the need to comply if they desire to see the nation overcome the ravages of coronavirus.

Adenusi, founder, Safety Without Borders, said even those who must be on the road at this critical times must adhere to the conventions and protocols of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the virus.

He advised them to avoid touching any handrails and surfaces and to carry hand sanitisers wherever they might go and wear gloves and face masks anytime they are entering a crowded place to avoid being contaminated by anyone who might have been exposed to the virus.

For him, the best form of transportation to adopt at this time is walking or biking, adding, however, that nothing compares to staying at home and avoiding any crowded places that may promote exposure to the disease.

He said: “More than anything, please avoid overloaded buses, and  crowded areas.”

For Adenusi, this is not the right time for drivers and owners to think of the bottomline (profitability) as everyone must be driven by the urgency of the emergency situation into which the nation has been driven and join hands to prevent further spread.

“I think drivers and their conductors should see this period as one of sacrifice. If they must go out at all, they must ensure that they leave two seats in the bus per row,” he said.

He urged the governments to do a lot of advocacy to drive the urgency of this demand, adding that if the government could ensure their buy in compliance would be easier.

He said the earlier the drivers and operators agreed to support the government at this unusual time the better as observance of social distancing, as being urged by the WHO is an elixir, should there be the need to move out from your home, to prevent further transmission.

“The earlier we all comply, the better. It may be the only way out of this dreaded virus and the more we continue to flout the order and come out for one reason or the order, either as a result of boredom or economic reasons, the more we increase the risk of detecting new cases and the more such happens the longer we would all stay away from work as government must mop all traces of this dreaded disease from the society,”  he said.

He urged that the government must back the FRSC in insisting that post-coronavirus, no bus in Nigeria carries more than three passengers on a row.

“It is clear that if they had been observing this three passengers per row, it wouldn’t have been difficult to ask them to knock out one passenger in an emergency situation like this, but it was proving difficult because they have been allowed to be carrying four and they see taking off two passengers as a challenge.”

He said coronavirus has also brought to the fore the need for personal hygiene as well as the promotion of this etiquette in public places, especially at motor parks and bus stops in the country.

Motorists across the country are finding it difficult to obey the loading advisory, which will make them carry only half of their passenger capacity per trip, as Coronavirus bites harder, forcing the government to take the hard option writes, ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

 

The message from the Lagos State government to motorists was loud and clear: You must be alive to be in business and to think of profitability.

Determined to arrest the rising cases of coronavirus (COVID-19), which has risen to 45 as at the last count, the Lagos State government has sought the buy-in of transport unions leadership to impress it on their members the need to reduce crowding on public transportation.

Public transport, undoubtedly, is the life blood of many cities. They are necessary to facilitate economic activities in the cities.

The crowded public transport in the cities is highly vulnerable to disease outbreaks, such as the pandemic.

The various public transport include airplanes, trains, taxis, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), mini buses,  (Danfo), Keke NAPEP (tricycle), commercial motorcycle (okada), bicycle or walking, among others.

The Incident Commander, who is Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in unmistakable terms told transport union leaders that they must help the government address the emergency situation by ensuring that their members strictly comply  with directives on reducing crowding in public transit.

For the commercial mini-buses, popularly called Vanwagons or danfos, the governor insisted that they must carry two per row (as against four) with one passenger in front with the driver to allow for social distancing. For a 14-passenger bus, he urged a reduction to seven, while no large capacity buses should carry more than 42 passengers, with none carrying standing as many of them usually do.

These moves, according to the governor, were to prevent an outbreak of the disease and assist the government in containing its widespread that could be triggered by overcrowding of public buses.

This fear is not misplaced. Though the index case of the disease was discharged last week and six other cases at the isolation centre are said to be recovering fast and on the verge of discharging the huge harvest of the disease in Lagos and a likely spread across the country is indicating that the disease has entered the country and may become a local pandemic, if not aggressively pursued.

This is because though the novel Coronavirus is of a large family of Coronavirus, the novel string the world is new and have continue to defy dozens of drugs being tested across the world to combat it.

In www.vox.com, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and infectious diseases told the United States Congress last Wednesday that COVID-19 is 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu, which he said, stems from the pathogens of the virus called SARS-CoV-2.

Another physician Brian Monahan had told the American lawmakers that he expects between 70 million and 150 million people in the US to get infected with the virus.

