The Nation Newspaper

Category: Transportation

  • LAMATA goes for concrete roads to save BRT

    LAMATA goes for concrete roads to save BRT

    To protect Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) is replacing the asphalt dedicated lanes with concrete from Mile 12 to Anthony. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE reports.

     

    When the Lagos State Government introduced the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) eight years ago, it never knew that the asphalt roads’ lifespan would impede its efficiency.

    For reasons ranging from soil nature, rising water level and erosion, among others, most of the dedicated lanes have been washed away, leaving the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) to fix them at colossal costs yearly.

    But a breakthrough came last week, as the agency unfolded plans of replacing all asphalt BRT lanes with concrete, beginning with both carriages of Mile 12 to Anthony Village.

    Though the project has taken off, the contractor, CGC Limited, has not moved to site, due to what a LAMATA source called “technical hitches”.

    LAMATA’s Managing Director Dr. Dayo Mobereola said the government opted for concrete because it is cheaper to maintain.

    He said: “The Bus Rapid Transit lanes are being converted from asphalt to concrete pavement in a bid to reduce the lanes’ maintenance cost, guarantee the longevity of the buses and reduce their downtime.”

    Where it is used in other parts of the world, concrete pavement, Mobereola said, reduces vehicles’ maintenance cost and preserves the road.

    Briefing stakeholders, among them, the National Union of Road Transport Workers, cement manufacturers, community leaders and lawmakers, Mobereola said: “Concrete pavements are maintenance free and could last more than 30 years before requiring maintenance.”

    When completed, he added, commuters would experience improved waiting and journey times between Mile 12 and CMS.

    LAMATA’s Director of Roads and Traffic Maintenance Mr. Olufunsho Elulade, said the asphalt surface would be removed and replaced with concrete, adding that it would last for over 30 years.

    To minimise the impact of the construction on traffic, Elulade said the contractor is being encouraged to work at night.

    Chairman, House Committee on Commerce, Industry and Transportation Hon. Bisi Yusuf, who was at the forum, urged stakeholders, particularly transport unions, to cooperate with LAMATA to ensure the timely completion of the project, adding that delay may cost the government more.

    LAMATA’s step has further consolidated experts’ push for the adoption of concrete roads against asphalt surfacing or other materials.

    Construction experts and cement manufacturers at a conference, a year ago, canvassed the adoption of concrete roads in line with their universal acceptance as the best.

    Statistics show that 40 per cent of roads in the United States and Germany are concrete; two per cent of roads in emerging economies, such as India and less than 0.1 per cent in Nigeria are constructed with concrete.

    Experts said the relatively scarce and expensive nature of cement on one part and the hitherto low local production capacity, put at less than 2,000 metric tonnes per year, made asphalt or plain laterite road construction the nation’s only choice.

    However, the total installed capacity of all local cement manufacturers has increased over the years from 2,000 metric tonnes per year in 2003, to 28,000 metric tonnes per year.

    With the nation moving away from being the world’s leading importer of the product in 2006, to self-sufficiency, cement producers said they are better positioned to meet its domestic needs.

    Chairman, Cement Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (CMAN), Mr Joseph Makoju, said: “Benchmarking against international practice, about 40 per cent of the roads in the developed countries such as USA and Germany are made of cement concrete, whereas it is only about two per cent in emerging economies countries such as India and less than 0.1 per cent in Nigeria.”

    Makoju said due to its durability and cost effectiveness, cement concrete would be the best answer to the poor state of the nation’s 195,400 kilometres of roads.

    The Federal Government has promised to collaborate with the association to test run the use of cement in road pavements.

    The Minister for Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, said the government would be collaborating with Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge WAPCO Nigeria Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Ashaka Cement and United Cement Company, UniCem, Calabar on the new project.

    He said an experimentation on rigid pavements (which is another name for cement concrete surfacing), would start with the Kachie-Ajie road, which links the Federal Capital Territory to Baro Port in Niger State, and the Ikorodu-Shagamu road.

    “We want to know what the manufacturers are willing to do to make the project realistic. We would carry out laboratory test on the products to ensure that they are good as we prepare to begin the construction of rigid pavement carriageway in Nigeria.

