The Twitter space in Nigeria has been agog over a few days with rants and cries on Lagos traffic. There were several complaints and outbursts of anger as Lagosians expressed their traffic-sufferings. #Ekotraffic hashtag was created and it trended heavily, viewed over 48 million times across Nigeria by over 12 million tweeps, and even getting the attention of A-list celebrities like Don Jazzy.
The question is, for how long will Lagosians continue to suffer for a problem that can be solved!
A survey indicates that at least three of every ten years spent in Lagos is lost to traffic. According to Olorunpomi (2010), $1 billion (about N160 billion) is said to be the estimated costs of congestion yearly, and Lagosians collectively lose 3 billion hours to traffic congestions yearly.
In 2015, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State revealed that the state loses over N250 billion to traffic annually. If Lagos loses N250 billion to traffic annually, how much do we really need to fix Lagos traffic?
In an independent research carried out recently, 55% of Lagosians waste about 5-6 hours daily in traffic, 23% waste 1-2 hours daily, 20% waste 30 – 40 minutes daily and only 2% claimed they don’t experience any serious traffic due to close proximity to workplaces.
Another survey reveals that if traffic time is reduced by 20 percent, it would save Lagos State at least $1 billion (about N150 billion) yearly.
Billions of Naira is lost to businesses and families daily due to the excruciating traffic lock, yet Lagos population is projected to grow to 36 million by 2020, which means dead-end traffic is ahead except something is done. The grave effect also extends to the cost to human health, wear and tear of motor parts and other emotional effects.
We at Eko Innovation Centre just don’t want this conversation to go unaddressed and are taking a bold step to call on innovators, social idealist, and thinkers to propose ideas that will solve Lagos traffic problem.
To execute this, we are committing $5million to this project because we strongly believe that #EkoMustMove. We see a progressive and prosperous Lagos where the public and private sectors collaborate to build a greater Lagos. So if you are a social innovator and have a brilliant idea that can solve #Ekotraffic, follow this link
