Lagos Train 80 Female LAGBUS Drivers

isaac

September 29, 2014 1:40 PM

The Lagos State government has shown that what a man can do, a woman can equally do, so they have gone ahead to employ female drivers in its LAGBUS fleet.

The saying that what a man can do, a woman can do even better seems to be playing out in the Center of Excellence, as the Lagos State Government has reportedly employed 80 female drivers to be part of its Lagos Bus Asset Management Company, LAGBUS, team, or better known in local parlance, BRT.

This move, according to the LAGBUS General Manager for Fleet Operations, Seyi Osiyemi, is to empower the female folks who have what it takes to drive the buses while also checking the excesses of the male drivers who are said to be reckless, dare-devil and careless. The move is also aimed at encouraging women to have interest in driving the LAGBUS buses.

We employed the female drivers to encourage the women who have interest in driving the LAGBUS buses.

These 80 female have started their training on driving from the basics. These ladies do not have driving experience. We will first train them on how to drive car. After that, they will graduate to smaller buses; after which they will learn how to drive the big bus.

We expect this process to take between 3- 6 months. The ultimate plan is to have them driving the LAGBUS, the red bus.

It takes a lot of time for people to embrace it. We had about 200 women who filled application forms, so we short-listed and started with these first 80.

We are also recruiting more males because we are refurbishing 180 buses which will be added to the fleet.

isaac