Ease of doing business ebbs to lowest in Apapa

The ease of doing business has hit rock  bottom in Nigeria’s premier port community of Apapa, leading to many more operators seeking alternative locations for their concerns.

Driving into Apapa has become almost an impossible task, resulting in the loss of inestimable man-hours and negative impact on productivity of businesses, as workers are drained in debilitating traffic jams entering Apapa in the morning and exiting at night.

Petroleum tankers and container laden trucks have continued to occupy the roads and bridges with neither the Lagos nor the Federal authorities seen coming to the rescue of the dying businesses and depressed residents. This is despite trillions of naira in revenue accruing to Abuja from activities within the two ports in Apapa, and millions of naira collected by Lagos as Wharf Land fees from trucks exiting Apapa on a daily basis.

In 2015, the Nigeria Customs Service, one of the several federal agencies operating within the ports, collected N904 billion while in 2016, it generated N898 billion from its target of N937 billion. This is asides the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) among other agencies which have links with the ports.

Lucky Amiwero, president of National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) confirmed that the Lagos ports, consisting of-Tin-Can, Apapa, Brawal, Lilypond and PTML ports, control 80 per cent of the cargo through (imports and exports) in the country.

On Monday as well as yesterday as had been the case for years now, the stretch of Ijora-Apapa bridge was a standstill, as trailers and tankers swarmed the bridge, leaving no space for motorists headed the port city. The situation was worsened by early morning torrential rain, which filled the gullies and craters that dot the stretch of Wharf Road from Forte Oil service station, towards Airways bus stop.

It was total frustration for motorists who approached the port through the Mile2-Tincan axis, as they ended up on the road for a better part of the day.  The two major entry routes to Apapa: Ijora and Mile2-Coconut-Tincan axes have been left in a criminally messy state for many years, with government after government promising to fix the roads and upgrade decayed infrastructure in Apapa, but without concrete action taken.

Worried by the total collapse of infrastructure in Apapa, stakeholders say there is no better time to declare the state of emergency in the area than now. According to them, the recent executive orders signed by acting President Yemi Osinbajo, to promote ease of doing business in Nigeria, will be of no effect if the roads leading to the nation’s most utilised ports and general infrastructural in Apapa are not addressed.

Aloga Ogbogo, the executive secretary of National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), in an interview with BusinessDay, described Apapa as a national embarrassment, saying the time to act is now.

“It is high time the Federal Government declared a state of emergency in Apapa or set up ‘national road fund’ to address the menace. What is happening in Apapa requires urgent attention.”

Recently lamenting the situation, Adewale Adeyanju, president of the  Maritime Union Workers of Nigeria (MWUN), berated the present and previous governments for lack of political will to up the challenge.

“As previous governments have abandoned the roads, so also has this current government. We demand to see an action on the roads within 21 days,” said Adeyanju.

Last month, Babatunde Fashola, minister of works, housing and power, announced that Apapa would in a matter of weeks receive some intervention, but so far, nothing has been done.

“Very soon, I think in a matter of weeks, we will be able to intervene in Apapa-Wharf roads, in Lagos. The Wharf has many problems, one of which is excess tonnage. There used to be a rail system link there to evacuate the excess tonnage and port,” Fashola said.

 

 JOSHUA BASSEY