Lagos State Ferry Services Corporation (Lagferry) Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Abdulbaqi Balogun has described waterway transportation as a solution to gridlock on roads.
He said with more people being ferried across water to their destinations, at shorter times than would have held going by road, more people would choose the convenience and safety of ferry services, thereby freeing up the roads for seamless commute.
Balogun, who spoke yesterday in Lagos at the conferment of the prestigious Fellowship Member of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) on him, described Lagos as the ‘state of aquatic splendour’, as it was surrounded by about 13 lagoons and major rivers, notable among which were Lagos, Lekki, Yewa, Badagry, Ologe, Iyagbe, Kuramo, Apese, Epe and Mahin lagoons, all being fed by several rivers such as Ogun, Ona/Ibu, Oshun, Shasha and Oni rivers.
Balogun had explained that every part of the state and all five of its administrative divisions were accessible via its waterways, which boasted of over 30 jetties, and a long history of water travel, especially as a means of commuting goods and imported merchandise to hinterland areas of the state.
Balogun, an indigene of Ilorin in Kwara State, was born at Ajegunle in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State 45 years ago.
He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Economics from the Lagos State University (LASU), PGD in Marketing from International Academy of Marketing, Masters in Business Administration from LASU and MBA in Leadership and Sustainability.
He is a member of professional bodies, which include – Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, Professional Member of the Certified Marketing Communication Institute of Nigeria and Professional Member of the Global Marketing Network, United Kingdom. He is also a graduate of Entrepreneurship from the FATE Foundation School of Entrepreneurship.
Balogun is a strategic, articulate and multi-faceted public servant and a shrewd C-Level executive.
As a professional with rich experience in the private sector and community development, he was elected as a member of parliament to represent Ajeromi-Ifelodun Constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly in 2011, where he served in the House Standing Committees on Finance, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development.
He was a member of the Ad-hoc Committee for Constitutional Amendments, which drafted the famous ‘LAGOS POSITION’ in 2014.
As a lawmaker, Balogun was the lead sponsor of the iconic – Health Insurance Bill, fashioned after the famous Obamacare, which gave birth to Lagos State Health Management Agency.

The Nation