Lagos, the nation’s commercial capital played host to President Muhammadu Buhari since Wednesday, interestingly the round-the-clock, seven days a week chaos that hitherto became a major feature of Apapa that cause hours of unending traffic jams, was gone.
Though he came for projects inauguration but the visit would have worked well for many businesses, listed and non-listed operating in Apapa area if President Buhari was allowed to see the true state of that area.
Truely, President Buhari couldn’t see the chaos Apapa has become where many listed and non-listed companies are doing business and paying taxes to government.
Some listed companies with offices in Apapa include Flour Mill, Honeywell, Mobil Oil, Conoil, Ardova, banks branches, as well as insurance and registery businesses, etc.
The spillover of Apapa traffic also affects those doing businesses on the Lagos Island as well as Orile, Ijora, Costain and Iganmu where Nigerian Breweries is located.
The stock market had witnessed remarkable gains in past two days preceding the President’s visit. However, at the close of trading session on Thursday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited saw a moderated rally.
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The NGX All Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation moved from preceding day’s 39,170.95 points and N20.416trillion respectively to 39,210.10 points and N20.437trillion.
The market’s negative return seen year-to-date (YtD) printed slightly lower at -2.63 percent.
The NGX ASI increased slightly by 0.10 percent while the value of listed stocks increased by N21billion.
The record gain on Thursday was driven by stocks like Linkage Assurance which moved up from 55kobo to 60kobo, adding 5kobo or 9.09 percent, followed by that of PZ which rose from N5.60 to N6, down by 40kobo or 7.14 percent, while May & Baker share price moved from
N4 to N4.20, adding 20kobo or 5 percent.
In 3,330 deals, stock investors exchanged 158,365,536 units valued at N2.236 billion. Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank, UBA, Transcorp and Chams were actively traded stocks on the Bourse.
Up till Thursday morning, security was tight in Lagos. All agencies raised the bar in their smokescreen and cosmetic arrangements against traffic in Apapa to impress the number one citizen of the country.
BusinessDay had noted that as at 9 pm on Wednesday, the normal queue of trucks in and out of trafic-ridden Apapa had disappeared.
The reason for this unusual development in Apapa, Nigeria’s port city and economic hub, which has become a metaphor for stress and suffering, is because President Muhammadu Buhari came to Lagos.
All the committees, task forces, and task teams, including a Presidential Task Team on Apapa Gridlock which had the Vice President as chairman, had failed in their assignments to free Apapa from traffic.
Buhari was in Lagos to inaugurate the 157-kilometer Lagos-Ibadan standard rail project at the Mobolaji Johnson railway station in Ebutte Metta.
The President proceeded to the Energy Nature Light Terminal of the Apapa Port to further commission the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as the Deep Blue Project.
This is the second time Apapa is experiencing a gridlock-free day following the visit of President Buhari. The first was in 2019 when Buhari, as a presidential candidate, visited Lagos to canvass for votes.
