Lagos and a power play that left BRT commuters stranded

Barely a month after the sack of the Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State Dr. Ekundayo Mobereola, a series of crisis has hit the sector.

The crisis culminated in a mass protest last Monday that crippled the popular commuter bus services, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in which about 20 of the buses were badly damaged and more than 10 drivers hospitalized.

A number of would-be passengers and residents were also reported to have sustained various degree of injuries as the crisis left thousands of commuters stranded along the corridor of operation of the BRT buses.

A similar destruction of about ten BRT buses in June 2016 was said to have cost the government more than N20 million to fix.

Although various reasons were adduced as factors that led to the mob action, the immediate cause was the action of government banning the red busses from plying the popular Ikorodu-CMS and Mile 12-Oshodi routes using BRT lanes and bus stops.

A directive to that effect was handed down by the Acting Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Anofiu Elegushi, who declared that the blue-coloured buses are the only ones allowed to use the special tracks.

His reason: “Government has concluded to introduce intelligent traffic system along BRT corridors for easy monitoring, which the red buses are not designed for.

“It is part of efforts of the present administration to boost commuters experience along the corridor, hence the new system.”

According to him, the new directive took effect from Monday, November 7.

He further explained that with the new rule, all routes from Ikorodu hinterland will now terminate at a popular bus stop, TOS Benson and red buses will no longer pick passengers from that spot.

Apparently reacting to the development, drivers and ticket officials of the LAGBUS, embarked on an indefinite strike while miscreants and aggrieved commuters took the streets barring BRT buses from operation, thereby forcing commuters to trek long distances to work with untold pains.

However, it was discovered that there is more behind the crisis than what the public has been led to believe. There are strong indications that the last Monday directive and its attendant fracas was a fall out of some simmering issues within the executive arm of the Lagos State government, which had led to sacking of three commissioners, including that of Transportation.

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A special investigation by Ripples Nigeria revealed that the ownership of the various companies under the BRT scheme was central to the crisis, and that this had been an issue since the exit of former Governor Babatunde Fashola.

An impeccable government source said that the administration of Akinwunmi Ambode after its inauguration had secretly set out to identify the real owners of the buses in the scheme, as well as the various interests empanelled to kick-start the metropolitan commuter bus business.

The known groups included the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Transport Owners Association (TOA), which pooled resources to float various units of companies, most of which fall within the red-colour buses, commuting passenger from the hinter lands to designated centres, like Oshodi and Ikorodu.

But Mr. Wahab Dosomu, the coordinator of NURTW wing for the BRT said the ban on the buses was aimed at removing his group from the BRT business.

“It runs contrary to the terms of agreement with the government… mapped out for the BRT at its inception.

“The initial agreement was that any bus that has been registered through any of the authorised participating companies should enjoy equal status, including using the special BRT lanes, buses and charges. But this attempt to change the rule is like removing the goal post when a goal is to be scored during a match.

“By the earlier agreement, by 2017, government is supposed to totally hands off from the ownership structure of the BRT business, but only provide the environment for the operators to work with, while necessary taxes are paid by us.”

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The LAGBUS/BRT scheme is a creation of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) which oversees the two companies managing two sets of the fleets.

The first is Asset Management Limited whose board of directors includes state government officials, and the second is the NURTW, which is supposed to be the private ownership side of the business-driven programme.

While the LAGBUS fleet consists of red buses, the BRT fleet is made up of the blue buses, with the private sector supplying needed buses to both fleets. With the red coloured ones limited to some routes within the suburbs, the blue buses are to ply the cosmopolitan part of the state.

One of the service providers in the BRT business is Primero Company limited, which has most of its buses in red; its staff downed tools over the issue.

Government sources revealed that the removal of Mobereola as Commissioner for Transport is not unconnected with the ownership and management of some of the companies providing buses for the business.

Ripples Nigeria learnt that former governor , Babatunde Raji Fashola, also has some vested interest in which company is registered for the transport business, and that the crisis that engulfed the scheme has political undertones, given the rumoured fallout between the now minister and his erstwhile political godfather, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

The face-off, it is believed , prompted the Ambode administration to allegedly authorize buying of new busses on blue bar in an attempt to edge out the private-sector owned buses, especially operators of the red fleet.

But when contacted, director, Public Affairs of LAMATA, Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, refused to talk on the remote causes of the recent violent demonstrations that has seen the buses vandalized and drivers landing in the hospital.

He said investigation into the matter would soon commence.

Even as the political power play trailing the crisis continues to fester, Lagosians will still have to bear the hardship they are being subjected to until the underlying issues are resolved.

By Emma Eke….

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

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