By Adebayo Taofiq
Lagos, the pulsating nucleus of Africa’s urban civilization, is a metropolis in perpetual motion. Home to over twenty-two million souls, it is often celebrated as a city that never sleeps. Its labyrinthine highways, elevated flyovers, and teeming commercial corridors are incessantly animated by a kaleidoscopic array of vehicles, pedestrians, and entrepreneurial activity. This relentless dynamism forms both the bedrock of Nigeria’s economic engine and the recurrent ordeal of urban gridlock, daily testing the patience and resilience of its citizens.
Orchestrating order within this complex mesh of human and vehicular movement is no trifling task. It demands not only discipline, fortitude, and dexterity but also innovation, adaptability, and a pervasive culture of civic responsibility. For decades, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has borne the herculean responsibility of supervising this formidable traffic ecosystem. Its officers, instantly recognizable in their mustard-yellow uniforms, have become emblematic custodians of order amid the city’s often chaotic thoroughfares.
Yet, as Lagos expands inexorably and vehicular volumes surge beyond projected thresholds, the Agency’s mandate becomes progressively daunting. Enforcement alone, no matter how rigorous, can no longer suffice. It is within this context that the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, unveiled a pioneering and visionary initiative: the establishment of LASTMA Media Mayors.
Far from being ceremonial or symbolic, these Media Mayors constitute a newly inducted cadre of civic ambassadors entrusted with amplifying LASTMA’s communications, supporting the Agency’s personnel in operational endeavors, and functioning as a responsive conduit between the motoring populace and the Authority. Launched with considerable fanfare at LASTMA Headquarters in Oshodi, the initiative has been heralded as a transformative milestone in Nigeria’s urban transportation narrative. Beneath the pomp of the occasion, however, lies an onerous responsibility, meticulously articulated by Bakare-Oki himself and solemnly entrusted to these new stewards of civic partnership.
LASTMA’s Mandate and the Reformist Vision of Bakare-Oki
Since its inception, LASTMA has stood as the principal custodian of traffic governance in Lagos, mandated to facilitate seamless vehicular flow, enforce regulatory compliance, and safeguard public roadways. The Authority has thus become one of the most visible instruments of Lagos State’s public service architecture. Like any dynamic institution, however, its effectiveness is contingent upon visionary leadership and the embrace of progressive innovations.
Under the stewardship of Mr. Olalekan Bakare-Oki, LASTMA has undergone a veritable renaissance. A reform-minded technocrat with an unyielding vision, Bakare-Oki has implemented measures that transcend traditional traffic enforcement paradigms. Notably, the inauguration of the Agency’s toll free hotline (080000527862) and the deployment of drone technology for real-time traffic surveillance an unprecedented initiative in Lagos has revolutionized the monitoring, analysis, and management of congestion. His tenure has also witnessed an intensification of advocacy campaigns, enhanced officer training, and a substantial deepening of community engagement.
Bakare-Oki’s insight lies in recognizing that technology and enforcement, though indispensable, are insufficient to fully address the unique complexities of Lagos traffic. Equally vital is social capital—the power of communication, persuasion, and citizen participation. It is this understanding that precipitated the conception of the LASTMA Media Mayors.
The genesis of the Media Mayors emanates from a profound observation: the culture of traffic compliance is shaped less by statute than by perception, information dissemination, and collective behavioral norms. In an era dominated by instantaneous communication via social media, radio, television, and community networks, the influence of trusted communicators and opinion leaders is paramount in molding civic conduct.
LASTMA discerned that to deepen public compliance and broaden cooperative engagement, it required a new class of advocates individuals capable of operating outside the rigidity of uniformed enforcement while bearing the moral authority of civic ambassadors. These are not ordinary citizens but esteemed voices with the ability to amplify the Agency’s policies, educate the populace, and transmit authentic feedback from the grassroots.
Consequently, the Media Mayors were inaugurated not as substitutes for uniformed officers, but as complementary agents, bridging the interface between the Agency and the millions of Lagosians whose lives are shaped daily by the ebb and flow of urban traffic.