    “We have identified major road works where we want to experiment rigid pavement design. Consultants were commissioned and they told me that one of those roads is the Kachie-Ajie road to connect the Federal Capital Territory to Baro Port in Niger State.”

    “The second one is the Ikorodu-Shagamu road. We have completed the design of the rigid pavement and commenced procurement for the two roads. Once the 2014 budget is approved, the projects will come on stream,” Onolememen said.

    He said the government is looking forward to collaborating with cement manufacturers in ensuring the success of the experiment.

    Lafarge WAPCO’s Managing Director Mr Guillaume Roux admits the industry produces far more than the country consumes.

    Roux, who said his company has nine plants and intends to increase it to 17 at the end of the year, agreed that rigid pavements would make roads last longer.

    While concrete and cement had a very long history of being used in the construction of buildings, it was not until 1891 that it was used to build a road.

    The first of such was the Court Street in Bellefontaine, Ohio, US, where George Bartholomew experimented with concrete. The quality of the material used on the road was over 8,000 pounds per square inch.

    This is twice the strength of today’s mixes. It may also be why the road is still in place and being used without having undergone any major repairs or improvements.

    In 1913, the first section of highway in the United States was poured using concrete cement to make the pavement. It covered 24 miles and was five inches thick, spanning a width of nine feet. The highway was just outside of Pine Bluff in Arkansas. One year later, there were over 2,300 miles of highway made from this material. By 1919, Oregon had become the first state to charge a tax on fuels to help fund the cost of installing new highways.

    In 1930, Pennsylvania began construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This was the first intercity toll road in the country and was made entirely of concrete.

    The history of concrete and cement goes back many centuries to ancient Egypt and China. In ancient Rome, builders first began to construct roads and bridges using concrete.

    While the 1960s and 1970s are considered to be the peak years for the use of concrete in road construction, it is still used in road construction around the world today.

    A cement manufacturer Carib Cement said the benefits of concrete roadways include resistance to erosion from torrential rains and a longer pavement life, “more than three times that of an asphalt roadway.

    “Concrete roads are also more environmental friendly. Whereas asphalt roads produce more heat and harmful greenhouse gases, and tend to leach into limestone, cement-based roadways do not. Also, at the end of the concrete road’s life cycle, its components can be recycled and converted into aggregates. Concrete roads have a reduced urban heat effect.”

  • Railway…Time for fresh air?

    Railway…Time for fresh air?

    Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur resumed penultimate Monday, with a tour of the corporation’s Lagos office. He unveiled his plan after the tour, ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE reports.

    ALL eyes were on Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, chairman of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) when he resumed work penultimate Monday. He swung into action, visiting some sections to ascertain the state of things at the corporation.

    He was accompanied to the NRC compound in Yaba, Lagos Mainland Local Government Area, by the Managing Director, Prince Adeseyi Sijuwade.

    The Director, Mechanical, Electrical and Signals, Mr. Fidet Okhiria, took Tukur first to the Running Shed, where all serviceable locomotives plying the rail lines are checked before being rolled out. At the shed, engineers and artisans were fixing three locomotives, two of which are used in running the Iddo to Ijoko, Ogun State shuttle. The third locomotive shuttles between Lagos and Kano.

    Materials, such as brake pads, rollers and others, are fixed at the shed. Scraps are disposed.

    Tukur checked the battery room, where all batteries used by the engines are charged. Okhiria said each engine needs 72 volts power to move, adding that engineers at the unit are charged to ensure that the batteries are adequately charged before embarking on any trip.

    At the laboratory room, Tukur was told that the unit is charged with ensuring that appropriate temperature is maintained by the locomotives during their trips.

    He was also at the worksyard, which Okhiria described as the “heartbeat” of the NRC.

    Its only modern equipment is a self-propelled 60-ton crane. Okhiria said the crane has made the recovery of broken down or obsolete rolling stock abandoned across the country easier. NRC, he said, has two of such cranes.

    The cranes, which he said could lift a locomotive simultaneously for repair, are also fixed with sensors that could make them immovable wherever they sense a broken or uneven lane.

