Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, located to the west of Lagos Island. Apapa contains a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Complex (LPC). Apapa is an industrial suburb and outer harbor of Lagos and the chief seaport of Nigeria. Cocoa, coconut oils, coconuts, and other agricultural products are exported through the port.
The gridlock in Apapa is worrisome and quite discouraging, it's as if we are in lawless society, banana republic is better than the present Apapa, the trailers and trucks drivers are not abiding by the the traffic rules and regulations. Instead of the truck and trailer drivers to maintain a single lane, they will rather block the entire road. They've blocked the entire road that lead to Apapa wharf leaving other commuters in state of jeopardy. The gridlock started from Apapa ports down to Ikorodu road, if the government is not careful and stop being proactive it will affect the entire state. It may as well lead to hike in fuel price. 82 companies have relocated already due to the gridlock.
I have observed vividly that both the State and Federal government are not doing anything pragmatic enough to ameliorate the gridlock that have increased the suffering of the people, buying and selling activities is stagnant in Apapa, the only means of transportation within Apapa is bike, to board a bike you need to have above 500 naira, how much will a commoner earn par day and how much will it cost for someone to feed and transport himself/herself within Apapa. A friend of mine categorically told me today that he relocated from Ikeja to Jibowu due to the stress and transport fee, he told me that there is no day he will not spend #1200 on transportation from Apapa to Jibowu. Enough is enough, we are tired of this our present situation.
Dangote and some other notable elites in this country are the one causing this pandemonium, the trailers and trucks belongs to them, how will an average man own a trailer and these are the people suffering while the elites are enjoying, they will never use the road, they live in Victoria Garden City, Banana Island amongst others while the masses continue to wallow in deep gridlock.
The dilapidated road construction contract was awarded to Dangote group and company, till this very moment the road is still under construction, this very road is one of the major road that lead to the port. From Apapa to any axis in lagos presently look like as if someone is travelling from Lagos to another state.
To shuttle between lagos Island and Apapa will take up to to 4 to 5 hours. Small scale business is retrogressing on daily basis, people are complaining of the havoc. We cannot continue with this present situation, it's better to trek than waste your precious time in entering a public transit that will consume someone time, the road is in total quagmire, Apapa bridge is now weak due to the over usage by the trailers and trucks drivers.
My Recommendations :
The government should establish a working railway line that will work 24/7, this railway will be use to move containers to the inland containers depot.
I want to also state it that the distribution of petroleum products meant for the northern part of the country should be moved to Lokoja and Baro ports by barges while the trucks collect them from there, rather than all of them coming down to Apapa.
Likewise the one meant for south east and south south should also be moved by barges then they collect it from there also not them coming to Apapa to come and queue.
Government should hasten the road rehabilitation that is ongoing.
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Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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