In his keynote address at the induction ceremony, Bakare-Oki outlined, with deliberate precision, the duties incumbent upon the Media Mayors. He emphasized that these are not discretionary obligations but solemn responsibilities essential to the success of this civic experiment.
a). Advocacy and Public Enlightenment
The foremost responsibility is traffic advocacy. Leveraging their platforms whether through social media, radio broadcasts, community forums, or market sensitizations the Mayors are tasked with amplifying LASTMA’s voice. Their mission is to embed the principles of road safety, voluntary compliance, and respect for traffic regulations into the very fabric of Lagosian life.
b). Feedback and Grassroots Intelligence
Perhaps the most revolutionary role of the Media Mayors is their function as a feedback mechanism. Acting as the “eyes and ears” of the Agency within communities, they are to gather public concerns, commendations, and complaints, providing LASTMA with actionable grassroots intelligence. This two-way communication transforms the Agency into a more adaptive, responsive institution, where policy formulation is informed by lived realities rather than purely top-down directives.
c). Community Engagement
The Mayors are expected to embed themselves within the social fabric of Lagos, engaging markets, religious institutions, transport unions, and youth organizations. By doing so, they domesticate LASTMA’s campaigns, ensuring that traffic awareness transcends billboards and jingles to become a shared, community-owned creed.
d). Ambassadorship of LASTMA’s Image
Beyond communication, the Mayors must personify LASTMA’s values of professionalism, integrity, and service. Their comportment—both on the roads and in public engagements—must reflect discipline and responsibility, thereby serving as living exemplars of the civic culture LASTMA seeks to instill.
e). Support During Peak Traffic Periods
During high-traffic seasons, such as festive holidays, major events, and the Ember Months, the Media Mayors will bolster LASTMA’s advocacy efforts through roadshows, town hall engagements, and broadcast programs.
Their involvement aims to reinforce the imperative of safe driving, reducing accidents and safeguarding lives.
A recurring emphasis in Bakare-Oki’s remarks was that the Media Mayors are not substitutes for uniformed officers. The men and women in yellow remain the backbone of traffic enforcement, stationed across intersections and thoroughfares, enduring sweltering heat and torrential rains to maintain order.
Rather, the Mayors act as partners in persuasion, mitigating the friction between enforcement and compliance. In a metropolis where motorists may perceive traffic officers as punitive rather than preventive, the Media Mayors humanize LASTMA, reframing it as a collaborative ally.
Through explanation, mediation, and narrative storytelling, they foster voluntary compliance the most sustainable form of civic order.
Perhaps the most transformative feature of the Media Mayors initiative is the formalization of feedback as a strategic policy instrument. Historically, public agencies in Nigeria have struggled to institutionalize genuine two-way communication, with sporadic reports and bureaucratic delays often undermining citizen input.
The Media Mayors rectify this by collating public sentiments, identifying recurring bottlenecks, and highlighting innovative community-driven suggestions. This living reservoir of civic intelligence enables LASTMA to recalibrate policies, optimize operations, and target advocacy with precision.
Intersections identified as persistent choke points can receive targeted interventions, while public confusion over traffic regulations can be mitigated through bespoke campaigns. In this sense, the Mayors evolved from communicators to co-creators of policy outcomes.
Towards a New Civic Culture
Analysts posit that the initiative could recalibrate Lagosian civic consciousness in profound ways:
From Enforcement to Cooperation – Transforming traffic governance from a battleground between motorists and officers into a shared civic responsibility.
A Data-Driven LASTMA – Structured feedback loops will render the Agency more responsive, intelligence-led, and adaptive.
Enhanced Public Trust – By humanizing LASTMA through relatable emissaries, voluntary compliance rooted in trust rather than coercion becomes attainable.
Voices at the induction ceremony extolled the initiative. One newly inducted Mayor described the role as “a civic priesthood, mediating between the imperatives of law and the lived realities of the people.” Transportation analysts lauded the Agency for embracing participatory governance, noting that global megacities thrive in traffic management only when citizens are actively engaged in shaping policy. Ordinary Lagosians expressed cautious optimism, appreciating the Mayors’ potential to clarify regulations and bridge understanding between the public and enforcement officers.
Conclusion: Cultivating a Shared Civic Order
The induction of the LASTMA Media Mayors transcends administrative innovation; it is a bold experiment in democratic civic partnership. It embodies Bakare-Oki’s conviction that the future of Lagos traffic management lies not solely in technology or enforcement but in the synergy of law, advocacy, and citizen participation.
By entrusting the Media Mayors with dual responsibilities of advocacy and feedback, LASTMA has effectively democratized traffic governance, sowing the seeds of a collective civic order. The initiative underscores a timeless truth: road safety is not the burden of uniformed officers alone but a shared societal creed.
As these civic stewards embark upon their mandate, Lagosians will watch attentively not merely to witness how they amplify LASTMA’s voice, but how they embody its vision of a safer, more disciplined, and harmonious metropolis. Should this initiative flourish, it may well serve as a model for other Nigerian cities and a global exemplar of urban civic partnership in traffic governance.