    Okhiria said the railway could do with eight more of such cranes. He said if one could be stationed in each of the eight divisions of the railway, the turn around time of getting to areas of distress would be reduced and the railway’s efficiency and speed would tremendously improve.

    “Mr. Chairman, if we get a distress call at Minna, it would take this crane two days, moving from Lagos, to get there, clear the obstruction and make the lane moveable. That would greatly improve if we have a crane stationed at Minna, Offa or even Kaduna.”

    He said accidented rolling stocks were being recovered across the country, adding that the corporation has moved as far as Dagbolu in Osun State, and would comb the paths to Kano to recover obsolete properties.

    The tour was an “eye opener” for Tukur, who learnt that the corporation committed some blunders in the past. One of such was the purchase by the late Gen. Sani Abacha of three locomotives from China.

    Showing Tukur the unserviceable carcass of one of the locomotives, abandoned at the running shed, Okhiria said it went bad within a year of use, adding that its parts are unserviceable due to the engine’s poor quality.

    “We have learnt from our past mistakes. We specifically instruct our suppliers to get us engines made in America, Britain, Germany or Russia,” Okhiria said.

    Addressing reporters at the boardroom, Tukur described the tour as an “eye opener” which has enabled him to know the enormity of his assignment.

    He said he was prepared to tackle the rot and make the railway an institution that Nigerians would be proud of.

    Tukur listed his achievements at the Nigeria Ports Authority, where he served as the Managing Director in the 70s. He said if he could give the nation 18 new ports within five years, he could do more for the Nigeria Railway.

    He said his tenure should be measured not by the improvement in the local shuttles and interconnectedness of the rail system across the country, but by his ability to launch a system that could link Africa by rail line.

    “We have heard of plans by China to build a rail line that would link China to France. There is nothing stopping Nigeria from taking the lead in linking Nigeria to Johannesburg in South Africa, or to Dar-es Salam in Tanzania, or to Cairo in Egypt, Northern Africa. There is nothing wrong if we capture the West African sub-region and be in the forefront of linking our people on the West Coast. It is an ambitious dream but that is the kind of spirit with which I have come to take up this assignment,” he said.

    His dream, he said, may not be achieved unless the Nigeria Railway Act 1955 is amended. He added that the proposal before the National Assembly would be followed up, to ensure that an amendment that can reshape the over 100-year-old corporation is carried out.

    “We are prepared to make the railway successful. We are ready to begin the process of unbundling the corporation; and just like the hurricane that we all saw when the electronics media was privatised or when telecommunications was unbundled, we are going to witness same in the railway sector.”

    Tukur said he would ensure the participation of private investors in the railway, noting that this would not occur until a legroom is provided for them to operate.

    “There are immense opportunities in the railway. When we finish with the amendment before the National Assembly, we would have created the opportunities for profitable investment in the sector. We have got to create a space for the private sector to participate. With the successful track record of this management in the past, the private sector would be willing to participate in this sector,” he addded.

    But Tukur’s dreams risk being dashed by the poor state of rolling stocks available for the use of the corporation and a low staff morale. Other factors are corruption, ineptitude, and officialdom that have made the it difficult for the corporation to shed its toga of a federal corporation rather than a company primed for efficiency and profitability.

    The trains servicing the transportation needs of 170 million Nigerians run on a narrow gauge, a colonial heritage that is worn in many parts, forcing the trains to operate at almost a quarter of installed capacity. This is said to be responsible for the high rate of derailments.

    The NRC still uses decrepit locomotives, shabby cabins, worn coaches and wagons. NRC has, on its fleet, 84 locomotives, 800 wagons, and 170 coaches. Of this, 29 locomotives, 250 wagons and 120 coaches are in working condition.

    About 550 wagons, 50 coaches and 55 locomotives are in various obsolete stages.

    President-General of the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (NUR) Comrade Raphael Okoro urged Tukur to boost workers’ morale by acceding to their demands on enhanced welfare packages.

    He sought the employment of more workers to strengthen the workforce, the dearth of which has stressed the workers whose strength he put at less than 1,000 across the country.

