How gridlock has sent businesses, banks packing from Apapa

Apart from the numerous companies and banks that are situated along the expressway as well as those in the heart of Apapa as a community, many individuals also eke out a living for themselves from the largely thriving automobile business which Apapa has over the years come to be known for.

The numerous oil depots situated in Apapa in any case serve as oil-lifting centres where oil moguls and companies from different parts of the country come to lift oil.

But perhaps the most important parameter which makes the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway truly of high economic importance is the fact that it ultimately leads to the Apapa Ports where tonnes of goods are brought and taken out of the country on daily basis.

However, to many, Apapa has become a wasteland of some sort, and a walk through its major connecting roads including Liverpool, Creek Road, Wharf Road, among others, would reveal a degraded environment and collapsed roads infrastructure that have forced many residents and businesses to move to better locations.

The problem is largely due to the perennial problem of traffic gridlocks on the expressway which seems to be threatening to reduce bit by bit the contribution of this popular community and its roads to the national economy.

According to information gathered, the resultant gridlocks caused by the indiscriminate parking of petrol tankers and trailers waiting to load petrol from tank farms along the access roads to the seaports had made movement of goods and people in and out of the seaports to and from their work places within the Apapa industrial/commercial area virtually impossible.

Based on a survey carried out by the Nigerian Tribune, the average time spent by commuters coming from the Oshodi-Mile 2 end of the road to the places such as Wharf in Apapa, especially in the evenings, is in the excess of four hours. This includes over two hours that is used by commuters to manoeuvre their way from the Berger Yard end of the express road to Trinity and parts of Liverpool. This is the section of the road which under normal circumstances shouldn’t take more than a 10-15 minutes drive to cover.

Quite often, the only means of quick transportation is the ubiquitous commercial motorcycles popularly known as okadas whose riders have completely defied the state government’s order for all okadas to stop operating on major roads in the state.

It is believed that even rich owners of businesses sited in the community and other persons who have business transactions there now park their expensive vehicles in some other places and opt for okadas which have perfected the act of beating traffic gridlocks on the ever busy road.

However, perhaps worst still, is the suggestions in certain quarters that the problem might already be taking its toll on business activities not just on the axis but the entire nation as a whole.

For example, many car dealers now appear to be licking the wounds inflicted on their businesses by the same gridlock problem.

While the actual figures of the decline in the number of car sales made since the problem took a ‘dangerous’ twist proved impossible to ascertain, it is generally believed that car sales in places such as Berger Yard, Trinity, Sunrise (all notable bus stops along the expressway) has witnessed a significant drop in recent times.

Apart from automobile sellers, other business owners, particularly those selling automobile spare parts, at a market situated at Trinity have also been counting their losses. This is because before the situation degenerated to its current state, the market used to be the hub of thousands of motorists as well as mechanics who used to storm the market for vehicle spare parts which they often bought at cheap prices.

Meanwhile, when making efforts to explain the cause of the endless gridlocks caused by oil tankers, an official of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), who craved for anonymity, explained that the time required for each tanker to be filled was a major factor contributing to the long queue of tanker often seen on the road.

“It takes the average of about eight minutes for a 33,000-litre oil tanker to be filled up, but nothing less than 500 tankers have to be filled every day. Therefore, this often leads to a situation whereby tankers which are on oil schedule wait for a very long time before they can be attended to,” he stated.

Banks closed down, house vacancy rates rise

Perhaps one of the most prominent effects of the problem is the closure and relocation of banks to other places.

Normal business activities at a branch of a popular new generation banks located at Sunrise area of the road have reportedly been disrupted as a result of the state of the road which also often makes the entire bank premises to be flooded whenever it rains heavily.

According to information gathered, the relocation of this bank might be imminent, as business activities continue to dwindle in the bank.

About two years ago, a bank, a branch of GTB located at Creek Road, Apapa, is understood to have halted its services in the region.

Although no reason was given by the management bank for its action then, it is believed that the heavy traffic which significantly reduced the bank’s customers’ turnout must have informed the decision.

Also on the list of revenue losers are terminal operators, freight forwarders, Customs and other key stakeholders of the port community.

Even landlords in Apapa are also counting their losses, as many of them have houses with no tenants, as potential lack of business activities as a result of the gridlock problem has made residents to relocate elsewhere. The development, according to information gathered, has crashed significantly the rent rates in the axis.

 

Residents’ lamentations

Chris Chidozie, an auto dealer in Apapa, who resides in Festac Town  said he often took the pain to drive through Orile-Iganmu via Ijora to connect Apapa every morning; a journey which he described as an “Israelites’ journey.” He noted that Mile 2-Tin Can route which is shorter from Festac Town, had become a “no go” area.

“The irony in all these is that the Lagos State government reaps millions of Naira monthly from Apapa through the Wharf landing fee law introduced by the previous administration, that mandates every importer to pay N1,000 on every 40ft container, N500 on every 20ft container and N300 on every vehicle imported through the ports, all of which the government claims is meant for road maintenance.

“Besides, the Federal Government is also making billions of Naira monthly, in fact, Apapa is now where it depends upon for its revenue base,” he said.

End of gridlock in sight – Lagos govt

The Lagos State government has vowed to put an end to the gridlock menace by ridding the roads of illegal tank farms, among other plans.

This was made known by the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, through a press statement signed by its chief public affairs officer, Olubunkonla Nwonah, and made available to the Nigerian Tribune.

According to Nwonah, the State Government is working with the Federal Government to relocate tank farms in residential areas in Apapa, while a “definite pronouncement would be made in that in regard in due course.”

 

 

 

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