21 October 2019 : Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu made plans to reduce the traffic in Lagos, by launching a new method of transport in Lagos- UberBoats. He made the world know go his plan in a twitter thread on October 16th with the hashtag #SolvingLagosTraffic

In the thread, he stressed that the main motive of launching UberBoats is to diversify.

The twitter thread went something like this:

The newly purchased buses are good quality, air-conditioned buses that we hope will encourage more residents to leave their cars at home and use our BRTs.#SolvingLagosTraffic

We are supportive of private investment in transportation that is non exploitative. This week, I launched Uber Boats the first of many private-sector efforts at providing safe & efficient water transport working with our water transportation initiative #SolvingLagosTraffic

Working with the Uber boats team, water transportation will be affordable and safe expanding to more routes. We want water transportation to ramp up to more parts of the state. We are building and renovating existing jetties #SolvingLagosTraffic

As the road contractors begin to work in your areas, please share pictures and tag drbafemihamzat and I.

As the waste managers clear the drainages in the streets and on the roads, tag us as well. 

When you take your first Uber boat ride, also tag us. #SolvingLagosTraffic

What is funny is, four months ago, Uber had already announced, in an interview with the Reuters that the Boat service was coming to Lagos. They formed collaborations with Texas Connection Ferries and the Lagos State in order to make this scheme successful.

UberBoats has successfully and independently launched UberBoats in other countries, where Governors of those states/nations had nothing to with it. From the USA to Croatia to Mumbai, UberBoats has already been up and running. The company has always strived to offer its ride-hailing service via different modes of transportation.

UberBoats in Lagos can in no way reduce the road traffic in Lagos, mainly due to the capacity limitations, as the service is a pilot program initiated for two weeks, with mere two boats and one round trip destination, which the Governor failed to mention in his tweets.

In a prior Business Insider SSA article on the Boat launch, we described the capacity limitations due to the service being a pilot program for only two weeks with just two boats and one roundtrip destination. The Governor did not disclose this in his tweets.

Although it is quite common for politicians to take advantage of situations, to show the general public how hard they are working in order to reduce the traffic congestion in Lagos. The Governor took it a step too far by claiming sole ownership for something he had absolutely nothing to do with.

Reporting for EasyKobo on Monday , 21 October 2019 in Lagos, Nigeria