MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN LAGOS

At last!, the wait was finally over the as yellow van stripped in black emerged from the boisterous traffic, in normal parlance called a ‘Danfo’. This Volkswagen vans took over from the monstrous ‘Molue' which is a corruption of the word “Maul Him”, a description given to it by the city’s elite, who were piqued by the incessant manner of the large bodied buses tear of clothes and even flesh. This ‘Molue’ (Benz 911s) were the major means of public transportation in the 1990s where one is normally rumpled from head to toe, mobbed or even robbed in this big trucks.

The ‘Danfos’ are usually ushered by the hoary cry of the conductors and the recklessness of the drivers, who sometimes feel they are fit for the “Grand Prix”, to compete with drivers like Michael Shumacher, Louis Hamilton and so on. The hustling and bustling begins in Lagos with securing a public transport and an affordable one is not mince meat, where one has to forget age or size to secure a seat and then negotiate price later. A friend of mine once said professionals who designed the public transport policies in lagos never use the public transport themselves. Almost all the vans in the untarred car parks are obsolete, even the palliative measure introduced by the Lagos state government, B.R.T buses, are almost going into oblivion because we lack the maintenance culture.

Personally the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) would have been the preferred option but it is not always available, in fact one is almost in tears when one beholds the countless heads on the queue waiting for the next BRT bus, reminding me of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Goddot”. So I have to settle for ‘Danfo’, the car engine only starting with the ritual of concocting wires and a push by the ever agile conductor who later squeezes himself into the van. The journey is punctuated by the occasional stops by ‘Agbero’ and the itinerant presence of potholes, the heat, the annoying jibes between the conductor and the driver.

Public transport in Lagos especially vans are not meant for comfort, in fact that word does not exist. Often I have to adjust and readjust my suit, which is usually rumpled. Ideally, transportation is meant to be a means to an end, not an end in itself but this is not the case here; most of the auto crash in Lagos are caused by human error and insensitivity of drivers. Some researchers assert that most public transport drivers in Lagos are half drunken, and we use transport to access facilities and services, jobs, educational institutions, healthcare facilities, banks etc. Quality and availability of public transport have an impact on the welfare and income earning potential of the masses. Good quality and well targeted public transport helps in pulling people away from buying cars, in fact intensive public transport use will not only contribute to the people’s welfare but also facilitate development in an urban environment like Lagos.

In a developing country like Nigeria, public transport plays an even more important role to the populace, providing access to social, economic and life enriching activities and services. It naturally adds up to conclude that Lagos state needs safe, efficient, reliable and affordable public transport to achieve equitable and sustainable development. I will suggest the Lagos state government acquire loans to purchase more BRT buses and also develop a mechanism, this mechanism will bridge the gap between the commuter and the policy makers, and also cater for the maintenance of the buses.

                                                                                                  Adewale Socrates Aderibigbe