    Okoro said a transformed railway would remain a mirage unless the management addressed fundamental issues relating to workers’ welfare.

    Another worker, who pleaded not to be named, urged Tukur to improve workers’ welfare. “Our morale is at its lowest ebb. Many of us are working under severe environment, an improvement on the condition of service would boost the morale of the workforce,” he said.

    Corruption, stealing and selling of the corporation’s scrap stocks by workers, such as the case recorded in its Enugu station last month, are part of the problems of poor remuneration. There is also the need to make workers stop seeing the corporation as a federal institution, but as a company set up to make profit from its investments.

     

  • Transport Commission coming

    Transport Commission coming

    The Federal Government has said plans to establish National Transport Commission are at advanced stage.

    Receiving a delegation of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), led by its National President, Malam Mohammed Garba, in his office last Monday, the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, said the commission would be the regulatory authority in the sector.

    Umar, who said the bill would soon be sent to the National Assembly, added that the commission would address the challenges and coordinate the activities of the sector.

    He said the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has been mandated to act as the regulatory body, pending the passage of the bill.

    The minister, who stressed the need for continued partnership between the media and the government, said the media tour organised by the Minister of Information was an eye opener, as it enabled media practitioners to see the administration’s achievements across all sectors of the economy.

    ”You and your colleagues have seen infrastructural development of our nation in recent time during the Good Governance Tour,” he stated.

    He affirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to completing the Eastern rail line before the end of the year.

    Umar added that the completion of Abuja-Kaduna modernisation rail project would benefit Abuja and Kaduna State residents, noting that the rail will increase the flow of passengers between Abuja and Kaduna. “You can be working in Abuja and be living in Kaduna,” he said.

    He promised to ensure the adequate safety of high speed double gauge Abuja and Kaduna rail system, noting that the rail track will be protected by high fencing and other safety measures.

    He expressed his appreciation to the NUJ delegation for the visit, praising the media for its patriotism. He assured its members of government’s support and cooperation.

    Earlier, Garba, said his team was in the ministry to drum support and solidarity and to praise him for the transformation of the transport sector in the last three years.

  • LCDA grades 46 feeder roads

    TO ensure the movement of persons and commodities, especially during the rainy season, the lkosi-Ejinrin Local Council Development Area of Lagos State has begun the grading of 46 feeder roads.

    Its Information Officer, Lanre Babatunde in a statement last week, said the move was in line with the LCDA Chairman, Prince Segun Adetola’s vision to provide rural infrastructure and social amenities to the citizenry.

    Babatunde noted that the communities had contended with dilapidated roads and infrastructure.

    “It is in line with efforts by the council administration to make the rural areas more habitable and comfortable, hence over 46 feeder roads across various communities within the LCDA had been opened up.”

    Babatunde said the roads spanning about 200 metres to one kilometre each, have helped the rural dwellers to move farm produce easily from the farm to the final destination “because the roads are now motorable and accessible.

    “The grading and opening of these roads is geared towards preparing the entire community for the fast approaching rainy season against erosion and unforeseen disaster that might come with the rain.

    “The executive chairman has also embarked on this to fulfil his political promises, spread the grading of the roads across all the six political wards, such as Olisa Street, Orugbo-lddo, ltoikin down to Ketu, Eluku Mosafejo link road, Magistrate Court road both in Agbowa, lmam Kofisese Street in Orugbo-lddo, Agbala quarters in ltoikin, Agric Road in Ketu, Adeeso Street, in Owu-lkosi, just to mention a few from all the roads,were graded,” Babatunde highlighted.

    He added that the chairman of the council has assured of continuous grading of roads and clearing of drainage channels in order to pave way for the free flow of water during the rainy season.

  • Lagos scores compliance to policy low

    •Registers 19,372 vehicles, 10,000 operators

    Lagos State Government has scored the compliance to its directive on registration of commercial vehicle operators, drivers and conductors low.

    It said only 19,372 operators of the estimated 35,000 commercial vehicles operating in the state have complied with the directive. This, government said, is poor.

    The Commissioner for Transportation, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, gave the verdict in his Alausa, Ikeja, office last week.

    He said despite the poor compliance, the government remained committed to beginning the second phase of the state’s traffic system.

