Time for functional urban mass transit in our cities

With our ever-growing population and rapid urbanisation, it is quite incongruous that we have not developed, let alone established, a mass transit system to cater for the transportation needs of our cities and urban areas. This constitutes a key missing factor that must be addressed urgently and comprehensively if we hope to reach the targets of our human and infrastructural development efforts.

By all accounts, there are scores of cities and urban areas in Nigeria, that qualify for and require mass transit systems to cope with the ever-burgeoning demand for transportation of commuters to and from their workplaces and businesses.

In the entire country, it is only in Lagos, with the recent commissioning of the Blue Line mass transit rail system and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and to some limited extent, Port Harcourt, that the concept of mass transit for commuters has been implemented. Outside of these two cities, none of the megalopolises like Abuja, the federal capital, Kano, Ibadan, Kaduna, Benin, with all their million-plus populations etc have what can be termed mass transit systems in the true sense of the term. This is indeed a glaring urban development gap, considering that these cities have expanded to include conurbations, which more or less constitute the greater area of the cities under mention.

Surveys have shown repeatedly that it is mostly the people who leave in the conurbation areas that commute daily to the city centres to work in the offices and other establishments located there. Collectively, the population of people living in our cities make up a sizeable percentage of our total population.

In many cities around the world, the movement of people is very important. Indeed, a city is sustained to a large extent by the need for people to move for one reason or the other mainly in search of means of livelihood and sustenance. That is why transportation constitutes one of the major investments, development plans and expenditures of cities.

In Nigeria, the absence of mass transit systems in our cities has given rise to many social and environmental challenges which in turn affect the development and growth of these cities.

Workers who most often wake up early to be able to get to their workplaces on time are known to spend frustrating hours in traffic and invariably arrive late despite their best efforts. Again, people miss appointments, which in many cases results in the loss of important business deals.

Also, due to the absence of mass transit systems, people are compelled by necessity to own cars to enable them to get to their workplaces on time. This results in traffic chaos, leading to avoidable accidents that are sometimes fatal.

The lack of a mass transit system also results in the twin environmental issues of noise and atmospheric pollution. Noxious fumes from vehicles pollute the air and invariably constitute health hazards to the commuting public. The noise from blaring horns and poorly maintained vehicles rising to an intolerable decibel grates on the nerves and irritates the senses of both commuters and people leaving along the vicinity of the highways.

All of these lead to our cities being unhealthy for the inhabitants and our environment.

Across the world, no city worth its name works without a functional and efficient mass transit system. In the particular case of Abuja, the federal capital city, it is rather unfortunate that at present there is no mass transit system in place for the ever-growing population of the city, which is regarded as one of the fastest-growing cities in Africa and the world. It is inexcusable that for all the laid down plans to integrate the mass transit system into the overall master plan of Abuja, the city is without one several decades after it was established.

As the capital city of Nigeria, which plays host to many visiting dignitaries and people from all over the world, it is unacceptable that Abuja does not have a mass transit system in tandem with its important role. In the past, there were efforts to have a mass transit system, but it collapsed a few years after. Nothing is being heard of those buses anymore.

All said, the need for a comprehensive mass transit policy and system for the country can no longer be delayed for whatever reason or excuse.

The necessary initiative for this must come concertedly from the federal and state governments as an institutional imperative. In this regard, a comprehensive policy framework must be laid down with guidelines and timelines for implementation and monitoring.

It is worthy of note that President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed a bill that allows state governments to own and operate railways. This is a good starting point, and no efforts should be spared to actualise this noble objective.

MOUNIR GWARZO: Group Chief Executive Officer

NURA DAURA: Group ED, Finance and Corporate Services

NAZIRU MIKAILU: Group ED, Digital and Editorial

AHMED SHEKARAU: Group ED, Business Development SULEIMAN A SULEIMAN: Chairman Editorial Board/Deputy Editor-in-Chief HAMZA IDRIS: General Editor

STELLA IYAJI: Managing Editor