As a demonstration of his concern for the plight of Apapa residents and businesses over the suffocating congestion and grinding gridlock in the port city, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State governor, within his first day in office, visited Apapa and assured of his commitment to finding solution to the problems.
The governor said that, in the immediate to short term, precisely in the next one month, there will be improvement in the Apapa situation, resulting from collaborative efforts of the federal and state governments.
He noted, however, that the permanent solution to the congestion and gridlock in Apapa would come from the development of the dry port in Badagry and the deep sea port in Lekki, explaining that these would help to decongest Apapa by moving traffic away from that side of town.
The new governor, who was at the Lilypond Container Terminal, the Apapa Port and the Tin Can Trailer Park in the course of his visit, noted further that Apapa problem was multi-faceted and so, required combined efforts of the federal and state government, the security agencies and other stakeholders.
Sanwo-Olu was not particularly happy with the occupation of the 2.3-kilometre Wharf Road which was reconstructed recently by Dangote Group, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Flour Mill Nigeria, saying that the road was no longer serving its purpose or adding any value to motorists.
He hoped that when the Tin Can Trailer Park was completed and opened to trucks in June as promised, there would be improvement in the traffic situation in Apapa. The Trailer Park which has been under construction since 2010 is expected to accommodate 400 trucks, and that will be a big relief.
Perhaps, Apapa situation would not have been as messy as it is today if the right things are done. The governor was told by relevant stakeholders that there was a disconnect among the NPA, the terminal operators, the truck owners and the shipping companies, especially with the call up system.
It was observed that each of them worked in silos or all worked at cross-purposes. While the truck drivers rushed to bring back empty containers to avoid paying demurrage, the shipping companies, especially AP Moller, do not open their gates to the truckers, forcing them to park indiscriminately on the road.
But Sanwo-Olu assured that the state government would work closely with the federal government and the private sector operators to ensure that the problems were solved, promising that he would be visiting the port city from time to time to make sure that given directives were followed through.
The governor had, during his electioneering campaign, promised the Apapa community and, indeed, the entire Lagos residents who are also affected indirectly by the mess in Apapa, that he would, within his first 60 days in office, find solution to Apapa gridlock.
Apapa as Nigeria’s premier port city has garnered some notoriety for its unfriendly and suffocating environment reflected in congestion and gridlock arising from the unwholesome activities of truckers who, against every sane reasoning and international best practice, have made roads and bridges leading to Apapa their parking bay.
These are not only weighing down on the bridges, but also denying other road users, particularly residents and business owners, access to their homes and business premises.
CHUKA UROKO & JOSHUA BASSEY
