Lagos, Coscharis, Samsung woo more passengers into water transportation

As part of efforts to decongest the road and increase the number of commuters of water transport, the Lagos State Government has kick-started a raffle promo, Sailing and Smiling raffle to encourage more people to embrace water transportation.

Speaking at a press conference held at the Five Cowries Terminal to commence the promo at the weekend, the Managing Director, LAGFERRY, Ladi Balogun, said commuters stood to win a lot of prizes when they purchased Lagos Ferry Services (Lagferry) tickets.

He said the mega promo being held in conjunction with a private firm, Elivate9ja, and supported by other companies such as Coscharis Group and Samsung, was designed primarily to attract more commuters into waterways travel as well as reward them for their patronage.
His words: “As you are all aware, we recently took delivery of seven additional new boats to increase our fleet to 20. These boats will be deployed in several routes within the state. We will have more capacity to ferry more people; so we decided to use this promo as an incentive to attract more Lagosians to embrace a means of transportation that is safe, fast, devoid of traffic and very reliable.”
Balogun, who used the opportunity to reel out some of the agency’s achievements in the last one year, informed that they had moved about 502,000 passengers across the waterways between February 2020 and now.
He said, “Since commencement of operation, the agency has never recorded any accident. We are enabling commerce by providing logistics solution to business owners, moving their trucks and cargoes through the waterways within Apapa. We are the only operator that can boost of having 20 number of boats in its fleet, thanks to Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu who is showing unrivalled commitment to improve water transportation. “And of course, we are promoting tourism through regular charter services and we recently ferried the Nigeria male soccer team, the Super Eagles, to Benin Republic for their AFCON tournament.”
In his goodwill message, the General Manager of LASWA, Mr Oluwadamilola Emmanuel, commended the collaboration from both the public and private sector, adding that no single sector could harness its potential alone.
While calling for more private sector participation in the water transportation business, he commended Lagferry for the initiative and the support of other agencies to making the promo possible.
On why the ultimate weekly price is a car, Emmanuel explained that the government was trying to promote the “park and ride” culture, “where you drive to any jetty in the state, park your car at the ample park space provided at the jetty and board a boat to your destination, come back, pick your car and head home.
“The Lagos State Government is committed to the intermodal transport system of road, rail and water, all to be connected through one means of payment system called the cowry card.”
He said
Also speaking, the General Manager Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency, Mr Afolabi Solebo, said that with the involvement of consumer protection agency that it had showed the level of sincerity of all the stakeholders involved in the promo.
Solebo assured passengers of protecting their rights to the last minute and urged them to embrace water transportation as alternative to road.
The Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Authority, Mr Bashir Are, represented by Senior Legal Officer, Oyinkan Kusamotu, said they would ensure compliance to the promo rules.
He commended the Lagferry for creating awareness for Lagos residents to shift from road to water transportation in the state.
Chief Executive Officer of Elivate 9JA, Mr George Ogan, said the partnership would bring excitement for ferry users through the buying of Lagferry tickets.
He explained that there were lots of prizes such as microwaves, washing machines, television sets and cars.
Ogan said that there would be refreshment for early passengers of Lagferry during the promo.