Remembering Olajumoke Obasa – The selfless social worker who established first public bus service in Lagos

One of the major challenges of living in metropolitan Lagos State over the years has always been about moving across the city, either in public transport or private vehicle. Millions of residents in the nation’s economic hub encounter a number of problems on their daily commute, the most obvious of which are inadequate public transport and long hours spent in traffic. It didn’t start now, the challenge is as old as Lagos itself.

In 1914, a year after the closure of the Lagos Steam Tramway service, a popular social worker Charlotte Olajumoke Obasa rose to the challenge and made move to ease the pain of Lagos commuters by establishing a transport service – Anfani bus service, the first in the Colony now known as Lagos state.

The tramway, which was used to convey passengers and goods from Iddo in Lagos Mainland to Custom Wharf and Ereko Market on the Lagos Island, was operated by the Lagos Colonial Government Railway. However, the operation ended in 1913 due to the renewal of original rolling stock.

The abrupt closure of the transport service brought pain on Lagos commuters, up till 1914, commuting from Mainland to Lagos Island was under pain and distress. Several accounts say pedestrians walked long distances and congested the streets. The situation could be likened to what Lagosians experienced during the ban of motorcycles (Okada) and tricycles in February 2020.

When the colonial government didn’t take action to ease the pain, Charlotte Olajumoke Obasa, ventured into commercial transport business to relieve the agony of commuters on the Lagos – Ebute Metta route by introducing the Anfani Bus service.

Charlotte was the daughter of Richard Beale Blaize a successful and politically influential merchant in Lagos in the 19th and 20th Century. Blaize was also the publisher of the Lagos Times and Gold Coast Colony Advertiser. In 1902, she got married to Dr Orisadipe Obasa one of the pioneer indigenous physicians in Nigeria.

She was actively involved in social welfare in Lagos and served as a member of a committee to investigate the causes of infant mortality. She was also the leader of Lagos Women’s League (LWL) which promoted health education, more employment opportunities for educated girls, better conditions for female nurses and government workers, more girls’ schools, and a better standard of living for Africans in general.

Charlotte’s venture had a fleet of four buses which provided a regular service on the Obun Eko-Iddo route for a fare of one penny and on occasions offered special services. Her personality as a social worker also rubbed off on the bus service, she did not establish it for profit making but to provide social service for the people.

According to the account of G.O. Olusanya in “Nigerian Women in Historical Perspective”, Obasa’s Anfani Bus Service was the pioneer urban bus service in Nigeria, and “she conceived the project as a philanthropic rather than a commercial proposition”.

Charlotte’s Anfani bus service was in operation till the late 1920s when Zarpas bus service began operation and continued from where hers left off. The Zarpas bus established by the Levantine firm of J.Z Zarpas in 1929 marked the turning point in the development of an enduring municipal transport service in Lagos. Unlike Anfana which was more of a social service, Zarpas was a strictly commercial venture and had more buses that ran a regular service and covered more routes.