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New Lagos Bus Terminals to Move 12 Million People

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  • New Lagos Bus Terminals to Move 12 Million People

The new Ikeja Bus Terminal, the Oshodi Transport Interchange under construction and 11 bus terminals being built in strategic places in the Lagos metropolis are modelled after modern airport terminals, the Lagos State Government has said.

The Ikeja Bus Terminal inaugurated on March 29 by President Muhammedu Buhari will hopefully open a new chapter in public transportation in the nation’s economic capital as commuters are expected to be treated with a high level of dignity with the state-of-the-art facilities provided at the terminal.

According to the state government, the decision to build bus terminals with world-class facilities was to give about 12 million people using public transportation a sense of belonging, similar to the kind of treatment about 21,000 air passengers daily using all the nation’s airports get.

Details of the projects made available to journalists on Friday by the Lagos State Government, Planet Project, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority and Lagos Bus Services Limited showed a number of amenities/facilities that bear similar features with airport terminals.

For instance, at Ikeja, within the terminal building (ground and first floors), has a sheltered walkway, 13 ticketing booths, an ATM gallery, a food court, a functional Intelligent Transportation System that will make routes and travel plan easy.

The terminal is provided conveniences for both sexes and free Wi-Fi spot for the use of commuters.

Other major points are the information centre, waiting area, loading bay, bus and taxi parks, concession shops, office for operator, control room and power house.

The listed facilities showed a marked transformation from the old Lagos bus stop situation of indecency, filth and chaos that provided room for dehumanisation and criminal activities.

Like the Ikeja Bus Terminal, the Oshodi Transport Interchange said to have reached 70 per cent completion when operational would serve 300,000 every day while removing the over 20 rickety motor parks in the Oshodi area.

Speaking during a tour of both Ikeja and Oshodi bus terminals, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Ladi Lawanson, said the terminals were part of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s gift to the 12 million masses of the state, using public transportation daily.

He said the terminals would put an end to insecurity, unreliability and accidents associated with the current commercial bus transportation in the state.

Lawanson said the construction of the new bus terminals was aimed at ensuring that more people embraced public transportation and restored sanity to the roads.

He said, “We have Alapere Bus Shelter, Ilupeju bus depot, Yaba Bus Terminal, Anthony Bus Depot, Maryland Bus Terminal, Agege Bus Terminal, Ojota Bus Terminal, Oyingbo Bus Terminal, Tafawa Balewa Square Bus Terminal, among other proposed corridors. These facilities will provide over 3,000 jobs for youths and increase transport connections and intermodal connectivity in the state.”

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, said the idea is to cater for low and medium income residents who could not afford to fuel their own cars every day.

He said the Ikeja Bus Terminal is a major transportation infrastructure constructed to improve efficiency, adding that 23 routes would be serviced from the terminal and while the facility would be servicing 400,000 passengers daily as well as reduce traffic congestion and environmental pollution occasioned by the current street loading and dropping off of passengers.

The Managing Director of Planet Project, Abiodun Otunola, said the Oshodi Transport Interchange, would have three terminals with terminal one serving the inter-city segment; two for the BRT buses from Oshodi to Abule Egba and other destinations such as Mile 2 and Okoko Maiko; and terminal three would serve Lagos Island and Ikorodu-Ojota axis.

He said all the three five-floor terminals would be connected with a skywalk.

He said, “In all, we estimate nothing less than 50 destinations to be served from Oshodi. And when this terminal is operational, our initial estimate is that in the first one year, the traffic would be about 300,000 going to about 500,000. Ultimately, in 10 years, we estimate that about one million would be able to use this facility at the end of the day.

“It is going to be a major hub and there is no major hub of this type in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of population, size, complexity and the number of destinations.”

The Planet Project boss said the transport facility was original and unique to suit the needs of the city.

The Managing Director, LAMATA, said the agency came up with project and engaged Planet Project for the construction, adding that plan was to encourage more people to drop their cars and use public means of transportation in Lagos.

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Nigerian Businesses Face Tougher Times as PMI Drops to 19 Months Low of 46.9

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Nigerian businesses continued to face headwinds as the Purchasing Managers Index published by Stanbic IBTC shows a 19-month low. 

According to the report released on Friday, business conditions took a hit and PMI dipped from 49.8 points in September to 46.9 points, the steepest decline since March 2023.

For context, a PMI reading above 50 points indicates growth in business activity. Conversely, a reading below 50 points indicates contraction, suggesting deterioration consequent to an economic downturn.

According to the report, businesses faced pressures from the local currency weakening, higher fuel prices and increasing cost of transportation.

