Fresh News from Remi Makanjuola’s Caverton Group

Someone at Falomo Jetty whispered that Lagos might soon glide instead of roar. The remark came as a sleek white vessel hummed across the water with a silence that startled even regular commuters.

The craft is the Electric Omibus. Caverton Marine, a subsidiary of Remi Makanjuola’s Caverton Group, unveiled it during a week of demonstrations attended by regulators, partners, and curious officials. It is Nigeria’s first fully electric passenger ferry; a 30-seater built from fibre-reinforced plastic and powered only by dual electric motors fed by modular lithium batteries.

Caverton says the ferry is more than a shiny experiment. It is part of a strategy to reset the company’s earnings after years of pressure in the offshore support market. Early financial reports suggest momentum is returning. Management cites the Electric Omibus as proof that Nigerian firms can craft technology suited to local realities.

The environmental stakes are clear. Diesel ferries stain Lagos skies with soot and fuel spills. Electric propulsion offers zero emissions, quieter journeys, and lower lifetime maintenance. It also eliminates the fire risks tied to petrol-powered boats. In a city where safety concerns shadow every commute, the shift carries real weight.

The Lagos State Government sees the vessel as a link in a larger transport puzzle. Road congestion steals hours from the city each day. Water routes provide relief. The state has already commissioned Caverton to produce a fleet of ferries. The electric upgrade signals a pivot toward cleaner mobility embedded in local manufacturing.

Local production is also an active plus. Caverton’s marine yard handled the assembly in partnership with Explomar Energy Technology from Suzhou. This mix of indigenous skill and foreign engineering points to jobs, supply chains, and a nascent green marine sector. It hints at the industrial future Lagos generally imagines yet rarely touches.

Makanjuola himself has spent decades building air and sea infrastructure for Nigeria, from helicopter fleets to maintenance hubs. His philanthropy expands the picture: lecture halls, medical labs, and years guiding security initiatives. These threads make the Electric Omibus feel less like a novelty and more like a continuation of a familiar ambition.

If Lagos one day trades traffic jams for quiet crossings, the city may remember that its first whisper of the future arrived by water.