Right from the early days when the city now known as Lagos started taking shape, as a coastal city that will be integral to the growth of commerce in the West African sub region, it was clear to its founding fathers that transportation was going to be one of the major infrastructures that will be key to the city’s development.
One of the visioners of the present transportation innovations that is being witnessed in Lagos State under the administration of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the former Governor of Lagos and its first Executive Governor, Late Alhaji Lateef Jakande. Lateef Jakande, aside being renowned for his housing projects that has remained one of his biggest legacies, he is also the one who conceptualized the idea of a metropolitan train services that will crisscross the state, creating a transport synergy or what is known as intermodal transport system for the state. The intermodal transport is a system where the rail, the road and the waterways are intertwined in the way it is used in a city to ease transportation.
At the driving seat for the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation is Seun Osiyemi, a banker turned public administrator. With Osiyemi in the saddle as Commissioner for Transportation, the ministry has continued to score many firsts, especially with the launch of the Blue Rail and Red Rail projects.
Since being sworn in as Commissioner, he has keyed into the THEMES agenda of the Sanwo-Olu administration, which is the acronym for the direction of the administration mandate. THEMES stands for Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism as well as Security and Governance.
Osiyemi, a graduate of Botany from the University of Lagos, was a seasoned banker who had stints with Skye Bank, Heritage Bank and Proctor House Company Limited. He also has MBA, Ogun State University, Chartered MBA: Bangor University, Wales, United Kingdom, Chartered Banker: Bangor University, Wales, United Kingdom (MCBIS 15007367), Senior Executive Program (SEP): London Business School Advanced Management Program (AMP): Columbia Business School, New York, USA.
Some of the landmark projects of the Lagos State Transport Ministry under Governor Sanwo-Olu are
Blue Rail – transporting 250,000 people daily
Red Rail – transporting 1,000,000 people daily
Deployment of 2000 CNG buses
Electronic buses
25 brand new ferries