    Describing the documentation directive as the beginning of the second phase of the Road traffic Law 2012, Opeifa said under the law, all operators, whether owners, drivers or conductors, are expected to undertake appropriate documentation as part of exercise aimed at developing a data base of commercial operators.

    Government had issued a directive last year, giving a 60-day ultimatum for commercial vehicle operators, drivers and conductors to register or face the wrath of the law.

    Faced with poor response at the expiration of the ultimatum on January 1, this year, government had relaxed the implementation of the law, giving the operators more time to comply.

    Giving a breakdown, Opeifa said of this number, 1,645 vehicles were registered under the commercial Car Hire Service and “kabukabu,” 394 were Mass Transit and 10,373 were mini buses (Danfo).

    He added that 6,381 of the vehicles were yellow taxis and 579 tricycles known as “Keke Marwa.”

    He lamented that the breakdown showed non-compliance by public transport owners and operators.

    On drivers and conductors accreditation, Opeifa said less than 13,000 of the estimated 50,000 operators had attended the Lagos State Drivers Institute (LASDRI), as at last month.

    He advised drivers and conductors yet to attend LASDRI to do so in their own interest, go to any of the five centres of the Institute in Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe, for their documentation.

    He enjoined commercial vehicle owners to also go with their vehicles to any of the 21 Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS) offices for their documentation.

    Opeifa reminded those who are yet to register that when the new policy eventually takes effect, any owner, driver or conductor who has refused to register will not be issued with a licence in line with Regulation 41 of the Lagos Road Traffic Law and will miss out on the various opportunities and benefits that the government intended to make available to owners, drivers and conductors.

    He praised those who had complied with the law, adding that they should feel free to transact their businesses.

    He implored the leaders of transport unions, especially the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), the Tricycle Workers Association (TWAN) and the Lagos State Taxi Drivers and Cab Operators Association (LSTDCOA), to ensure that their members adhere to the directive.

    He urged the law enforcement agencies, comprising the Vehicle Inspection Service (VIS), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), men of the Nigeria Police and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), to step up the enforcement and bring to book any operator, driver or conductor who violates the law to serve as a deterrent to others.

  • ‘Govt will continue to improve on traffic flow’

    The Lagos State government has assured residents that it would continue to improve on the provision of road furniture, aimed at reducing traffic situation in the state.

    The government which admitted that traffic situation along some routes had been difficult lately, said it remained committed to reducing the man-hour loss in traffic across the state.

    The Commissioner for Transportation Comrade Kayode Opeifa stated this in his office.

    Some of the furniture already put in place by the government; he said was the construction of over 20, 000 road signage erected across the state. He said no fewer than 230 kilometres of pavements have been marked, and pedestrian crossing has been provided in at least 250 locations in the state.

    The commissioner said the state has adopted the practice of providing pedestrian walkways on every new road project being embarked upon, while it is fixing existing roads with the feature.

    Opeifa added that beside the pedestrian crossing, 119 new intelligent traffic signal lights have been installed at strategic points across the state.

    “All these help in maximising existing road space, reduce vehicle operation cost and promote road safety consciousness. They also ensure an efficient, safe, reliable, sustainable and continuous flow of traffic,” he said.

    He said the government’s commitment to road transportation is borne out of the reality that it remains the most effective and largest means of facilitating the exchange of goods and services across the state and country.

    “Lagos as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria cannot do without good roads. As a result, great resources have been expended to rebuild its road network,” he said.

    He said a development where two million vehicles ply the 9,100 road network in the state, built on a 3, 577 square kilometres as well as the volume of traffic on these roads has provided a rich field of opportunities for the government to innovate and come up with policies aimed at keeping the state with 20 million people moving.

    The commissioner who sued for the understanding of all residents in making sure the safety consciousness being championed by the government takes a firm root.

    He said government would continue to promote safety and safe conducts while on the road, adding that the vision behind all the state’s transport related agencies is to ensure that the state’s roads are made safe for all road users.

