Lagos to upgrade commercial transport operators
Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, has revealed plans by the government to raise the standard of commercial transport service providers.
Dr. Mobereola said the state has held consultation with road transport operators on the need to rebrand and professionalise the road transport sector.
According to him, the present administration is determined to have public transportation system that supports its megacity status where tendencies for commuviolence are curbed; drivers and conductors are retrained and registered. He said the state government has plans to restructure garages in the state and introduce holistic ticketing system which people can download from the internet and use for any mode of transportation in the state without hitch.
“Lagos State motor garages will be restructured in such a way that alcohol and illicit substances and other things that are not supposed to be sold at our garages will not be there. We are going to teach the transport operators in the state etiquette on how to behave and talk to commuters. As a matter of fact they too want a change.
” Meanwhile, the state government said it has disbursed N39 million to 248 vulnerable members of the society who are in need of financial assistance as start-up capital for small and medium scale businesses.”
Special adviser to the governor on Civic Engagement, Kehinde Joseph, who revealed this at a press briefing held at the Lagos State secretariat, Ikeja, said the funds were disbursed through the Office of Civic Engagement.
He explained that additional requests for financial assistance from members of the public are being processed, adding that more people would benefit from the exercise soon. Joseph emphasised that in line with the present administration’s inclusive governance policy, the Office has met with various groups and non- governmental organisations to promote activities related to volunteerism, community building and participation in the political process.
Joseph said the state government would continue to encourage all well-meaning citizens to contribute their quota to governance in the state, assuring that the present administration has made good its promise to run an open and inclusive government through engagements.
“Also, at end-December 2015, loans to the oil and gas sector constituted 25 per cent of the gross loan portfolio of the banking system while credit to the sector rose marginally by 2.8 per cent to N3,307.87 billion at end-December 2015 compared to the position at end-June 2015.
“Loans to state governments rose by 33.9 per cent to N1,053.97 billion from N 696.87 billion at end-June 2015.The CBN disbursed N338 billion to 27 states under a special intervention scheme to refinance states’ debts,” the report added.
However, the NPLs of 12 banks between 2014 and 2015 had showed that majority of the banks’ NPLs fall below the CBN maximum regulatory threshold of five per cent while four crossed five per cent.
Among the Tier 1 banks whose NPLs were investigated include, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (ETI).
