But that is for how long the Bus Rapid Transit has existed in Lagos and it's already looking like what should be a marathon race is fast turning into a very short sprint given how the management of the BRT system appears to have deteriorated in just five years.
Perhaps long used to very terrible transport system and the regular sight of the BRT buses, Lagosians cannot easily notice the very poor state of many of the buses. I
t, however, takes a visitor to the State or someone who has been away from the city for a while to see the rising problem of the BRT system in Lagos. This was my experience recently after a short absence from Lagos.
The sight of the BRT buses I saw was, to put it mildly, shocking. Yet this couldn't have been the intention of the Lagos State government when the BRT buses were introduced five years ago.
Many applauded the foresight that gave birth to the system that was in a sense meant to gradually phase out the molue on Lagos roads and bring sanity to mass transportation.
While many may still go around Lagos on the BRT lines I doubt if the experience is now any different from riding in the battered molue that are still to be seen in Lagos. If anything, the deteriorated state of the BRT buses has certainly increased the number of molue-cadre buses in the state even if most of them are now in the blue or red colours of the BRT buses.
When the BRT buses began operation in 2008 Nigerians in Lagos had no doubt that the Fashola administration had found what seemed then a decent way to temporarily address the problem of mass transportation in Lagos. The BRT system could only be a temporary solution in the face of the increasing population of Lagos.
There is no way a government could seriously believe that the provision of thousands of buses could take care of the transportation needs of millions of people that daily commute in and around Lagos. This was the problem the metroline project that has remained a pipe dream in more than three decades was meant to address.
But the politics surrounding the actualisation of this project has proven more potent than the desire of those that should make the dream a reality.
This was the context in which the BRT system looked like a decent but temporary way to take care of the transport needs of Lagos. But the stopgap nature of the BRT measure is now clear in the deplorable state of the entire system which is visible in the rundown look of the majority of the BRT buses.
Five years ago anyone could move around in Lagos in the BRT buses except those who perceive themselves too wealthy to share in any form of mass transit system.
The buses were clean both inside and outside. The seats might look hard but they were decent enough and commuters could expect a ride in one without the aggravation associated with commuting in a molue or danfo. Middle class workers- bankers, teachers, civil servants etc, could be seen in their ties and jackets in these buses.
There were neither itinerant preachers nor food or drug vendors to bother passengers. The buses were not littered with waste or remains of stale foods and snacks nor were 49-sitting and 99-standing people, 'shuffering-and-smiling' Fela-style, crammed together like sardines in the buses.
The drivers and conductors were courteous and went about their duty with dignity. Indeed some of the buses were air-conditioned and you could expect a decent ride in relative comfort.
This is a far cry from the dingy BRT buses one sees in Lagos today. The buses look very dirty both inside and outside. The internal walls look grimy and coated in dark colours that are in fact accumulated dirt that has caked over time.
With the constant battles reported between passengers and conductors and/or drivers of the buses and other road users, there is no doubt that area boys, even if only in attitude and mentality, had eased off the touted OND/HND and degree holders that were initially recruited to drive and conduct the buses. The buses are extremely dirty from the outside with many of them parading torn and jagged panels that are a clear danger to the clothes and bodies of passengers and other commuters.
With the rains around, things can only get and are getting worse for the buses and people who have to use them. The picture of the BRT buses in Lagos today is not in any way inviting. It is an indicting statement of our lack of a culture of maintenance for it could be asked how things could have been allowed to happen this way in just five years.
Is it that the BRT initiative has been an unprofitable proposition all along or the managers and founders have simply succumbed to the Nigerian malaise of irresponsible and criminal neglect of what they perceive to be public property? What is the Lagos State government doing to halt the obvious slide of the BRT system into ignominy? Surely, operators of the iconic molue must be looking on in amused silence at the collapse of a system that was touted to replace it.
But millions of Lagosians daily going about their business would want to know how the richest state government in the country proposes to ease their transportation pain.
By Rotimi Fasan
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I guess, baba Raji Fashole in his I.Q has tried 2 save the transportation problem in lagos, but the staff handed this responsibilities 2 handle these buses with care, are neglecting and malhandling it.
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