Once again, trailers and their twin brothers, the tankers, have over-run Apapa, thereby re-enacting the ugly scenes and suffocating experiences that existed before the coming of the subsisting presidential task team (PTT) set up to clear the gridlock that defines Apapa as Nigeria’s first port city.
As it is at the moment, the hapless residents, business owners and other road users are confused as to the cause of the present situation after what has turned out now as a momentary relief occasioned by the activities of the PTT which forced the rampaging trucks into public and private holding bays.
As at Wednesday this week, the major task of the team was the trailers who were pushed to the roads and bridges following the closure of the Lilypond Transit Park by the authorities of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), citing destruction of the facility by hoodlums a couple of weeks ago.
How the tankers came to join the fray, occupying every available space in and around the port city remains a mystery. Both NPA and PTT say they cannot explain and therefore not responsible.
But close watchers of events in Apapa as they pertain to traffic control know that the two federal agencies are merely playing the ostrich as they differ on approach to truck movement to the ports.
The PTT is, however, less economical with the truth. “There are issues; no doubt about that; we should be telling ourselves the honest truth,” Kayode Opeifa, the executive vice chairman of the PTT, stated bluntly a couple of days ago.
Some truck owners who spoke to BusinessDay blamed the NPA for creating the chaos on the road, citing inefficient operations for the presence of many trucks that are parked stationary on the roads and bridges.
But NPA spokesman, Adams Jatto, told BusinessDay on phone that the authority would not trade blame with the Presidential Task Team over the return of traffic congestion in Apapa.
Jatto, who is general manager, Corporate & Strategic Communications of the NPA, however admitted that there has been an increase in number of tankers, “which the NPA is not responsible for”, that are coming into the private jetties around Apapa to lift petroleum products.
“We do not have any issues with the Presidential Task Team because we have to work together. Rather than shifting blame, it is better for us to know the remote cause of the traffic. However, we had issues with the Lilypond Transit Park. And because of the fire incident that happened last week, the park was shut down temporarily from doing business,” he said.
The spokesman said the petroleum tankers were under the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and they are not within the responsibility of the NPA, further assured that the authority is presently making plans to determine how the tankers can be better managed.
But NUPENG says the petroleum tankers on the roads and bridges inward Apapa are those trapped in the gridlock, blaming the gridlock on the unpatriotic activities of key institutions and individuals within the maritime sector.
Afolabi Olawale, NUPENG’s general secretary, specifically highlighted the failure of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the concessionaires and security personnel deployed to manage the situation in Apapa and within the port.
“Petroleum tankers do not enter the ports because they do lift fuel within the ports. But they drive into Apapa to lift products from fuel depots. Fuel depots are not inside the ports. So tankers are not responsible for the clustered roads. Rather tanker drivers are themselves victims of the situation because they spend several hours on the road trying access depots,” Olawale said.
The situation in the Apapa, according to him, was a result of NPA and port concessionaire not allowing containerized trucks easy access into the ports, thereby causing backflow of traffic snarls to the bridge.
“There is no running away from the truth. NPA is not in control. It does not have parking for trucks yet unable to come up with appropriate schedule for the trucks to enter Apapa,” said Olawale.
Whatever the case or whoever is at fault, Lagosians especially those who live or have business to do in this part of town are crying out to anybody who is somebody that can restore normalcy and sanity to Apapa.
Besides long travel time and rising cost of access Apapa, people’s businesses are dying; investments and means of livelihoods, especially real estate assets, are wasting and losing value while the owners watch helplessly. Also, Apapa economy is dying and that holds a lot of implications for the government.
Before the present situation degenerated to the point where it is now, the task team had been complaining that their efforts were being sabotaged by some vested interests. It also complained of not getting enough cooperation from NPA which is a major stakeholder in Apapa.
“Some people have made so much money from the crisis in Apapa that they won’t let it go. So, they are shortchanging the system. What we see is corruption fighting back,” Opeifa complained.
Continuing, he said, “the people we have prevented from the regular ‘chop-chop’ are busy spreading wrong information about us and trying to frustrate the current efforts; but we are determined to make the system work again,” Opeifa had assured.
That determination is passing through an acid test and Apapa residents, business owners, motorists and sundry visitors expect the PTT and other stakeholders, particularly NPA, to pass this test.
CHUKA UROKO & JOSHUA BASSEY