Though his assessment seem far too high, indications as at last Friday showed that the US has overtaken Italy and Spain as the highest nation outside China with the highest casualty rate.

That was why the government embarked on massive enlightenment since last Monday, last week, to prevent the grim eventuality such as what is plaguing the western countries, especially as many Nigerians tested positive to the pandemic.

With a rash of stay-at-home order by many state governments, Lagos State officials had stormed the roads last Thursday to begin the enforcement of commercial buses plying the roads.

The social distancing even in public buses, according to epidemiologists, is to prevent passengers breathing on one another inside the buses, thereby stemming community transmission of the dreaded virus.

At a press conference last week, the National President of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Alhaji Mohammed Musa, called on the government to supply test kits to bus stops to complement the hand wash and sanitisers that various unions would be provided at the various motor parks to test commuters before  embarking on a journey.

The Lagos State Chairman of Nigeria’s largest transport union the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Musiliu Akinsanya M.C. Oluomo hit various motor parks to ensure they have installed a hand wash system at their parks, ensure that passengers sanitise their hands.

He enforced the two passengers-per-row rule, ensuring that any driver who flouted the rule was reprimanded while their passengers  forced to disembark.

Last Thursday, the Lagos State House of Assembly took the ‘war’ several notches higher, by passing a Coronavirus Containment Bill, which empowers the government to slam a fine of between N100,000 and N200,000 on any defaulter of any of the government’s directives to contain the spread of the virus.

 

Same steps across board

Other sister states are taking similar steps to contain the virus in their domains. Kaduna has declared a curfew to drive home compliance with the stay-at-home order, Delta and Rivers states have closed their  borders to prevent inter-state migration of the virus.

Same Thursday, the Federal Government hinted of plans to ban inter-state movements to prevent a national pandemic that could see other states not yet infected to be affected by the spread.

Already, the government had stopped railway movements across the country. The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed said, such drastic steps were needed to be taken as the situation at hand became urgent.

He declared that there were enough ominous signs that the country was running against time to prevent a health crisis moreso as the nation had a very fragile health system.

About 4,375 persons, according to the minister, were being tracked by the government for isolation and treatment.

 

To further give vent

With the Chief of Staff to the President Alhaji Abba Kyari and several governors testing positive to the virus, the corridors of power at the national and the various states have quaked with fear of the rampaging disease.

The Federal Roads Safety Commission Corps (FRSC) Marshal Dr Oyeyemi last Thursday said the Corps has been mandated to arrest any driver not willing to comply with the transportation regulations. He said it was illegal for anyone to take more than three persons on a row in a public mini-bus in the country.

Oyeyemi said the Corps is geared to ensure that drivers and fleet operators comply with traffic regulations aimed at controlling the spread of the contagious disease.

Read Also: Mike Adenuga Foundation donates N1.5bn to COVID-19 funds

 

A safety expert Patrick Adenusi said Nigerians have been advised to stay at home to avoid the virus.

However, for commuters who may have to be on the road during the period, Adenusi,  Founder of Safety Without Borders, advised them to avoid using handrails and surfaces,  carry hand sanitisers, wear gloves and face masks anytime they are entering a crowded place to avoid being contaminated by anyone who might have been exposed to it, or where they could afford it, use bicycle.

Besides this, he said, “people should do a seat check, before sitting down. Avoid a seat that looks visibly dirty or soiled. Once inside the bus, passengers should sit at least three metres away from each other, or at least observe one empty seat in-between to avoid touching each other in the bus and ensure they wash their hands thoroughly after each trip.

“More than anything, please avoid overloaded buses, and avoid crowded areas.”

 

Thinking of bottomline

For Adenusi, this is not the right time for drivers and owners to think of the bottomline (profitability) as everyone must be driven by the urgency of the emergency situation into which the nation has been driven to assist in preventing further spread.

According to him, should any sub-sector of the transportation industry complain, it should be the airlines whose operators have had to suspend  flights to prevent further transmission of the virus across the world.

In Nigeria, five operators have suspended operations, with two, Aero and Dana, volunteering to assist the government to airlift relief and medical kits across the states of the federation.

“I think drivers and their conductors should see this period as one of sacrifice and ensure that they leave two seats in the bus per row,” he said.

He urged the governments to do a lot of advocacy at this time to drive this urgency of this demand, adding that if the government can ensure their buy in compliance would be easier.

