By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
For more than two years, Lagos State officials sat across the table from transport unions in a slow, deliberate negotiation aimed at avoiding a familiar trap: reforms that modernise a city’s transport system while pushing out the operators who built it.
That negotiation has now produced a Memorandum of Understanding, signed on Wednesday, 5 August, 2026 between the Lagos State Government and two major transport unions, the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, to formally regulate public bus operations and integrate the popular yellow buses, commonly known as “danfo,” into a structured transport system.
The agreement, signed under the Lagos State Bus Industry Transition Programme, is being implemented by LAMATA to fold informal transport operators into a regulated network without excluding those who have sustained the sector for decades.
The government said it will transform commercial bus operations, improve commuter safety, enhance service delivery and create a more sustainable public transport industry.
Speaking at the signing, Akinajo revealed that the process began over 30 months ago, built on continuous engagement, consultations and negotiations designed to ensure transport operators become active partners in the reform rather than casualties of it.
“This will become a baseline for other cities because it will be a verifiable example of a handshake between government and the unions,” she said, adding that if successfully implemented, Lagos could become a global model for cities seeking to modernise public transportation while preserving the livelihoods of existing operators.
She stressed that the reforms should not be read as an attempt to sideline transport workers.
“Formalization should not be construed as strangulation. When we collaborate, the result will be formidable and capable of being replicated across other parts of Nigeria and in cities around the world that are seeking to formalize their public transport operations,” Akinajo said.
Musa described the agreement as “a new beginning for public transport in Lagos State,” explaining that it represents a shared commitment between government and transport operators to fundamentally reshape public transportation across Africa’s largest city. “This agreement demonstrates the commitment of the Lagos State Government and transport stakeholders to building a safer, more efficient and sustainable public transport system,” he said, adding that it promises a future where journeys become more organised, predictable and secure.
Under the new framework, commercial bus operations across the state’s eight designated Quality Bus Corridors will gradually transition into a franchise-based system governed by clearly defined operational standards.
A cooperative governance structure will allow transport unions to manage the transition of their members into franchise operators, while fare collection moves to a fully digital payment system aimed at improving transparency, reducing revenue leakages and simplifying passenger payments. LAMATA will retain regulatory oversight of bus operations across designated routes.
The first phase will cover four Quality Bus Corridors currently under construction: Iju-Ishaga-Abule Egba, Ketu-Alapere-Akanimodo, Iyana-Iba-Igando-Iyana-Ipaja and Ojuelegba-Lawanson-Cele, offering an early test of whether Lagos’s two-year gamble on dialogue over displacement can hold once implementation begins.
The MoU was signed on behalf of RTEAN by its Lagos State Chairman, Samson Adepeju, and Secretary, Bolaji Kawojue, while the NURTW delegation was led by its state Chairman, Mustapha Adekunle, alongside the union’s Secretary, Usman Teslim. Representing the state government were the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Olawale Musa, and the Managing Director of LAMATA, Abimbola Akinajo.
