The most expensive 15 kilometers in Nigeria
Epa Stevens examines the ordeal of motorists on the Lekki-Ekpe expressway and role Oando in ameliorating the suffering and proffers some uncommon solutions.
The strike that broke the saddle
Nigerians are not exactly strangers to fuel scarcity. In fact, the scourge perpetually exists with us in one form or another, or at any one place across the nation. However, the last bout was arguably the worst in the recent history of Nigeria. It can easily be argued that no one younger than 30 years of age has witnessed a more severe scarcity. Everything came to a near standstill because all the petroleum products were affected at the same time – Kerosene, petrol, diesel, etc. Ironically, only the pipeline vandals at Ikorodu had fuel as they did not require tankers to haul their illicit product.
The Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) claimed they were fighting for transport fees unpaid by Major Marketers (Conoil, Forte Oil, Mobil, MRS, Oando, Total), which in turn was due to the Federal Government’s unwillingness – or correctly, inability– to pay subsidy claims. The FG accused the Major Marketers of sabotage, the Major Marketers claimed they were innocent and pointed to the PTD, the PTD insisted they were fighting a just cause, and on and on went the accusations and counter accusations, but it was Nigerians that suffered.
The suffering came in multiple dimensions. First, it was apparent that there was lack of fuel to move around or to power generating sets. Added to that, cost of public transport increased by over 100% with the few vehicles that were still able to move around. When you then consider the loss of revenue to those who were not able to run their places of business at that time, it would probably amount to millions of naira. When the scarcity got to its zenith, telecom companies, banks, radio stations and even internet service providers all gave notice that they were closing shop due to the inability to power their operations.
Leading telecommunications firm, MTN tweeted a press release on 23rd May, 2015 titled, “Diesel scarcity jeopardizes MTN’s operations,” sounding the warning that, “if diesel supplies are not received within the next 24 hours the network will be seriously degraded and customers will feel the impact.” This made the headlines the next day.
As if all of this was not bad enough, and contrary to what anyone would expect, the horrendous traffic that the few petrol stations that were still selling fuel caused was enough to frustrate the calmest of men. Case in point is the ever-present traffic around the Oando station located at the forth roundabout on the expressway popularly called Chisco. As someone put it on twitter, “the magnitude of loss due to time wasted on the Lekki freeway cannot be imagined.” It therefore begs the question, why is there always traffic on this infamous road?
The motorist’s nightmare
‘First, there is the fundamental problem of construction ofroundabouts without flyovers in this day and age. Experts worldwide postulate that a flyover over a roundabout on a busy road would cut commute time by at least ten minutes during rush hours. There are seven roundabouts between Lekki phase 1 and VGC estate – which is the portion of the expressway that has been rehabilitated by the Lagos Concession Company (LLC). If you do the math, you would appreciate the unnecessary hardship that Bola Tinubu’s LCC is unleashing on Lagos motorists daily. Yet they have the audacity to say they are building a city of the future… but that’s a story for another day.
Secondly, there is gross indiscipline on the part of pedestrians who refuse to use the overhead bridges, inadvertently slowing down vehicular traffic at densely populated locations like the Jakande roundabout. Finally, there is the most annoying – petrol stations! There are 12 stations between the first Lekkiroundabout and VGC, and Oando alone owns 3 of them. Oando is the only company to own 3 stations, followed by Total that has 2, while the remaining 7 each belong to other major marketers and a couple of independents.
Oando: An inclusive Corporate Responsibility Model
Oando’s strapline is, ‘passionately servicing you.’ A phrase this writer did not know or care about until the time of investigating this story; an investigation that arose from the incessant traffic on the Lekki- Ekpe expressway. Even before the fuel scarcity began, the Oando station at the fourth roundabout, popularly called Chisco, has always attracted heavy traffic. According to Azeez Bello, a taxi driver who plies the road every day, “People like this Oando because the station always has fuel. So when you queue, you know you will get fuel and the meters (dispensing pumps) are always correct.’’ True to form, when Newsintels went round on Monday, 1st June 2015, that Oando station was the only station across the entire stretch selling petrol.
In response to customer agitations, Oando has directed its employees to take turns to regulate and control traffic at the stations. When Newsintels visited the station on Monday and Tuesday, there were at least 12 such employees including senior members of staff coordinating not only the queues, but the vehicles within the stations to ensure quick turnaround. There are also traffic beacons and cones to prevent people from jumping the queue, thereby bringing proper organization to the crowd. This has definitely helped to reduce the time that normal vehicle owners spend on the road.
Speaking to newsintels on telephone, the Head, Marketing Communications, Oando Marketing Plc, Mr. Seun Adeosun commented on the initiative, “We are happy that our employees have yet again demonstrated concern for society. Across all cadres, from junior staff to managers, we have a schedule of Oando Marketing employees contributing their time to manage the traffic along the expressway and within the station at rush hours. This is in addition to the increased activities of Special Marshals, LASTMA, and other traditional traffic agencies to improve traffic flow. We hope this situation will ease off as soon as possible, but we are in discussion with LCC to find a more permanent solution. In the meantime, we enjoin all customers and other motorists to obey the directives of the traffic marshals serving them.”
The cerebral impute of Oando staff’s intervention is not lost on consumers, as an insurance broker, Mr. Akinyemi Lukman – who turns out to have been one of the major people complaining prior to the intervention – said to Newsintels whilst on the queue, ‘‘This customer sensitivity is very commendable on Oando’s part. I can see over ten employees controlling traffic in and outside the station. They were the ones that diverted the queue away from the expressway into the Stillwaters estate side roads. Whilst this hasn’t completely eradicated the long queue, it is moving swiftly and has drastically reduced the traffic nuisance to other road users.”
Mr Adeosun of Oando Plc also commented on the response from customers saying, “We have received positive feedback from motorists and customers directly and on social media that the traffic flow has improved significantly.”
Making a difference
With the scarcity not abating despite the assurances of government and the marketers, it behooves the LCC who collects the toll on the road to contribute to ameliorating the pains of motorists plying the road, and Lagos State to set up emergency traffic control units to intervene in such heavy traffic routes. Oando also needs to extend their focus to other fuel stations such as the one at Fola Agoro and several others that have been highlighted on social media channels.
Giving back is a major mindset of any successful organization, Oando has shown its good intentions, albeit in an imperfect but efficient format of allowing its staff volunteer to serve and give back to the community, and this needs to be commended. It would be recalled that Oando employees have in the past also volunteered their time to teach and participate in book drives at adopted community schools. It is therefore very refreshing to see the organisation take responsibility for the space in which they operate and correct mistakes they have made in the past. One can only hope that this will inspire more thoughtful and innovative initiatives from other leading corporate bodies.
Epa Stevens is a Lagos based social analyst and writer that can be reach at epastevens11@gmail.com