By Ladapo Kolade
The announcement of new and proposed waterways routes by the Lagos State Ferry Services last week hit the waves sending ripples down the transportation sector.
This was followed by the launch of new boats by Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-olu raising the level of government’s commitment to set sail the multi-modal transportation system of road, rail, air and water travels.
But what caught the attention of residents of Isolo, Ejigbo and Oshodi was the map of the new waterways from Mile 2 to the Airport indicating that their patience is about to yield dividends.
It would also be a befitting gift to the legendary visionary of the project, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who initiated the project as a parallel route to the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway when he was the executive governor of Lagos State between 1979 and 1983.
Alhaji Jakande, who clocked 90 this year, is also on record as the man who initiated the Metroline project to provide a mass transit rail system that the administration of Governor Bola Tinubu replicated with the Ojo- CMS Blue line rail system.
The Ikeja cantonment bomb blast incident of 2001 during which many persons running from the blast got stuck in the swamp of the Oke –Afa canal that links Ejigbo to Mile 2 also led to the dredging of the waterways and revived short distance water transportation from the Isolo to the Ejigbo side of the canal.
Until 2009, reasonable water transportation along the canal to Mile 2 was made possible by annual dredging by the government and was patronized by sand sellers who conveyed sand from places as far as Badagry and Apapa to sell along the waterfront.
For instance, a field trip to investigate if the waterways was navigable was conducted by the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area in 2010.
It invited the Tarzan ferry services to convey the chairman,Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, the vice chairman, Mr. Monsuru Bello and the secretary to the local government, Mr. Remi Gbadegesin on the waterways.
According to former chairman Kehinde Bamigbetan: “ We were looking for solutions to the serious traffic gridlock in our axis. One solution was to create a new road through the construction of Kudirat Adenekan- Canoe- Ajao road and to toll the road. But when the Lekki toll gate protest occurred, we retreated and instead lobbied and persuaded the state government to assist us and we thank Governor Babatunde Fashola for coming to our rescue by constructing a network of roads that are still solid today.
The second option was to take advantage of the waters around Ejigbo, particularly the Oke-Afa canal. So it is true that we invited Tarzan Ferry services to bring his boat to Mile 2 and take us to a place under the Oke-afa bridge. I went with the then vice chairman, Mr. Monsuru Bello Obe, who is now the executive chairman of Ejigbo LCDA. Also on the trip was the secretary to the local government, Mr. Remi Gbadegesin who is now the secretary of the APC, Ejigbo. We also had investors from Germany, including Mr. Sunny Idehen and his friend, Helmut Schroeder, who is now late.
It was an interesting trip. I counted the minutes. We took a 10 seater boat with Tarzan himself steering through the canal. From Ejigbo to Mile 2 took 9 minutes; to Victoria Island, 16 minutes and we arrived Ibeshe in 30 minutes. I confirmed the duration during the return trip.
This gave us the confidence to initiate the jetty so that workers could save money and time to get to Mile 2 and Victoria Island”
However, a few months to the inauguration of the jetty, a structure later to be known as Fasheun bridge was built over the canal in a way that blocked the free flow of the water. Thus began the siltation that has bedeviled the waterways till date.
Echonews learnt that a decision was taken by the Ambode administration to rebuild Fasheun bridge to ensure headroom for ferries and water flow but the implementation was stalled.
There was also a directive to the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructures to dredge the canal in 2018 but it was not executed.
However, speaking exclusively to Echonews, the Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Ferry Service, Hon. Ladi Balogun said the Sanwo-olu administration has decided to dredge the Mile 2- Airport waterways and use it to connect Alimosho in a bold move to expand water transportation in the state.
He said the Ministry of Waterfront Infrastructures has been mandated to prepare the engineering design and implementation programme.
This, he said, gave LAGFERRY the assurance to announce the route as one of the waterways that its ferries would sail before the end of the year.
