Oshodi, right in the heart of Lagos, exemplifies the saying that whatever the the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. For, who would have believed that this urban jungle, this abode of chaos and crimes, this notorious haven for miscreants, this crazy, scary Oshodi, could be transformed into the world-class beauty that it is today?
Oshodi is what it is today because Lagos State was blessed with a leadership which believed in a regeneration plan hinged on a three-pronged approach – urban renewal, environmental regeneration and transformation, and security. First, it was Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (2007-2015), and then Governor Akinwunmi Ambode (2015-2019). Fashola started the process of transforming Oshodi from chaos to a semblance of sanity, but it was the Oshodi Transport Interchange built by the Ambode administration that has bequeathed Oshodi with the new face that it now wears.
The Oshodi that a first-time visitor to Lagos today sees is an imposing edifice that gets you wondering whether you are still in Nigeria or in some world capital. That is the Oshodi Transport Interchange, a world-class bus terminal that has been likened to the Victoria Terminus in London, United Kingdom. Adjudged the biggest in Nigeria and West Africa, the Interchange boasts three separate terminals of three-storeys each linked by a skywalk bridge, the longest skywalk suspension bridge in Africa. Each terminal hosts ticketing booths, reception, waiting areas, restrooms, loading bay, among others. Terminal 1 takes care of interstate transportation covering 21 different routes including the states of the South-West, South-East, the North as far as Benue, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, while Terminals 2 and 3 cater to intercity routes depending on where the commuter is headed – Ikeja, Agege, Iyana Ipaja, Egbeda, Abule Egba, Mile 2/Festac, Airport Road, Bariga/New Garage, Apapa/Wharf, Ojota/Ketu/Mile 12, CMS/Obalende, Lekki/Jakande/Ajah, Sabo/Ikorodu, and so on. In addition, there is also a taxi park for the Lagos Taxi Service.
But it is not just a bus terminal; it is also a tourist destination that, when fully open, would feature recreational and entertainment centres, museum, art gallery, fast foods, lounge, mall, hotel, tech hubs, retail outlets, ATM gallery, first aid station, emergency exits, and so on. Security is assured with 24-hour security personnel and CCTV cameras installed in strategic areas of the terminal.
Sitting on over 48,285 square metres of land in-between the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway on one side and the Agege Motor Road on the other, the Oshodi Transport Interchange was executed by Planet Projects Limited, a leading indigenous construction and transport solutions company, and commissioned on 24th April 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Oshodi, located in the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos created by the state’s Second Republic Governor Lateef Kayode Jakande, takes its name from a boy prince of Nupe extraction, Antonio Oshodi Tapa, who escaped from slavery to later become a big slave merchant himself, according to available sources. To avoid being loaded onto a transatlantic slave ship in Lagos, the boy slave fled to the palace of the then Oba Eshilokun. The Oba took him in after consultation with Ifa. Oshodi grew up in Lagos in the palace of Oba Eshilokun, who made him the royal chamberlain tasked with the wellbeing of the king’s wives.
But the popularity of Oshodi derives from its centrality as a landing/departure bay for travellers in and out of Lagos as there is virtually no destination in and outside Lagos that one could not get a vehicle to. But the area first developed as a market, established in 1860 during the colonial era to support Britain’s slave trade activities. Oshodi benefitted from the urban boom of the 19th Century after the British constructed railway lines between Lagos and the North to ferry workers across the country.
Before its demolition and reconstruction that transformed the face of Oshodi, the Oshodi market, located about five miles from Murtala Mohammed International Airport, was one of the largest markets in the Lagos metropolis. The entire area was, however, characterised by chaos – overcrowding, nightmarish traffic jam with rickety yellow buses wading through a sea of human traffic, touts throwing punches and breaking bottles, pickpockets and bag-snatchers on the loose, dirty, unhygienic environment, and other negative vibes.
Today, most of what used to be Oshodi market has given way and on its ashes stands the world-class Oshodi Transport Interchange, the new face of Oshodi.
