VZCZCXRO5308
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOS #0316/01 2050733
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240733Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0898
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0486
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

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