•Targets Electric Buses, Private Sector Support
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Abimbola Akinajo, has reaffirmed the state’s commitment to developing a fully integrated and sustainable transport system, saying Lagos is steadily transitioning towards a multimodal transport future with public-private partnerships at its core.
Speaking at a Professorial Chair Guest Lecture by the Lagos State University (LASU) School of Transport and Logistics, themed ‘Transport Infrastructure Delivery and Sustainable Development of Lagos State: The LAMATA Experience’, Akinajo highlighted the authority’s achievements, ongoing projects, and ambitious future plans aimed at easing urban mobility across the state.
“With over five million cowry cards in circulation and usable on every regulated mode of transportation in Lagos, we have largely achieved a unified payment system. But that’s just one part of our bigger vision for a truly integrated intermodal network,” she said.
The guest lecture featured the coming together of academics, policymakers, students, and transport professionals to examine LAMATA’s role in shaping Lagos into a model megacity with robust mobility solutions.
Akinajo noted that the authority had embarked on several initiatives to increase transportation options, reduce environmental impacts, and create opportunities for private sector investment.
These include the deployment of CNG-powered buses, plans for 500 electric buses, solar-powered terminals, and an evolving rail network that integrates with bus and ferry services.
“We don’t want to be a mono-fuel agency. The goal is to be multi-fuel, environmentally conscious, and economically viable.
“By the fourth quarter of 2026, we plan to add not less than 2,000 buses to the fleet and introduce 500 electric buses to serve strategic corridors like Iyana Ipaja,” she added.
In his opening remarks, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Prof. Oseni Taiwo Afisi, who represented the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji Bello, described the lecture as a milestone in the university’s efforts to foster collaboration between academia and industry.
“LAMATA, under Akinajo’s leadership, has driven remarkable changes from BRT expansion to the historic launch of the Blue and Red Line rail systems. We, at LASU, are proud to be partners in this transformation,” he said.
Afisi appealed to LAMATA to restore the once functional 10-bus scheme for LASU staff and students, suggesting a phased operational structure to accommodate both academic and off-season periods.
The event ended with a renewed call for stronger partnerships between LAMATA, the private sector, and academic institutions to build sustainable transport policies, including expanding mobility solutions for the over 20 million residents of Lagos.
