Indespensible solution to the chronic Lagos traffic

The city of Lagos is thickly populated, although the national capital of Nigeria had been transferred to Abuja but being a major industrial hub, Lagos remains a traffic-logged city. The population of the city is multiplying by leaps and bounds and the increase of vehicles cannot keep pace with it. The problem assumed it's present dimension during the oil boom of the 70's, thereafter, the acuteness of the situation has never ceased, and office hour traffic shows no improvement. Ofcourse the market situation may need more explanation- travellers to Oshodi market, the mushin market goers, Tojosho to mention the mention but a few.

Buses moving from one place to the other have no time to wait for the teaming passengers, and no passenger has the patience to wait for the other one to move out otherwise the 'mulue' in their usual way would leave the bus stop carrying away all the passengers that were supposed to alight at that particular bus stop to another. The movement might continue like that with a particular passenger being carried off to about the distance of 200,000 meters. Before he finds another bus to take him to where he was going, time is tickled away and might go back home the following day.

Morning and evening one sees men of all classes balancing themselves dexterously, if somewhat dangerously, on various parts of the vehicle; some precariously hanging on any convenient support or foot rest.

Because of congestion of traffic on the road, accidents occur frequently. Some are nasty, some are simple with broken bones and body, some with great casualties, but passengers do not discontinue and Of course vehicles do not stop plying the roads. From time to time the police become conscious of their dutie. There is a paroxysm of police vigilance. Officers are stationed at every important street corner, one of their duties is to dissuade people from standing on floorboards. If a passenger wants for few minutes to catch the next bus, no material harm is possibly done except what follows - late arrival for duties but as one said, "it is better to be few minutes late in this world than to be few minutes early in the next". The problem is certainly not simple as can be solved by police vigilance or moral precepts.

The want of adequate transport vehicles to meet the serious rush of passengers cannot be easily met; therefore the need to introduce transport by water or water transportation is very needful.

The question of whether water transportation in Lagos should be made real has already been answered. These can be categorized into

•  leisure, pleasure, joy of the water journey
  
•  finance or commercial implications
  
•  short routed journey
  
•  avoiding the motor transport accidents that occur daily on Lagos roads.

Talking about the leisure aspect of water journey, we see that sailing itself provides a magical beauty any moment any time. A boat trip in the moonlight is easier and pleasanter. The moon would shed it's lustre on the wavelet which twinkle and shimmer. On different banks one could see the temples of the gods with colourful banners waving the sky. Minarets rise high up towards the blue sky bathed in silver light. The seem to transform from the brick-stone into something dream-like.

On the other banks which lay afar off, one would see ghostly figures of trees, shadowed mistly in the moonlight and up the sky the Queen moon lay on her throne clustered around by all her starry fays. There would be sounds of temple bells waft towards the travelers by the gentle breeze calling the heart home to quietness. This is what humans need - beauty beyond perfection, peace and s deep sense of blessedness.

In the afternoon, fairers would be happy to join the boat back home with hearts full of devotional songs. Some others with emotional recite and folk songs of our mothers making everybody in the boat to enjoy an outlet of poetry and music.

When once again the boat touch the shore, one would then have a profound sense of fulfillment. We notice here that boat fairy is comfortable, shorter and safer than road transportation. It has a sensuous and emotional quality. There is the lifting up in spirit to the blue star-studded sky, the bejeweled waves of the river twinkling in fairy light, the shadowy trees that stood along the bank.

Here we see that all river trips are a delightful and an unforgettable experience. Apart from the pleasure it provides, advantages could be gotten from the commercial aspect.

As we can see, Lagos provided an avenue for journeying in water from 3rd Mainland Bridge to Epe to Lekki to Sapele 250Km to the east. The areas west of Lagos lagoon are not well provided with roads which causes too much traffic and many commuters there would rely on water transportation for easier, comfortable, faster and pleasurable journey.

Lagos lagoon is about 50km long and 13km in width. It has a surface area of about 6,354.7 square kilometers. It is not plied by ocean going ships by smaller barges and boats because of it's shallow margins. The main channel of the lagoon is Apapa in a broad western branch. Another is the Lagos island from Victoria Island; with this one can see that the question of whether water transportation in Lagos should be made real has already been answered.