The Presidential Taskforce Team (PTT) on Apapa Port has said that there is no gridlock in Apapa, but evidence shows that there is constantly heavy traffic leading into the premier port city—almost every day.
At the virtual dialogue held by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday, Kayode Opeifa, vice chairman of the PTT, said contrary to popular opinion that there is gridlock at Apapa, what occurs at the port is ‘in-port congestion’.
However, while Opeifa was making this claim between 1.30pm and 3.20pm yesterday, Ijora to Apapa Port was locked in traffic jam, making entry and exit impossible.
Many who had one business or the other in Apapa spent three to five hours to get into the ports, with others on commercial vehicles alighting to get back home, BusinessDay observed.
But according to Opeifa, the major challenge at the port is that businesspeople enjoy circumventing the standard procedures and are often in a hurry to move their goods in and out of the ports.
He explained that exporters are ‘too desperate’ and move their containers into AP Moller, rather that Lillypond where there is convenience and no extortion or bribery would likely take place.
He disclosed that exporters even buy stickers at N30,000 to N50,000 and resell to others in the same line of business at much higher rates, stressing that there are many outsiders in Apapa who have no business in the port city.
“Some of them are ‘one-man show’. They have no tyres and have no business with the ports. These are middle-men who even make more money that the real players,” he alleged.
Opeifa further advised the organised private sector to stay within the standard operating procedures, urging them to confront shipping lines if they are paying demurrages.
He claimed there are no more trucks sitting on Mile 2 to Oshodi at the moment because of the level of work done by the PTT, stressing that the efficiency of terminal operators determines the number of trucks that go in and out of the port city.
He said there is an ongoing construction at the ports with only three out of eight gates operating.
He suggested a multi-modal transport system with rail, road, water and others working at full capacity, stressing the need to improve port operations.
Apapa and Tin Can are Nigeria’s premier ports, providing over N10 billion for the country every day. But the area has become a beehive of chaos because of traffic gridlock and corruption by many players, including security officials.
Donald Uche, chairman, Freight Forwarders Group, suggested that Apapa Dockyard be mapped out for export cargo.
Uche, who disagreed with Opeifa on many grounds during the dialogue, noted that there is so much extortion at Apapa and Tin Can ports, calling for new palliative roads to enable exporters and businesspeople to move their goods.
Ayesha Akinkugbe, a resident of Apapa, said the PTT team worked so hard to make Apapa better in the past, but the current situation is worse for residents.
She said Ijora is a bottleneck because of trailers and tankers parked on the bridge, stressing that Apapa is not just for business but also a resident area.
She said it is enforcement of trailer park that is the real problem, calling for strict monitoring of the entire system to make life better for residents.