     

     

  • Lagos warns against use of unpainted buses

    PERATORS of unpainted commercial buses and taxis in Lagos State have been warned to desist from such practices or face prosecution. The warning was given by the Commissioner for Transportation, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, while responding to a caller’s question on a radio programme.

    He said anybody operating commercial transportation with an unpainted vehicle would be assumed to have criminal intention, and passengers’ should be wary of falling into their trap.

    Opeifa further warned operators masquerading as uniformed personnel, operating with unpainted and yellow vehicles and disobeying traffic rules and regulations, to desist from such acts.

    He said the government would prosecute prosecute offenders apprehended in the court.

    Opeifa who noted that the state welcomes all investors in the transportation sector observed that such investors must be willing to follow to laid down rules, regulations, and procedures.

    He said government frowns at anyone operating outside the law.

     

  • Making LASTMA more public-friendly

    Making LASTMA more public-friendly

    Governor Babatunde Fashola was right on cue when he described Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officials as ‘people Lagosians love to hate’. In 12 years, LASTMA has carved a niche for itself despite the excesses of some of its officials. But the government is doing everything to whip these bad eggs into line. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE reports.

     

    Mrs Agnes Daniel could not believe her eyes. Since she was late for a meeting, she thought she could park across the road and ask her office guard to pick up her car. She had not crossed the road to her office at Ketu, Lagos, before some Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) officials arrived on the scene in their towing van. Her office guard met them about to tow the car. They rebuffed all entreaties that he had come to pick up the car.

    The woman paid N10, 000 to get the car released. “I stopped taking my car to the office since then,” Mrs. Daniel said. “It was,” she continued, “a bitter experience for me. That experience left me with the impression that LASTMA has become the cash cow for many of its workers.”

    Francis Adebambo, a 40-year-old marketer, is another Lagosian with a sad experience. He was apprehended about 7.am, two years ago, and his vehicle impounded on the Dopemu Bridge by LASTMA officials for negotiating the bridge through a one-way under the bridge.

    Adebambo denied the offence, but his denial incensed the LASTMA men.

    Adebambo said he was rudely shoved out of his car, as a LASTMA official took over the driving. Another LASTMA official, who was in mufti, sat at the passenger’s side. He was asked to report at LASTMA’s Egbeda office to retrieve his car. The matter, however, took another turn when he reported at the office and discovered that his two android phones and earpiece were missing. The two offficials denied seeing the phones.

    Angry, he abandoned the car there and opted for legal redress to recover his stolen property valued at N150, 000.

    At Ojota, all the side windows and rear glass of an Oshodi-bound commercial bus trying to avoid being apprehended for driving against traffic, were shattered by four LASTMA officials, who pursued the driver.

    At place in Oregun Lagos, a couple attending a wedding returned to discover that their car had been towed by LASTMA officials. The man said he had been directed to park at the spot by one of the LASTMA officials deployed in controlling traffic on the venue. Over the years, LASTMA has enlarged its scope, covering all the 57 local government areas in the state. Its activities are complemented by the LASTMA Special Traffic Mayors (STM), an elite cream of volunteers, recognised by law, to play a role in keeping traffic moving in the state.

    Some accidents and deaths have trailed the excesses of LASTMA officials. A motorcyclist lost his life at Ikotun, a Lagos surburb recently. He was trying to avoid being caught by a LASTMA official, when he crashed into a vehicle.

    At Iponri, a LASTMA official was crushed by a fleeing commercial bus driver, as he attempted to arrest a car owner for flouting traffic regulations. The arrested car owner regained her freedom at the Lagos High Court, as video evidence from eyewitnesses, exonerated her of culpability in the death of the LASTMA official.

    Established in 2002 by the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to tackle the traffic bottleneck in the state, LASTMA has become the most feared of all traffic agencies.

    If LASTMA had some powers during the Tinubu era, it was invested with more, with the amended Law 2008, by the Babatunde Fashola administration. At some point, LASTMA was speculated to be another revenue generating agency with a fixed target.

    Government’s stand on traffic rules, which, among others, stipulate a psychiatric test, as penalties, has created an opportunity for LASTMA officials to exploit traffic offenders’ ignorance and milk others who want to get off the hook by ‘settling’ to secure their release.