He said the earlier the drivers and  operators agree to support the government at this unusual time the better as observance of social distance as being urged by the World Health Organisation (WHO) may just be the only elixir top further transmission.

“The earlier they comply, the better. It may be the only way out of this dreaded virus and the more they don’t comply, the more likely we promote the likely spread of the virus,”  he said.

He urged that the government must back the FRSC in insisting that post-coronavirus, no bus in Nigeria carries more than three passengers on a row.

“It is clear that if they had been observing this three passengers per row. It wouldn’t have been difficult to ask them to knock out one passenger in an emergency situation like this, but it was proving difficult because they have been allowed to be carrying four and they see taking off two passengers as a challenge.”

He urged the federal as well as other state governments to back the FRSC, which has been in the forefront of this crusade and insist in giving commuters more respite by bus drivers and operators.

He said coronavirus has also brought to the fore the need for personal hygiene as well as the promotion of this etiquette in public places, especially at motor parks and all bus stops in the country.

 

 

 

 

 

As it is happening in the rest of the world, Nigeria’s transportation system may be heading for its worst times with growing clamour for social distancing in public transportation, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE

 

SINCE the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus nCov-19 (otherwise known as COVID 19), pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been clamouring for personal hygiene, intake of vitamins and water, as well as the observance of ‘social distance’ at all gatherings, including inside public transportation.

Whereas many nations of the world have been on a total lockdown since penultimate week as the virus made the world a canvass of death, Nigeria, which was just getting into the panic mood with the rocketing cases of infected persons, have rolled out severe measures to mitigate further community transmission of the virus.

Chief among the various measures the Federal Government and the 36 state governments have enunciated was the adoption of social distance by citizens at all gatherings, including inside public transportation.

Social distance is the concept where a distance of at least one metre is allowed in-between you and the next person. For instance, though the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the nation’s oldest corporation had  suspended train services on its routes, including the Abuja-Kaduna, which had been the nation’s saving grace since kidnappers and bandits made the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway impassable, it quickly reversed itself, introducing rather a stricter measure where passengers’ travel profile had to be submitted before they could be allowed to ride on the train.

Though the NRC management couldn’t clarify whether same would apply on its Mass Train Transit Service (MTTS), which only recently resumed on Ebute-Meta-Ijoko route, it was clear the corporation had reversed itself in order reduce the panic of passengers, who have come to rely on its Abuja-Kaduna service.

The corporation, however, said it will prevent over-crowding on its passenger coaches, in line with WHO’s directive.

As the Federal Government’s  institution continued to grapple with managing the challenges posed by the Coronavirus, some of the states are collaborating with the transport unions which controls the levers of power in the public transportation sector to mitigate further transmission of the virus.

In Lagos State, the government has outlawed people standing in any public bus, especially the large capacity, while drivers of commercial Yellow buses are enjoined to ensure they reduce passengers per row by  two, even as government urge all transport unions to ensure that that there are sanitisers and thermometers at the respective motor parks.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the weekend said no one would be allowed to stand in any of its large capacity buses. He said the government was would ensure that private operators joined it in wrestling down the virus the cases of which has moved from one on February 27, to 19.

There are four passengers per row in all commercial minibuses plying the major routes in the Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.

These were part of the decisions taken by the state Ministry of Transportation with the executives of major stakeholders in the transport business sub-sector, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) on Friday.

According to the state government’s official Twitter handle @followlasg, the meeting which sought to educate stakeholders in the transport sector on the need to join hands with the state government in drumming awareness against further transmission of the dreaded virus.

The highlights of the communique  at the end of the meeting stated: “Passengers should be disallowed from standing in public vehicles, including the high-capacity buses; while minibuses should have not more than two passengers seated in a row.

“Transport unions should ensure that sanitisers and thermometers are available at their motor parks.

“Others include transport unions are to report any suspected case of COVID-19 to the government.”

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Prince Olanrewaju Elegushi, urged the  unions to engage their members on the preventive measures to forestall further spread of the virus.

The SA to the Lagos State Governor on Transportation, Mr. Toyin Fayinka, affirmed that prevention of further spread of the virus should be paramount to all, hence the need to address sitting arrangement in public buses.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Sewedo Oluseyi Whenu, urged the stakeholders to provide sanitary facilities at their parks.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Health, Dr. Oreoluwa Finnih, who was at the meeting, implored the union executives to partner the government in arresting the disease’s spread.

