As residents of Apapa, Nigeria’s port city, scream blue murder over the hell that Apapa has become in the last one month on account of congestion and gridlock, businesses are also bleeding with rising costs and low productivity for the same reason.
After the spirited activities of the Presidential Task Team (PTT) which turned out to be a flash in the pan, Apapa has become increasingly messier because the traffic situation has worsened and movement in and out of the port city has become harder and more expensive.
“The traffic situation we have now is the worst ever. In the past, we used to wriggle through with one lane intermittently open. Now, as from 6pm, from Ijora to the port turns into parking lot with little or no movement. Cars have been trapped for four to six hours, some till daybreak,” Ayo Vaughn, chairman, Apapa GRA Residents Association, told BusinessDay.
Though the presidential task team alleges that the present situation in Apapa is a case of “corruption fighting back”, Vaughn was of the view that the team was incapable of creating or maintaining space for free flow of residents’ vehicles into Apapa.
Observers say it is crystal clear that the team has lost control of traffic in Apapa despite protestation by Kayode Opeifa, its executive vice chairman, that the team was still in charge and working in spite of all odds.
Coming in and going out of Apapa has become not only expensive but also risky. The quickest and easiest means of entering and exiting the port city is by commercial motorcycle, popularly called okada. This costs the commuter over N2,000 and exposes him/her to the highest of risks as the ‘okada man’ runs in-between moving and stationary trailers and tankers.
Arguably, Apapa has become an ‘okada’ economy as the only thriving industry in the city is this otherwise loathsome means of transportation unbefitting of a fast-moving city like Lagos, which prides itself as a smart city.
Businesses are suffering from the gridlock almost as much as the residents who, apart from their inability to gain easy access to their homes, are also losing income from their property which are not only empty, but also losing value by the day.
“The team, out of frustration, expressed lack of cooperation from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) because of closure of Lilipond. Interestingly, the task team was established by the Presidency. The vice president is the chairman while Kayode Opeifa is the vice and operational head with heads of government maritime organs as members,” Vaughn noted.
He was worried because, according to him, it seemed that the Federal Government was not serious about maintaining a workable orderliness on entry and exit of Apapa, creating chaos and unending traffic quagmire.
“The NPA is a government parastatal and will not carry out a request/order from the Presidency. Apapa residents were asked to meet the NPA if they wanted their problems solved,” the chairman said.
A major cause of the gridlock, Vaughn said, is the Customs Service which set up its secondary checkpoint between Point Road exit and the bridge, forcing trucks to occupy two lanes.
He said appeal by residents to relocate this checkpoint was rebuffed just as efforts by the task team to move them were also rebuffed, citing order from Abuja not to move.
“NPA and Customs are organs of government and also members of the task team, but they have refused to take actions that will reduce the number of trucks on the road and facilitate movement in and out of the port,” he said.
Vaughn said the number of trucks on the road could be drastically reduced if the task team had the cooperation of government agencies as mentioned.
He lamented that members of the task team were now only interested in getting the trucks into the port, not caring about other road users. According to him, the task team said it was too much to leave a lane for residents’ cars.
CHUKA UROKO
