Apapa gridlock: Lagos works on long-term solutions as economy bleeds

Convinced that the quick-fix approach to the gridlock in Apapa cannot provide the desired outcome, the Lagos State government is currently working on what it believes are long-term and sustainable solutions to the problem.

Functional alternative seaports in other parts of the state which the state government is already constructing in partnership with the private sector – Lekki and Badagry Deep seaports – is one such solution. Another is the acquisition and expansion of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Truck Park.

The BAT Truck Park which is located in the Orile area of the state is an expansive parking facility sitting on 12 hectares of land, but the state government says it has increased the land area to 31 hectares in the hope that, when completed, it will take about 2,500 trucks off the road.

Fredric Oladehinde, the state’s commissioner for transportation, who disclosed this at a media briefing to mark Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second year in office, said the state government was working on this alongside other measures to resolve Apapa gridlock.

But as commendable as the sustainable solutions seem, stakeholders especially residents and businesses in Apapa are worried that the economy of the port city in particular and that of the state and Nigeria, in general, will continue to bleed because, according to them, there is nothing on ground at the moment showing that sanity will return to the port city any time soon.

According to the stakeholders, the situation in Apapa is quite unfortunate. The port city which is home to Nigeria’s two busiest seaports is said to account for over 70 percent of export and import activities in the country.

Read Also: Apapa gridlock: Lagos gives marching order to truck owners on illegal parking

Its economy is estimated at N20 billion a day, yet both the federal and state governments are not giving their best to ensure that this thriving economy is not destroyed by vested interests that seem to be determined to ensure that efforts at finding solutions to its problem do not succeed.

The result is that Apapa continues to degenerate into a ‘wasteland’ that does not support living and working. The stakeholders have noted that there has not been any major new investment in the port city in the last five years.

What has happened instead is that many businesses have died while many others have relocated. The same thing applies to residents. Many have relocated, leaving empty homes whose values have depreciated by over 50 percent, according to reports.

In what was clearly an error of judgment, the commissioner claimed that the e-call-up system was working, contrary to the reality on ground.

“The reality here, as far I am concerned, is that the call-up system has collapsed and the evidence is there for everybody to see,” Emma Ameke, an agent at the ports, said.

The Nigerian Ports Authority in partnership with the state government on February 27 introduced the Eto App, an electronic call-up system to control trucks movement in and out of Apapa. To ensure its smooth operation, eight designated truck parks were created.

But the system did not work effectively beyond the first one week of its implementation. Several reasons have been given for its poor implementation. There has even been allegation of sabotage by some interests which, according to Ayo Vaughan, an Apapa resident, are not far from the ranks of those promoting the call-up system.

Oladehinde admitted, however, that having succeeded in controlling the flat-belt trucks using the call-up system, there was still more work to be done.

“We are in talks with the leadership of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on modalities to absorb oil tanker drivers into e-call up system for harmonization,” he said.

But the problem is more than the commissioner has imagined.

Ameke noted that until Wednesday this week when the taskforce set up by the state government woke up from sleep and decided to work, ordering trailers and tankers out of the roads, the situation had degenerated to what he called “mayhem and anarchy”, where both the flat-belt trucks and tankers blocked everywhere, particularly Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.

Speaking generally, the commissioner hinted on efforts by the state government to ease traffic congestion in the metropolis.

Besides identifying 60 gridlock points in the state and working on them, the state government is also working on what he called “Bus Reform”.

He said they were working to reduce travel time, promote multi-modal transport and facilitate an intelligent transport system.

“To achieve this, the government has secured fund to complete the blue rail line from Mile 2 to Marina,” he said.

He explained that the bus reform does not mean phasing out the yellow commercial buses commonly called ‘Danfo’, but rather to modify their operations to allow for regulation.

“It will be unfair for us kick out the yellow buses because we will create unemployment and more social problems. Our plan is that the drivers will be reformed, trained and asked to form cooperatives so they can come together and get financial incentives and also get buses and pay by instalment,” he explained.

Alongside these, the state is also providing roads infrastructure as disclosed by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Aramide Adeyoye.

According to her, the state has, in the last two years, constructed and delivered road projects.

Another major step in this direction is the proposed multibillion-naira 4th Mainland Bridge. The process for the award of the project to contractors has reached an advanced stage and is expected to be ready by December 2021, according to the special adviser.