The unions agreed that their members would improve their personal hygiene, which is the most important preventive mechanism for the spread of the COVID-19 disease.

For a country that relies almost exclusively on land transport, and especially a nation where private operators run its transportation system, getting operators buy-in becomes imperative if the war against the ravaging virus must be won.

Though it may not yet be clear how other states are going to tackle the dreaded scourge, it may not be too far to assume that many would take a cue from Lagos State, especially if it works.

For instance, what is emerging is that it is one thing for the government to get the nod of the transport union leaders, it may be another to get the members to voluntarily comply.

For instance, many commercial buses still carried full load passengers whether they are eight, or 12, or 18, or 24 passenger buses across bus stops in the state.

Matters were even worse on some routes, such as the Mile 2-Orile where some unscrupulous drivers were seen carrying five passengers per seat, clearly overloading their vehicles.

Daniel Thomas, a marketing executive, who lives at Surulere, said the Coronavirus invasion has compounded the crisis that Lagos has been thrown since the government restricted Okada and tricycle operation on some roads in the state.

Thomas said commuters who had been slugging it out at the various bus stops where many resort to walking, would find it difficult obeying directives of two passengers per seat as directed by the government.

Mrs Margret Cliffsimon, a teacher, said the government’s directive on transportation would be tough to enforce.

Though the directive is in compliance with the desire to stop further spread, the state, which was already going through severe transportation stress, would further compound the people’s stress, thereby making it difficult for the commercial drivers and the passengers to obey the directive.

A photograph, which went viral on Sunday, had shown passengers on an interstate shuttle from Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to Lagos, had wrapped themselves up to prevent contacts in the crowded bus.

Situation in other climes

Lagos is not the only state experiencing hard times. In the United Kingdom, for instance, many subways and underground train stations, were said to have been shut, while the government this week intends to roll out more stringent measures aimed at controlling public transportation.

Like Lagos, which ordered all its junior workers to stay off from yesterday, other countries are rolling out similar measures, including shutting down operations and ordering citizens to remain indoors to limit personal interaction.

In South Africa, which has recorded the second highest casualty rate of Coronavirus in Africa, health personnel had resorted to spraying all air travellers with sanitisers before allowing them into the country.

In Ireland, the National Bus and Rail Union have called something similar to what Lagos has done, demanding the scaling down of train and bus capacities to help contain the spread of Covid-19.

General Secretary, Dermot O’Leary,  said: “Our members along with their frontline colleagues remain concerned with regard to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

“Whie the numbers travelling have started to drop off, we remain concerned that the seating and standing arrangements on our buses and trains are not in line with recommended best practice of keeping a distance of at least one meter from another person; the fact is that the current bus and train configuration are not compatible with the social distancing advice from the health experts.”

Marina Puliga, who travels by bus twice a day to get to and from work in Mahon, has said the buses are a breeding ground for infection.

Yesterday, at Marina’ workers commuting to work filled the bus, with many standing.

“People were sneezing and coughing. The World Health Organisation has said people can catch Covid-19 if they are standing within one meter of a person with the virus if they breathe in droplets coughed out or exhaled by them. On the bus, we weren’t even 5cm apart,” she said.

“In Ireland, it’s not evident that there’s an emergency,” Ms Puliga continued.

She has called for more frequent bus services during this time to help reduce the number of passengers travelling by bus at any given time.

 

 

The good times may be here again for yellow taxis and cabs which have been close to extinction as a result of stiff competition from tech-driven competitors with the deployment of Ekocabs, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE  

 

Are you one of those who feel competition may kill or force the ubiquitous yellow taxis in Lagos out of business? Perish the thought.  The yellow taxis are back and better as they have gone digital. Soon, you may just be the next passenger.

From today, a new experience begins with the yellow cabs with the deployment of the Ekocab Apps.

Like their competitors, such as Uber, Taxify and InDrive, the Ekocab will from today roll out its digital platform via the Ekocab app downloaded from google playstore, or an apple store.

All a passenger needed to do after downloading the app is to follow 10-short steps – turn on his location, so that he could be located on the Google GPS, select his destination, confirm his/her pick up location, and select service type (which may be either the yellow taxis or the unpainted private cabs that enlisted on the app).