    Except where tickets are written, money paid to LASTMA is often diverted, with some LASTMA man have become emboldened to demand and negotiate with traffic offenders despite government’s insistence that no one should have any cash transaction with any public official.

    Despite these challenges, Fashola has been canvassing strict compliance with traffic rules and LASTMA’s ecpected to enforce same.

    For him, the task of keeping the over 20 million people in Lagos moving must not be left to chance.

    With two million vehicles using the 9,100 roads built on a land mass of 3, 577 square kilometres, the volume of traffic in Lagos is above the national average and over the traffic prevalent in more than 10 states of the country.

    This is why Fashola believes the agency must be appropriately empowered to cope with keeping the state moving.

    The governor knows there are bad eggs in in the agency, but he believes it must repositioned to overcome the excesses of motorists.

    At the launch of the Lagos State Enforcement Training Institute, Fashola challenged LASTMA officials to rededicate themselves to better service and improve their perception in the public space.

    He said: “You are the people that Lagosians love to hate. It is your responsibility to turn that into a love-love relationship. Lagos State Traffic Management Authority is a concept that has extended beyond the confines of Lagos. It is a good brand which we must improve upon. It is a brand which only dedicated men can improve on.”

    Fashola believed Lagosians’ anger against LASTMA is not a verdict to disband the traffic army that has become a toast of other states who have come to understudy it and are deploying it to control traffic in their domains. The solution, he said, is to increase its capacity and revamp its image.

    He said: “The people of Lagos already recognise that you are a necessary part of their lives. In my several conversations with the people, they all agree that you add value, what they are saying is simply a challenge to make it better because we had already done the hard work. Each time they complain, they are endorsing our capacity to do it and they have asked me to ask you to do it well.”

    It is not only the governor that believes in what LASTMA is doing. His Commissioner for Transportation, Comrade Kayode Opeifa, does too. Opeifa believes LASTMA is the best public policy the state has come up with and the best dividend of democracy.

    To critics of the agency, Opeifa said the option is to withdraw LASTMA from the roads for a day and see how chaotic the roads would be within hours.

    He expressed the readiness of the government to combat the bad eggs within the establishment and ensure that committed ones operate in a conducive environment.

    He said the state’s traffic Law 2012 would improve the agency’s efficiency.

    Last year, the government began a mandatory Career Evaluation Training Programme (CETP) for selected LASTMA officers. The officers and their Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) colleagues were taken through more institutional training and standards to change their orientation.

    The need for the training was reinforced by the Senior Special Assistant on Transport Education Dr. Mariam Masha, the CETP coordinator, who said the training would enhance the officers’ efficiency and achieve the goals of law enforcement.

    Masha said the first set of 3,311 officers of LASTMA and KAI graduates of the CETP would be the pilot of the change that the government envisaged in LASTMA, which is suffering from a low perception by Lagosians.

    Masha as the head of transport education has pioneered innovative ideas ranging from strategic meetings with schools, and frontline clubs and prominent associations all aimed at changing peoples’ perception of the agency, which as at 2011 become a burden on the government.

    She said: “Our officers needed to know that for any society to thrive, allowing the citizens to live full, meaningful lives, law and order must prevail and that everyone must appreciate that laws are made by man for his protection and preservation and must therefore observe his civic duty and accept the basic principle of obeying the law and protecting the officers who enforce it.”

    To ensure this, Masha counselled that officers needed not intimidate others into behaving, when they themselves are misbehaving.

    “Let me remind you of the tools of your trade.

    They are the law which empowers you to work, your physical body as you carry no weapons and importantly, your ability to positively influence the members of the community you serve to do the right thing. They must trust and respect you. It is mutual, as you must do same,” Masha further emphasised.

    She reminded that it was in recognition of their significant role in keeping the state moving that the governor recently approved their conversion into the state civil service and the creation of the law enforcement cadre in the civil service for LASTMA and other sister agencies in the state, which entitles them to all the benefits every civil servants has including pension rights under the contributory pension scheme.

    The arrest of a dismissed LASTMA official caught carrying out an illegal operation recently, and another, caught on tape demanding for a bribe are indicators that the task of reforming the traffic army in the state remains enormous.

