Two boats and a river.
An Abeokuta family business that started with two boats and a Friday traffic jam. Example history for this demo.
Why the river
In 2012 our founder, Captain Olatunde Ogunleye (an example founder), spent five hours on the Lagos to Abeokuta road on a Friday evening, and decided the river had to be faster. Six months later two second-hand boats were running from Lafenwa to Ikorodu on Saturdays.
The passengers came, then the traders with their sacks and crates, then the commuters who wanted the lagoon crossing too. Today nine boats run four routes and carry close to 2,000 people on a weekday, and the office is still in Oke-Ilewo, five minutes from where it began.
We are still family run. The founder’s daughter, Mrs Bisola Ogunleye-Hassan, is managing director, and three of our captains have been with us since the first season.
Good neighbours on the water
Every dry season our crews spend a week clearing water hyacinth and plastic from the jetties and the narrow stretches near Isheri, with volunteers from the riverside towns.
We buy fuel, food and boat parts from businesses along our routes where we can, and we hire deckhands from the fishing villages, with paid training.
Children from riverside schools sail free on school trips, two days a month. Example programme for this demo.
Notes from the jetties
Timetable changes, stories from the water and the occasional wedding. Example stories for this demo.
The dry season timetable, explained
Why the Ogun River Express adds fifteen minutes from January, and what we do about the Isheri sandbanks.
A wedding on Oyan Lake
Eighty guests, one boat, a talking drum and the dam wall at sunset.
Ikorodu cargo desk hours
The cargo desk now opens at 05:45 on weekdays for the first Epe and lagoon boats.
New life jackets
Two hundred new adult and child jackets arrived in October for the whole fleet.
School trips
Riverside schools sail free twice a month. Book through the office.
Who you will meet
Example team members for this demo.
Mrs Bisola O.
Managing director. Answers the most difficult emails herself.
Captain Kehinde A.
Chief captain, 14 years on the Ogun. Trains every new captain.
Mr Femi D.
Runs the cargo desk at Ikorodu and knows every trader by name.
Crew, captains, dispatch.
We train deckhands from scratch and hire licensed captains with river experience. Send your details on WhatsApp.