The app finds you a driver close to your location, the one who arrives to service your request, you enter and enjoy your ride. When the driver arrives at your destination, you pay either cash or online via the app and finally, you end the service, terminate and rate the driver.

 

The old culture

 

The Lagos State taxi drivers and cab operators, otherwise known as the Yellow Taxi, has come of age since the introduction of Western Nigeria Taxi and Federal Taxi, which informed the adoption of the New York Taxis’ Yellow colour by former Governor Lateef Jakande who introduced the uniform taxis for  commercial vehicles in 1980.

Former Governor Babatunde Fashola later modernised taxi operations by encouraging air-conditioned vehicles in 2009 and privatised taxi operation into various franchises, which operated distinct colours with the official stripes of the Lagos State Government of red, blue, green, and yellow.

The advent of technology soon made that obsolete as taxi business moved from the traditional flagging down of taxis on the road to electronic ride hailing services, in which taxi drivers could be called from the comfort of your homes for a ride to any part of the state.

Flagging off the service in Ikeja, the state capital, last week, the Commissioner for Transportation Dr Frederic Oladeinde commended the initiative, pledging the government’s support for any initiative aimed at providing succour against traffic congestion in Lagos.

Oladeinde, who was represented by Sewedo Oluseyi Whenu, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, described the event as historic and congratulated the taxi operators for their doggedness, which according to him, will “undoubtedly transform their professional career”.

Addressing a gathering of drivers who enlisted on the app and have been trained to optimise its operations, Oladeinde noted that technology has reduced the world to a global village and there is the need to move all sectors, including transportation, to meet global best practices.

Oladeinde said the state with a 22 million population cannot afford to live in the past, but embrace technology that will make the state be at par with societies deploying digital mobility.

Incoming President, Taxi Drivers and Cab Operators, Mr Richard Taiwo Omolekan, said the innovation was a result of its members’quest to find an answer to the challenges posed by its competitors, who despite their shallow knowledge of the topography of the state, have pushed the real professional drivers out of business.

He said it was sad that for several years, his members, who were professional drivers, had been threatened by app-backed hailing operators who were at best part-time operators.

Omolekan, the erstwhile Secretary of the association, said his members would deploy air-conditioned taxis on the app. According to him, about 150 taxi drivers have been trained by its technical partners on how to profitably use the app.

Omolekan said some of its members, who were not regular operators (popularly called Kabukabu), were also accommodated in the new initiative as passengers have the option to pick either the yellow taxis or the unpainted ones.

 

New revolution

 

The state’s Director Vehicle inspection Service, Akin George Fashola, lauded the initiative, saying it would revolutionise taxi culture.

He however advised them to take proper care of their vehicles, noting that the traffic laws are clear and government will sanction any defaulter.

The Sector Commander of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), Hyginus Omeje, urged the drivers to  ptotect their apps, comply with traffic laws and up their games as the era of aimless roaming of the street for passengers was over.

Omeje, who was represented by R. O. Olaosebikan, said the app will bring the drivers to a new level of profitability.

The General Manager, Lagos State Drivers Institute, Mrs Afusat Tiamiyu, said as much as there would be a surge in the demand for taxi and cab operators, to ensure the safety of their passengers, operators should embrace the training and retraining offered by the institute.

Tiamiyu, who was represented by Mrs Adebisi Alabi, said soon, it would be mandatory for professional drivers to carry LASDRI certification, among other documents.

One of the trained drivers, Mr Oladele Ojo, said he and his colleagues looked forward to the deployment of the app.

He praised the Omolekan-led leadership of the union for its novelty, adding that history will never forget Omolekan for the introduction of the hailing app on taxi operations.

 

The young app founder

 

Ekocab developer, Segun Cole, 27- year-old Business Administration graduate of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State said Ekocab will revolutionise taxi operations in Lagos.

According to him, Ekocab is a solution to the challenges facing taxi and cab operators whose market share had been eroded by app-based operators.

“We looked at the industry and we asked ourselves, how can we help these people who are being unfairly chased out of their profession by competitors, to regain their market and put food on their table and we came up with this solution which for simplicity of its objective we decided to call Ekocab.

Cole said after he designed the app, he approached the Lagos State government, which linked his team with the taxi drivers and the rest was history.