    While the government is not denying that there might still be such elements, it assures that it has adequate capacity to effect change and transform the agency.

    Much of what it claims to be doing are still to manifest, but lagosians are patiently waiting to see a transformed LASTMA on the streets in the metropolis.

  • Court convicts 33 traffic offenders

    No fewer than 33 traffic offenders have been convicted by a Mobile Court in Ota, Ogun State.

    Their conviction followed their trial, by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) RS2.22, Ota; RS2.26, Idiroko; RS2.27, Agbado and RS2.28, Itori Unit Commands.

    The court sits monthly to try traffic offenders.

    The offenders were convicted for offences ranging from driving with worn-out tyres (TYV), seat belt use violation (SUV) overloading violation (OVL), driver’s licence violation (DLV), vehicle windshield violation (VWV), caution sign violation (CAV), fire extinguishers violation (FEV), light and sign violation (LSV), among others.

    Some of the offenders were convicted with options of fine, while others were cautioned by magistrate Mrs A. O. Abimbola.

    The state Sector Command’s Legal Officer, Mr Uzoma Enwereuzo, said: “Utmost discipline is expected of drivers while on the road.

    “That obedience and compliance of traffic rules and regulations can only reduce number of crashes on the road.”

    He advised motorists, after reading out the 44 FRSC offences, to ensure that their vehicles were road worthy, adding that there is no ignorance in law.

    The lawyer warned motorists against fighting with marshals on patrol, or speeding to avoid arrest, noting these are capital offence, he said.

    He advised motorists to obtain the new national driver’s licence and vehicle number plates, saying the old ones would expire on June 30.

    The enforcement of the new number plates and driver’s licence starts from July 1, he said.

    The Ota Unit Commander, who is also the coordinating commander, Mr Sunday Omafu, said the number of crashes reduced as a result of the compliance by motorists in the last yuletide.

    He appealed to drivers to drive carefully to save lives, time and properties.They should also ensure that other road users are not endangered or threatened while driving.

  • Rail assures pensioners of improved welfare

    The Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Mr. Adeseyi Sijuwade, has assured the corporation’s pensioners of improved welfare.

    He spoke at the beginning of a week-long nationwide verification exercise of the pensioners held in 33 centres across the country.

    He said: “The welfare and well-being of our pensioners will receive a boost through enhanced pension rates as all the recommendations made by the Ministerial Committee on pension rate increase are receiving attention and very sooner than anticipated, monthly pensions of our pensioners will be scaled up.  Having worked for the Corporation for so many years of your life and now that you are senior citizens, you deserve nothing less than a retired life of bliss and plenty”.

    He continued:“As you come out to participate in the 2014 exercise, I share in your joy of having another opportunity in the land of the living, to visit your former place of work where you will meet other retired men and women with whom you had worked when you were young and energetic men and women. I am sure that some great and nostalgic thoughts of yester-years will be running through your hearts as you come into the warmth and beauty of a new Nigerian Railway. I must thank you for serving the Corporation so dutifully well and for sustaining it for my generation to meet to work in. As the management and the workers of this Corporation are concerned, we are determined to do our best and to live a better Railway for the generation coming behind us.”

    Sijuwade said the Federal Government had been funding the Corporation to enable it pay the pensioners.

    The General Secretary of the Railway Branch of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Mr. Rafiu Balogun, said the pensioners identified with the exercise to eradicate ghost pensioners.

    “This exercise will go a long way to justify and sustain our persistent claim that there are no ghost pensioners in the NRC. It is the tradition of the Pensioners’ Union to collaborate with the management in lobbying for funds to offset genuine clams and entitlements of the pensioners. Therefore, we cannot afford to allow such money to go into wrong hands. Our Union is proud to associate with a management that does not tamper with or mismanage pension

    funds”, Balogun said.

    The Assistant Director (Pensions), Mrs. Adunola Oshunmakinde, said the pension verification exercise was imperative so as to generate a database of the pensioners.

    The database, according to Mrs. Oshunmakinde, would help the corporation to determine what amount of funds should be mobilised to pay the pensioners as and when due.