In spite of the fact that the Apapa Ports put in at least N2trillion yearly into the pockets of the Federal Government, port users, business leaders and residents of the area are of the opinion that the Federal Government has abandoned the ports.
A visit by some ministers led by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in early February had raised hope that the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and other perennially bad roads in the port area would be fixed. However, these roads have continued to be death traps due to non-maintenance and indiscriminate parking by trailers heading to the ports, which results in severe traffic jams and providing opportunities for robbers to operate.
In addition, the bad roads consistently cause containers to fall off trucks, causing injuries to road users and sometimes killing them. In one week in November last year, two people were killed and goods worth N200m damaged when nine containers fell in six days.
The General Manager, Apapa GRA Residents’ Association, Paul Odey, complaining about what he described as an “alarming situation” said:
“Apart from lives lost consistently, the financial implication is alarming too and you can’t breathe fresh air anymore. Over 500 businesses around Creek Road, for instance, are collapsing one after the other, because of the activities of tankers which have taken over the roads, as a result of two major tank farms, the Falawiyo Energy and Lister Oil and Gas.”
He added that the blockade of the roads, especially around Creek and Liverpool roads, meant motorists and residents had been cut off by tankers.
“In the event of emergency, it will be a total disaster, fire fighters can’t get through, medical evacuation will be impossible. It is so curious why the Federal Government should grant licences to operate tank farms in residential areas like Creek and Liverpool roads. These people should be removed.”
Business owners also claimed about the presence of tankers which have become a permanent fixture on the roads as they await to be served by the seven tank farms in the area.
All assurances by Federal Government officials through visits and comments such as those from the Minister of Works, Mike Omolomemen who described the roads leading to and from the ports complex as “an embarrassment and a source of agony to Nigerians” and the requests by the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola for an Apapa regeneration plan, nothing seems to be changing in this revenue-generating complex.
The Apapa and Tin Can port complexes are major contributors to the nation’s economy, adding about N2trillion yearly via customs revenues and royalties paid by concessionaires. In addition, they are also home to major investments such as cement, sugar and flour manufacturing companies which also pay taxes to the federal government.
However, the Federal Government seems uninterested in fixing the roads or partnering with the Lagos State Government in the regeneration of Apapa, going by the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to respond to a letter written to him on November 1, 2012 by Governor Fashola on what had become a modern-day jungle due to “Federal Government installations and tank farms.”
The first memo had been written on 17 September 2012 and was directed to Vice President Namadi Sambo. In it, Fashola requested Sambo’s approval to make a presentation to the National Economic Council, under the chairmanship of the Vice-President, to call attention to the deterioration of Apapa and call for its regeneration.
Curiously enough, the Vice-President did not respond until a month later when he advised that the letter be sent directly to President Jonathan.
Fashola subsequently wrote to the President on 1 November 2012, a letter to which a reply is still being awaited.
The memo to the President comes after others had been written to the Minister of Finance in July, in which he highlighted the dangers posed by short-term actions after action was taken to clear tankers, trailers and illegal structures that have resurfaced, turning the area into a nightmare for residents and motorists.
In the memo, Fashola had said; “In summary, the memo has identified (1) the operation of entry/exit into the Apapa Port and (2) the state of disrepair of connecting roads, as the biggest challenges, and suggestions have been proposed which require action by agencies and organs of the Federal Government, for there to be enduring relief to the citizens”.
It was not certain as at press time that the governor or his aides got any response from the Finance Minister or her office.
Another memo written on July 5, 2012 detailing highlights of issues critical to finding a permanent solution to the congestion on the road, and sustaining the free flow of traffic, had earlier been sent to the minister.
The memo prepared by the Lagos Taskforce chairman, Bayo Sulaiman, a superintendent of police, on the directive of Fashola, identified the port operations (TinCan Island/Apapa Wharf) the numerous tank farms along the expressway and the industries, as major contributors to the nuisance.
“The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Terminal operators have done little or nothing over the years to address the menace,” Bayo said, and pointed to the grossly inadequate parking space inside the ports to accommodate empty containers within the terminals, which he said explains the long wait by trucks on the highways, resulting in traffic gridlocks.
“The return of empty containers is time-bound after which deductions on the deposits are made. Not withstanding the lean facilities, freight forwarding agents in a bid to recover their deposits, flood the port with empty containers.”
Bayo also suggested the re-evaluation of the computerisation of documentation at the port entrances.
“An unreasonably long time is spent (close to 30 minutes on average) on documentation, and where there is a systems breakdown, the operation is brought to a halt completely.”
In his technical report, he also suggested the creation of container depots/holding bays outside the ports, exploring the practicality of a pre-documentation process that would result in accommodating only a fixed number of trailers that the port operators can handle, for instance, tallies indicating specific day of the week for dropping off empty containers are obtained ahead, on Sundays, review of the present documentation process, as well as the immediate reversal of the two-week test run, ordered by the Special Adviser to the President, for day time return of empty containers.
Some port operators now talk openly about the lack of political will among government officials at the centre, and their penchant for making pronouncements without articulating a plan to follow up.