On the features of the app, Cole said  it has similar features with other apps and because he intends to make these people earn more and to make the app more attractive, he would be taking only 15 percent commission, while the drivers go home with 85 percent.

Another unique feature, according to him, is that while other apps make  operations offline illegal, under Ekocab, operators can work offline and online and receive either cash or online payments as well.

Cole said the tech support firm looks forward to rolling out soon other initiatives which will, ultimately, help in reducing its reliance on commission charged per trip from drivers.

“One of the initiative we intend to come up with soonest is the opportunity to put vehicles for rent from among the drivers that may enlist on our pool. This will be advantageous to the aging taxi drivers who may wish to retire from active driving but wish to earn residual income from his vehicle which we would help him manage on agreed commission,” he said.

Besides these, he said, the Ekocab has a unique opportunity to assist the  government develop a data base which could be mined either by the government, the academia or research and marketing institutes that might require all sorts of data on the state’s transportation systems and this would ultimately become another goldmine for the company.

Cole said Ekocab has shown capacity to turn the stakes against other operators.

He said the 150 drivers trained on the use of the app would be deployed to areas, such as Ikeja, Surulere, Victoria Island, Broad Street, Abule Egba, Ikorodu, from today, while attempts would be made to train another set of 600 drivers between the second and third quarters of the year, who would be deployed to further enhance the capacity and coverage of the drivers.

Cole lauded the government for believing in the young team, adding that he and his team would continue to work at developing tech-based solutions to any area they feel the state is challenged.

He said he had no doubt that Ekocab will be a success, because there is a ready market for taxi drivers whose capacity and reliability over the years for safe, reliable and affordable service have not been in doubt.

“Our rates would be by far cheaper than that of our competitors because we believe that we are the operators to beat. We know the terrain and we have the massive network as all taxi drivers are willing to come on the platform.

He said the only thing a driver needed to possess is his taxi. ‘’We encourage only those with fairly new, air-conditioned taxis or cars to enlist on our platform. If they have a car and a smart or android phone they are good to go and start making money,” he added.

Will Nigeria ever get out of the clutches of truck/trailer accidents? ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes that only a holistic approach can bring the needed respite

 

FOR about 24 hours, between last Wednesday evening and Thursday, Lagos was locked down by a massive gridlock due to a petrol-laden tanker that fell and exploded on the long bridge on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

It was one accident too many. In the last three months, there has been an upsurge in the frequency of trailer/tanker accidents on expressways and major arteries not only in Lagos, but also across the country.

The impact of the lockdown was so profound that the Lagos State Government directed its Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) to step up its activities with the hope of ending the incessant carnage on the roads.

Sympathising with residents on the discomfort resulting from careless and reckless drivers, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said while the government would continue to encourage investors to come into the state, it would not tolerate anything that would not promote the safety of lives and property.

The accident left traffic tailing on to the Third Mainland Bridge, Agidingbi, Ikeja, and even Oregun, with many living along the expressway sleeping overnight in the traffic.

Often, gridlocks attending such accidents are as a result of the recklessness of road users, many of whom drive against traffic in their bid to beat the congestion, thereby messing up the entire routes.

A road safety expert, Mr. Patrick Adenusi, who lauded Lagos for its readiness to cooperate with other state governments and agencies to arrest the rising incidence of truck accidents, said other factors outside regulations might be at the root of incessant truck/trailer crashes.

Adenusi, founder of Safety Without Borders, said the age/maturity of most truck drivers were suspect, even as the equipment they use were aged and at best derelict.

“You do not need to be a seer to know that some trucks are accidents waiting to happen. This is because most of the trucks on our roads are well over 35 years and have passed their age of usefulness, becoming instead carcasses on the road,” he said.

For Adenusi, resolving the accidents involves a more holistic approach that will encourage truck owners to re-fleet in order to ensure the safety of all road users.

Emphasising that the road is a shared asset, Adenusi said fleet owners needed to understand that their vehicles should be in top shape for them to continue to ensure the safety of road users.

Hermonfield Limited, a logistics firm, Managing Director Mr.z Tunji Olaosun said a lot still needed to be done if we were to rid the nation of truck/trailer accidents.

He said tthe accidents had become the most prevalent, especially in the last one decade because of aging vehicles.

