Lagos is groaning under an uncommon assault. With the government reluctant to apply its weight, tankers and articulated vehicles heading in and out of the Apapa seaports have laid siege to the country’s commercial capital. They could be seen on roads and bridges, putting the state in perpetual gridlock. This radiates a total breakdown of law and order. As a result, commuting is stop-start, aborting the best laid-out itineraries. It is extremely disturbing that the government has allowed a simple traffic matter to deteriorate to this level.
At the best of times, traffic in Lagos is chaotic. In the past two years, the situation has worsened. Although inadequate, recalcitrant tanker drivers refuse to use the few holding bays, and park their vehicles on the roads and bridges in Costain, Orile, Carter, Ojuelegba, Murtala Muhammed Way, Ijora, Ikorodu Road and Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. Some of the trucks tilt dangerously; others break down and are repaired on the bridges. With the Lagos government embarking on major infrastructure renewal projects in some parts of the state, the outcome is constant gridlock statewide. It is just mayhem.
The gridlock has triggered the closure of many businesses in Apapa, property owners forced to relocate at a great inconvenience to health and safety. Robbers exploit the lockdown to wreak havoc. Media reports state that robbers operate early in the morning in parts of Surulere, Mile 2, Orile and Apapa, exploiting the lockdown.
Envisaging calamity, the Nigerian Navy, on March 7, gave a 48-hour ultimatum to the trucks to vacate the Apapa Bridge. “Some of the vehicles have been parked on the bridges for two or three weeks with some of them carrying loads,” the Navy said. “The terrorists and other enemies of Nigeria could easily use this opportunity. So many tankers are parked along the road; if any of them is set ablaze, you know what will happen to the rest.” Although the drivers adhered to the directive, it has compounded the traffic snarls in other parts of the state.
Similarly, there is apprehension over the safety of the bridges. Experts argue that the bridges have been technically compromised, distressed and unsafe. In the first place, they were not built to carry heavy stationary vehicular loads. The Lagos State Ministry of Transport said the “bridges will not pass integrity test if conducted on them.”
Besides, aggravated by inefficient port operations, the financial loss is colossal. In 2017, Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, and other business operators estimated that the economy lost N20 billion daily to the lockdown. At that rate, Nigeria is in the red for N7.28 trillion per annum.
It makes importers to incur unnecessary demurrage, aiding the diversion of cargo to the more business-friendly ports in Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana. Though vessel traffic peaked at 5,369 in 2013, a National Bureau of Statistics report said it declined to 4,025 in 2016. In contrast, the maritime trade is a vital engine of many economies. Seaport cargo activity currently supports 23 million jobs in the United States, according to Virginia-based American Association of Port Authorities. APPA said US ports generated $4.6 trillion in total economic activity and $321 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2014.
It is ludicrous that neither the executive arm of government nor the National Assembly is making any serious effort to address the bedlam. In 2016, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, estimated that N100 billion was needed to reconstruct the roads in Apapa. With government delaying, the Dangote Group and Flour Mills Nigeria are undertaking the reconstruction of the two-kilometre Apapa-Wharf Road section at a cost of N4.3 billion. Yet, the distress means nothing to the National Assembly. When the issue came up in the parliament in 2017, lawmakers inexplicably threw it away. They claimed that the Apapa roads, where the NPA projected an income of N288 billion in 2017, would benefit only the South-West. This is cheap politics taken too far.
The Apapa Ports were designed to handle 30 million metric tonnes of goods. Currently, they handle 80 million metric tonnes. From all this, it is apparent that half measures will not do; only a holistic approach will suffice. First, there are too many tank farms in Apapa. Some of them have to be relocated. A moratorium should be placed on the licensing of new tank farms. The Federal Government should encourage the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to revive its dormant depots and pipelines to transport products directly to them instead of tankers invading Lagos to lift petroleum products.
Second, the roads require urgent attention. We urge the Federal Government to declare an emergency in this regard. It should impress the need to pass a supplementary budget to cover the reconstruction on the lawmakers; the reconstruction should not last more than a year. Modern holding bays should be a part of this.
Sizeable cargo traffic is already being diverted to neighbouring ports. During the reconstruction, cargo business should be diverted temporarily to ports in Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar. The budget for the transport system needs to include provision for a modern rail system. This is an integral part of modern port operations, as without it, the roads will still be congested with expansion in maritime trade.
The NPA should modernise and drive its operations with technology. Goods take too long to export, and imports suffer long delays before they are cleared and loaded. Scanners and other equipment should function optimally, as they will reduce the need for manual clearing of goods and physical interaction, which fuel delays and corruption. The call-up system should be strictly implemented.