This has also forced the hands of businesses to increase prices to sustain operations, which the report stated has led to a reduction in new orders and business activity.

Most importantly, confidence in the business sector plummeted to the worst ever since the organisation started documenting PMI in 2014.

“Overall input costs rose at one of the sharpest rates on record, with selling prices increased accordingly. This resulted in marked reductions in new orders and business activity, while business sentiment was the lowest in the survey’s history,” the report read in part.

A positive light in the report was that some companies managed to add a few new hires, extending a six-month trend of job creation. The downside to this was that the companies employed these staff on a short-term basis.

The report also stated that companies are making efforts, now more than ever, to help their staff stay afloat in the current economic situation.

“Meanwhile, efforts to help workers with rising living costs meant that staff pay was increased to the greatest extent in seven months,” the report added.

Metrics like the private sector output, volume of orders, and quantities of purchases made by customers all recorded steeper values than they did in September.

Trends showed that prices, cost of staff maintenance and input prices, on the other hand, recorded very sharp increases, with some metrics posting record hikes since March 2023.

Inflation in the general Nigerian macro environment is telling in every quarter and businesses are not exempt.

Analysts told Investors King that special interventions will help ease the pressure on companies, but warned that risky conditions attached to these measures may scare off firms from accepting them.

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Dangote Refinery Sells Petrol At N990 Per Litre to Trucks

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Dangote Refinery

Dangote refinery has finally announced the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as Petrol, following months of back and forth.

The company said it sells to domestic marketers at N971 per litre into ships and N990 into trucks, according to a statement signed by Anthony Chiejina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer and released on Sunday evening.

“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PMS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing, and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks”, the company said in the statement released on its X page.

On a series of accusations and counter-accusations from IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations, Dangote refinery said it is impossible to land petrol at a lower price than Dangote refinery’s current price, except they are importing substandard products.

“Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices, and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports.

“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles. Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.”

The company claimed it started selling at the stated rates without knowing the exchange rate that would be used to pay for the crude purchased.

Meanwhile, the company has said an international trading company rented a depot facility close to its refinery with plans to start blending substandard products and dump them into the Nigerian market to compete with Dangote refinery’s better quality.

“This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria. We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries in order to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips in order to protect their domestic industries.”

“While we continue with our determination to provide affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum product in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty.”

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NAFDAC Uncovers Fake Condoms in Four States, Issues Fresh Directives to Zonal Directors, State Coordinators

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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued fresh directives to its Zonal Directors and State Coordinators after uncovering the unlawful sale and distribution of an unregistered condom brand named Foula Condoms in some states in Nigeria.

The agency made this known via a report from its officials in the Post-Marketing Surveillance directorate.

The officials identified Foula condoms which is packaged in sets of three, in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, and Zango, Katsina State.

This finding was part of a risk-based post-marketing surveillance study focused on registered condom products in Nigeria.

NAFDAC revealed that these unregistered products are not labelled in English and may have side effects.

The agency further warned Nigerians to desist from the use of unauthorized and unregistered condoms as they pose great health risk for users.

NAFDAC said, “The condom is not registered by NAFDAC for use in Nigeria, and the labelling of the product is not in the English Language.

“Condoms are a proven effective barrier method that can be used as a dual-purpose method for both prevention of unintended pregnancy and protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
To be most effective, any barrier method used for contraception or preventing infection must be used correctly.”

“The purchase and use of poor-quality condoms will adversely affect every aspect of condom promotion for the prevention of unintended pregnancy and protection against HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections. If condoms leak or break, they cannot offer adequate protection.

“All NAFDAC zonal directors and state coordinators have been directed to carry out surveillance and mop up the unregistered products within the zones and states. Importers, distributors, retailers, healthcare professionals, and consumers are hereby advised to exercise caution and vigilance within the supply chain to avoid importing, distributing, selling, and using illegally distributed products. All medical products/ medical devices must be obtained from authorized/licensed suppliers.

The products’ authenticity and physical condition should be carefully checked. Healthcare professionals and consumers are advised to report any suspicion of the sale of substandard and falsified medicines or medical devices to the nearest NAFDAC office, at 0800-162-3322 or via email: sf.alert@nafdac.gov.ng

“Similarly, healthcare professionals and patients are also encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of medicinal products or devices to the nearest NAFDAC office or through the use of the E-reporting platforms available on the NAFDAC website www.nafdac.gov.ng or via the Med- safety application available for download on android and IOS stores or via e-mail on pharmacovigilance@nafdac.gov.ng,” the agency stated.

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