“What you discover is that freighting has become the most endangered sub-sector of the transportation chain because of the use of old and deprecating trucks and trailers being used by many logistics operators. Notwithstanding whether or not the goods are insured before leaving the point of departure or not, freighting has become a major issue as a result of the aging nature of the trucks/trailers conveying these goods,” he said.

For him, an accident involving a trailer/truck causes immeasurable damage not only to property and lives of other road users, but to the economic; to the one who hired the vehicle and the owner of the truck whose means of livelihood may be irreparably damaged.

The Lagos State Sector Commander Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Hyginus Omeje, said the situation could not be otherwise as the nation relies almost exclusively on the road mode as a means of transportation of goods and services across the country.

Omeje, who noted that about 90 percent of transportation needs are done by road, further observed that about 90 percent of the trucks/trailers (for either dry or wet cargoes) are aged. He said we might just continue to live with incessant accidents because the vehicles deployed in the roads by operators had passed their usefulness.

He said while the FRSC have succeeded by about 70 percent in enforcing compliance on commercial and private vehicle owners to comply with regulations, the same cannot be said of trucks/trailers who have always escaped the law because they ‘are performing critical roles which sustains the economy.’

He said despite the series of parley with fleet owners, operators and other critical stakeholders in the last one decade, poor enforcements have remained the bane and has informed the increasing wave of accidents on the roads.

He disclosed that recently, the FRSC Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, ordered a full scale enforcement of transportation regulations, adding that the Corps is more poised to commence strict compliance to agreed safety plans and measures for all categories of truckers whether dry or wet.

He said the Corps would no longer look the other side while those with rickety vehicles continue to cause havoc around the country, adding that operators and owners would be expected to comply to the minimum standards while the Federal Government firms up arrangements involving the refleeting of all old and rickety trucks in circulation.

Besides the rickety state of most vehicles, another area needing urgent attention is the issue of little or no training by truck/trailer drivers.

Findings, according to Omeje, have revealed that most drivers graduated from an apprenticeship or motor boy system.

He said: “Many who end up driving trucks started as motorboy, who begins by watching their driver move the vehicle. Gradually, they would be asked to move the trucks when they get to the holding bays and from there the drivers begin to ask them to come behind the steering for sometime, from where he would be given a truck, or move to another truck owner. Only very few of them have gone through formal driving school, where they would be taught the rudiments of driving.

Read Also: Lagos seeks solution to truck accidents

 

“Besides this evil, we have also discovered that many of them drive under the influence of alcohol, drugs and other substances. When the mind is hazy and visibility is blurred as a result of such influences accidents, are bound to happen.”

He said the Corps as part of efforts aimed at sanitising the trucks sector of the logistics chain has made it mandatory for anyone who intends to be a professional driver driving trucks and trailers to undergo a FRSC approved drivers training institute.

‘’We equally made it mandatory for anyone after five years to come for retraining so that they could update their skills and knowledge about what is permitted and permissible, while it has deployed breathlisers to catch anyone who is operating under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.

Omeje, however, noted that the end is almost in sight for trucks/trailers with Federal Government’s investment on the railway line.

“With the eventual haulage of goods from the ports by the train when the project is completed, there would be  a remarkable shift in the over concentration on the road as the train would move those cargoes to the inland ports across the country from where trailers and trucks would take them from there to the warehouses or depots for which they are designated.

What this means, according to Omeje, is that the trailers, which  run round the city and do inter-state shuttles, would be reduced to the last-mile shuttles – from the dry port or the owners’ warehouse.

‘’This will invariably reduce the pressure on the road and even on the trailers. With the eventual take-off of the inland waterways, there would be even more greater relief on the roads as people would be able to make use of barges to take their cargoes from the port and it can go by barges to the eastern and even to the Northern part of the country with ease.

‘’Before all these coalesce however, the Corps as the lead agency on road safety, has a very huge responsibility to sanitise the trucking system and ensure that the nation is rid of rickety vehicles, which he described as moving coffins on the roads,’’ he said.

He said the Corps would continue to partner states like Lagos and others across the country with the purpose of ensuring that sanity is restored to the roads, thereby making the roads safer for all road users.

He said the Corps would continue to rely on stakeholders to drive sanity on the roads, adding that the support of critical stakeholders which has driven sanity in the past would be further strengthened to ensure that road users, including the truck and trailer drivers, play their part is bringing  a lasting solution to the issue of trailer accidents on the roads.