One thing that readily comes to mind whenever and wherever Apapa, the country’s premier port city, is mentioned is its notorious, intractable gridlock. This singular feature has made the port city a topical issue and, by default, placed it in the front burner of national discourse.
But there is much more to this port city that elicits deeper concerns than the gridlock, depending, however, on which side of the divide one stands. When, unfortunately, federal and Lagos State governments and their agencies are looking at Apapa, what they see is the huge revenue they get from there, not the ruin, the rot and the despoliation that are turning the port city to a wasteland.
Unlike the governments and their agencies, however, what Apapa residents, business owners and sundry investors see in Apapa is not only the gradual killing of their businesses and investments, but also the destruction of their lives and livelihoods.
In its saner days before the invasion of its environment by desperate and mindless fortune-seekers, Apapa was not only residential, but also investment and commercial destination, which explains why many people came to the port city and built houses for residence and rentals. Some others came and set up businesses – banks, schools, eateries, leisure centres, malls, ports and marine services firms, etc.
For those who are familiar with this port city, Wharf and Commercial Roads were its ‘Central Business Districts’ where high net-worth firms and banks had their offices and branches, respectively. Today, these two locations are a sad story. A walk through them shows that most of the banks have either relocated or have had the number of their branches reduced.
On Wharf Road alone, more than 10 banks and two eateries have shut down their branches due to the pain and difficulty in accessing these branches, leading to loss of substantial customers in the area.
“You can’t compare the situation now and how it was before. No one has been to hell and heaven but we can liken the situation in Apapa to hell. Apapa used to be a place for good businesses,” said Ruwase Babatunde, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
He said people used to come from all over Lagos to do business in Apapa due to the opportunities it offered, attributing the fate that has befallen the port city to governments’ neglect, especially in the area of infrastructure. Roads and bridges in the port city have almost collapsed.
Eateries, such as Tetrazini, have shut down. Tantalizers, which used to have three outlets, has reduced to one, and the only Mr Biggs eatery in Apapa on Creek Road is now out of the market. Film House Cinema inside Apapa Mall has also shut down. Even the famous Apapa Amusement Park which used to be a major leisure spot is today a ghost of itself.
With these developments, it is difficult to imagine the quantum of jobs that have been lost and the level of poverty, misery and family dislocation that has followed. It is common knowledge that when one person loses a job, the ripple or multiplier effect is immense because besides members of his immediate family, a chain of dependants are also affected.
When businesses die or relocate, office buildings are left behind and that means loss of rental income to the original owners of the property. The buildings will start depreciating and losing value on daily basis.
Many landlords in Apapa are today counting their losses. BusinessDay checks reveal that about 40 percent of residential buildings in this port city are vacant. Over all, the vacancy rate in Apapa, estimated at 50 percent, compares only to Ikoyi, an upscale destination in Lagos where investors have invested heavily in the development of mansions that can no longer find buyers or tenants due to poor economic conditions and declining consumer purchasing power.
Uche Chiejina, an estate manager in Apapa, told BusinessDay that property value in Apapa has come down to a point where a buyer can easily get 2,500 square metres for as ‘low’ as N150 million, adding that house rents have also dropped significantly from N5 million per annum two years ago to between N3 million and N3.5 million.
“In some locations within the GRA, you can rent a house for N2.5 million per annum. And that is if you see tenants,” he said.
Ayo Vaughn, chairman, Apapa GRA Residents Association, in an interview with BusinessDay, lamented how the situation in Apapa was denying property owners rental income.
“On the average, 10 houses are empty on any given street. With about N5 million house rent per annum, it means that, on one street alone, income loss for the five-year period is about N250 million,” Vaughn said.
“In spite of this ugly situation, Lagos State government still collects tenement rates from Apapa residents and expects them to pay same as payable in Ikoyi and Ikeja GRA,” he said.
CHUKA UROKO
