NIGERIA: LAGOS BUILDS FRAMEWORK TO IMPROVE TRANSPORTATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000316

SIPDIS

COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS
TREASURY FOR DPETERS, RHALL, RABDULRAZAK
STATE PASS USTR FOR LISER, AGAMA
STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN, MSTUCKART, JEDWARDS
STATE PASS TDA FOR EEBONG, DSHUSTER
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER
STATE PASS USAID FOR NFREEMAN, GBERTOLIN
USDOC FOR 3130/USFC/OIO/ANESA/DHARRIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EFIN ECPC EINV ETRD PGOV NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: LAGOS BUILDS FRAMEWORK TO IMPROVE TRANSPORTATION

REF: 08 LAGOS 270


1. (U) Summary: Officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Transport
and related agencies, met June 29-July 3, with U.S. Department of
Transportation's Rita Daguillard and National Transit Institute
Director Paul Larousse, to outline the state's efforts at creating
an integrated transportation system and the challenges facing it.
They highlighted several skills gaps, including transport planning,
traffic, railway and marine engineering, and transportation
modelling, and they noted the lack of integration between urban and
transportation planning, weak institutional structures and an
unregulated public transportation network as their chief
constraints. In spite of these gaps and constraints, the conscious
effort to solve Lagos's perennial traffic problem is appreciated by
many Lagosians who spend long hours commuting daily. End Summary.

Ministry of Transport: Formulating Transport Policy
-------------- --------------


2. (U) Lagos State Commissioner for Transport, Bamidele Badejo said
his ministry's focus since 2007 has been providing affordable public
transport service through public-private partnerships (PPP). The
Ministry of Transport (MOT) specifically created a unit to formulate
policies and coordinate the State's PPP transport initiatives. In a
June 29 presentation to Rita Daguillard, Director of the U.S.
Department of Transportation's Office of Research Management and
Paul Larrousse, Director of the National Transit Institute, MOT
Permanent Secretary, Oluseyi Coker said the ministry's policies are
aimed at eliminating chaos on Lagos roads. He said several
specialized units - autonomous and semiautonomous - have been
created to institutionalize proper transportation management
including the Lagos Area Metropolitan Transport Authority (LAMATA),
Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA),Lagos State Traffic
Management Authority (LASTMA),Lagos State Waterways Authority
(LASWA) and Lagos State Drivers' Institute (LDRI).


3. (U) Coker outlined the ministry's activities over the past one
year despite a 50 percent cut in its capital budget from naira 6
billion ($40.5 million) in 2008. Top of the list was the
introduction of high capacity buses on Lagos' new Bus Rapid Transit
(BRT) system, modern taxi cabs, ferries, and water taxis. He also
highlighted the full automation of the motor vehicle and drivers'
registration as key achievements. Preliminary work on introduction
of light rail transport has also begun, he said.

LAMATA: Identifies Major Transportation Skills Gap
-------------- --------------


4. (U) June 30, Dayo Mobereola, CEO of LAMATA identified the major
skills gaps in Lagos's transportation system including
transportation planning, traffic engineering, railway engineering,
marine engineering, transit modelling, public transport operations
(bus, railway and ferry),and transport regulation. He noted that
years of neglect had ensured that past transport professionals did
not pass on their knowledge to new generations, a trend Lagos
Governor Babatunde Fashola (Action Congress-AC) plans to reverse
through LAMATA and the establishment of a School of Transport at the
Lagos State University, fashioned after the US National Transit
Institute. Mobereola lamented that that at inception, LAMATA had to
contend with poor traffic management, lack of integration between
urban and transport planning, poor road capacity, weak institutional
structures and an unregulated public transport network. The agency
has since done significant repairs on roads and related
infrastructure, improved economic efficiency with the enforcement of
transport regulations and lower transport costs via the BRT.

LASWA: Managing Lagos Waterways
--------------


5. (U) The Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA),inaugurated in
2008, now manages the Lagos waterways. July 2, Babajide Cole, CEO of
LASWA told the DOT visitors his agency's mandate is to promote,
develop, and regulate the operation of vessels and various marine
crafts within the Lagos waters, and collect tolls, fees and levies

LAGOS 00000316 002 OF 002


for the use of the waterways and water transport infrastructure by
licensed operators and concessionaires. LASWA is the first
sub-national waterways agency in Nigeria. It has dredged the
waterways, built jetties and licensed two private operators; Metro
Ferry and CityLink Marine, to establish full scale water
transportation systems in Lagos, he said.


6. (U) Both companies now run ferry services to and from several
locations including Ikorodu, on the Lagos mainland and Badore,
Marina, Osborne and Falomo on the island. Metro ferry, which has
eight vessels with maximum capacity for 42 persons, runs the
lucrative Ikorodu-Marina route charging naira 200 ($1.35) per trip,
likewise CityLink runs Badore-Osborne and Badore-Falomo for naira
200 per trip on either route. Kayode Bawa-Allah, Dean of the School
of Transport at Lagos State University noted that the ferry fares
are only naira 50 ($0.34) more than the highest fare on a bus rapid
transit (BRT) shuttle (see Reftel). However, the absence of BRT
buses at ferry terminals undermines the public transportation
integration the state government is aiming for. Cole assured the
group this Lagos state is working to integrate water and land public
transportation.

Water Guard Corps Ensure Security
--------------


7. (U) LASWA ensures security on ferry routes and terminals with its
team of Water Guard Corps and a detachment of policemen from an
anti-terrorist squad. It requires operators to provide lifejackets
to each passenger before boarding the ferry. Cole said the agency
plans to concession the management of the terminals to private
sector operators in the near term, with the agency retaining its
regulatory oversight ensuring safety of passengers and strict
adherence to security rules by operators.


8. (U) Comment: Unaware of the skills gap and institutional
constraints in the sector, for many Lagosians, the sight of big red
or blue public buses around the metropolis, and ferries on the Lagos
lagoon is a sign the State government is thinking of the millions of
citizens who face a horrendous daily commute using dangerous
motorcycle taxis or dilapidated and over-crowded private buses to
navigate Lagos's crumbling and flood-prone streets. If Lagos
succeeds in creating and effectively running its proposed integrated
public transportation plan, it could become a model for other states
and revolutionize urban public transportation in Nigeria. End
comment.


9. (U) This cable has been cleared by Embassy Abuja.

BLAIR