Lagferry, unarguably Nigeria’s poster boy in strategic movement of persons on water for logistics and recreation, is a template desirable for municipal intermodal transportation system in a littoral state such as Lagos.
It was originally conceived during the military era of Col. Raji Rasaki as governor of Lagos, restructured by Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu and given a greater lease of life with the private sector, deliberately shaped to navigate the deep waters of Lagos, empowered to open farflung littoral communities, connecting Lagos central. Lagos Ferry Authority flew the flag of first among equals but conscious of the growing private sector presence and quest for survival.
Dead under Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration, which winded up its operation and sold off its prime assets, including MF Baba Kekere, named after the late Lateef Jakande, Governor Akinwinmi Ambode brough the institution back to life, built a world-class ferry terminal at Falomo, invested in massive purchase of ferry boats from South Africa and gave Lagos Waterways Authority () a new face.
Initially, the state toyed with the idea of having ferry services under LASWA, with Jide Cole, erstwhile LASWA influencer, driving the inactive, but internal politicking frustrated the agenda.
Under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagferry got visible prospects, more boats and powers to particularly muscle private boat operators out of the business. Indeed, collaboration with private operators is not part of the operational ecology of Lagferry.
To achieve the Machiavellian agenda, one colourless politician, Ladi Balogun, with no experience in ferry fleet management and exposure, was handed the order to effectively take over the entire Lagos waterways transportation architecture, with new jetties built, some inaugurated and others under construction.
Here ends the Sanwo-Olu response to the turning around of water transportation business and, invariably, the unpretentious agenda to palm pecuniary advantage and showmanship in waterways business. The governor’s boats, exclusively purchased by his vessel handlers, had recorded unbelievable accidents, with two outrightly burnt, one sunk and MF Alausa nearly submerged but rescued.
On Monday, August 8, one of the Sanwo-Olu boats, MF Alausa, went under around Oworoshonki, on its first launch of the day, with full capacity of passengers screaming for their lives as water mysteriously gushed into the boat.
It was about 8:30 am; sudden death waiting to swallow passengers. A development that blemished the procurement process in Lagos State’s “rash and rush” to purchase what industry experts described as fairly used boats allegedly painted off as “new boats” and deployed to gain political advocacy and hound private boat operators out of Lagos waterways.
These accidents and near fatal operations are indicative of poor managerial competence and lack of maintenance ecosystem.
But for providence and rapid rescue response by waterways regulatory agencies, both federal and state, Lagferry would have headlined the worst ferry accidents in recent times in Nigeria. Indeed, Lagferry seems bereft of good management despite massive funding poured into its operations by the water transportation-loving governor of the state.
In fact, Lagferry, empowered by Sanwo-Olu, has lost three ferries to mysterious happenstance, two burnt on Anchorage at Falomo, while one sank in mud waters last year and the just recent Oworo near mishap, a seeming serial black badge operator like no other.
Sadly, as a public-funded institution, and also lacking of corporate accountability, both Lagferry and LASWA are yet to make public reasons why these boats easily go under and are prone to fire outbreaks. Till date, there has been no published investigation report or integrity tests.
Indeed, Lagferry’s banquet of accidents is fuelled with mercantile and winner-takes-all operational mandate without the safety and welfare of passengers in mind. Its revenue returns in four years are also not public domain as expected of public-funded institutions.
On Monday’s Lagferry incident, innocent passengers would have been buried under water, barely two weeks after a heritage boat accident in Ojo area of Lagos with 19 persons from the same family went underwater, never to breathe again.
Stakeholders and observers of Sanwo-Olu’s goodwill support to Lagos ferry and investment in waterways are taken aback by the deployment of boats with questionable engineering capabilities and seek total suspension until proper integrity tests are conducted on Lagferry’s operations.
An indigenous craft builder with verifiable engineering feats told me that most boats in the Lagferry fleets did not meet best engineering ecology for ferry boats, adding that Lagos waterways were of peculiar density, which requires foreign-manufactured boats to undergo local touch-up in order to withstand the massive pollution, wrecks and debris often behind accidents on the waterways.
He also dismissed the state government’s claim of investing in the dredging of Lagos waterways as mere “propaganda” as there was no visible evidence to such development.
“What we see is more of flexing of powers over who owns the waterways with the Federal Government, rather than concrete efforts in dredging the waterways. It is not also not in dispute that those whom the governor saddled with managing Lagferry do not have the capacity and experience. So, Lagferry as presently constituted is an accident waiting to happen,” the expert engineer who craved anonymity further said.