By Bose Adelaja

A chaotic scene at a Lagos jetty

In many parts of the country, there is increasing patronage for water transport as an escape option in traffic gridlock-prone areas. This is the case in Lagos where many residents now find solace in this means of transportation to make up for the constant loss of man hours often associated with road transportation.

For instance, with N200 and above, commuters at Ikorodu and its environs can now board a ferry or speed boat to Lagos Island and Ajah at various centres like Bayeku, Ebute, Ijede and Badore. While the Ebute jetty is owned and managed by the Lagos State Government, others are being handled by private orgsnisations and individuals.

A recent visit to some of these places, however, revealed that the operation of the water transport business leaves much to be desired. Investigations revealed that travelling by water this way is seriously fraught hazards, with a clear immence of accidents which can claim several lives if urgent measures are not taken.

While commuters at Ebute can boast of good service delivery, their counterparts at Badore, Bayeku and Ijede are subjected to nasty and scary experiences while travelling by ferries.

Some commuters said the jetties and speed boats are not well designed or planned for passengers’ comfort, while many of the attendants also lack public relations. ‘’The attendants are not professionally trained and the boats are usually unkempt. The environment is not hygienic unlike the government-owned jetty at Ebute which boasts of a beautiful edifice, conducive environment and cafeteria,” said Mr. Owolarafe Iyanda who works in Ajah.

When this reporter boarded the ferry from Bayeku to Lamgbasa and Ijede to Badore, respectively, she noticed that movement of these transport boats were seriously hampered by a thick cluster of water hyacinth.

At Ajah, it was common to see many people defecating in the water as most houses in the area lack good conveniences, apart from the fact that the water itself has been polluted in various ways, including heaps of refuse at the river bank.

A commuter, Mr. Akpata Feguson said many of the operators have formed a cartel to prevent others from coming into the business. “The business is not well regulated because it has been hijacked by a cartel which dictates when to work and when not to, unlike the Ebute jetty that is well organised with corporate dressing and corporate services,” he said.

A pointer to this was when Vanguard Metro got to Bayeku around 10 on a Thursday morning. With a long chewing stick dangling from his discoloured lips, the ticketing officer addressed the commuters in a rude manner. Their crime was that they decided to pay the N200 fare with higher naira denomination notes. As a result, some of them were denied access into the speed boat. ‘’Where do you expect me to get the change from? The fare is N200 but many of you came here with N500 and N1,000 notes. The only thing I can do is to ‘join’ you so that you can go and sort yourselves out,” the dark fiery looking man yelled at the commuters.

This invariably resulted in heated arguments between him and the passengers. This reporter was compelled by this scenario to scout for N200 note before she was allowed to board the ferry.

Apart from the government-owned jetty at Ebute, many of the companies running the business are short-staffed. At Bayeku, for instance, a ticketing officer also doubles as an operator. Meantime, some commuters who spoke with this reporter at Ijede said the boats are not enough to serve the number of passengers on daily basis. ‘’The man has few boats and people will queue endlessly to board them. The engines are in a bad shape and the boat sometimes develop problems while people are already on the water,” said a commuter, Fadairo Tunmise.

Although some of the speed boats have the capacity for seven or eleven passengers but the operators usually carry more than this number with scant regard to the danger their action exposes passengers to.

Also, the life jackets are sub-standard and dirty, while the boats are unkempt. Apart from this, it was obvious that some of the operators lack etiquette as they are not properly trained.

Though some commuters say this means of transportation makes their journey faster and easier but it needs to be improved upon as regards safety measures and service delivery. Many of the centres do not have First Aid Boxes and good cafeteria. Also, every navigational route around Lagos needs to be functional so that places like Apapa, Mile Two and Epe can be accessed through water, thereby reducing traffic jams in the state.