When His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode appointed me the<\/p>\n
Chairman Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority, I was excited that<\/p>\n
I have been given another challenge and opportunity to explore<\/p>\n
another critical sector in the economy of Lagos State. I was happy<\/p>\n
because I like great challenges but the Apapa situation and the<\/p>\n
horrible traffic chaos scared me stiff. My friends and associates<\/p>\n
called to celebrate with me but added a proviso that traffic in Apapa<\/p>\n
may be a big stumbling block.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I have gone to Apapa to see things for myself. In search for a new<\/p>\n
office complex for the Authority, I came face to face with trouble in<\/p>\n
Apapa and Tincan Island Ports. Apapa, the goose that has been laying<\/p>\n
the golden eggs lies in ruins in the midst of plenty. The two<\/p>\n
National Mirrors are broken into pieces,mercilessly plundered and<\/p>\n
ruthlessly pillaged. I lack words to describe these two great Ports,<\/p>\n
the largest in the country except to add that our past leaders are<\/p>\n
wicked, irresponsible and totally heartless. They must have traveled<\/p>\n
severally to different parts of the world. They must have seen their<\/p>\n
seaports and the state of art infrastructure available. I have seen<\/p>\n
the ones in China, US and Singapore. Our leaders have returned to<\/p>\n
continue the business as usual. After all, to have ears is not to<\/p>\n
listen, to listen is not to hear, the hear is not to understand, to<\/p>\n
understand is not to put to practice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What of the big Managing Directors and CEOs of blue chip companies,<\/p>\n
the Customs, the Ship owners, the Shippers Council, the Ship owners,<\/p>\n
the business magnets etc who do business in Apapa and Tincan Island ?<\/p>\n
For years they have been making trillions at the Nation’s Ports but<\/p>\n
lack the capacity and capability to look through the windows of their<\/p>\n
Cars and offices to see the ruins and the devastations around the<\/p>\n
ports. If they cannot collectively repair roads through Corporate<\/p>\n
Social Responsibility,what stops them from drawing the attention of<\/p>\n
the Federal Government who takes all the money from the ports? It<\/p>\n
pains me to no end that people with full dose of western education<\/p>\n
who should know better turn out to be the problem because they have<\/p>\n
refused to do what is right.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The pandemic problems we have in Lagos ports remain an indictment to<\/p>\n
all of us, the political leaders, managers of blue chip companies,<\/p>\n
business managers etc. If we cannot work hard to develop this country<\/p>\n
for our young ones and generations yet unborn, let us accept the<\/p>\n
obvious and painful truth that we have all failed. No wonder the<\/p>\n
Republican Presidential candidate in the United States,Donald Trump<\/p>\n
described African leaders as meretricious mediocrity, empty heads and<\/p>\n
ethical failures. But how did we get into this dead end in Apapa.<\/p>\n
Both Apapa and Tincan island ports have only two major ingress and<\/p>\n
egress – Apapa-Tincan-Mile Two-Oshodi expressway and<\/p>\n
Apapa-Ijora-Western Avenue axis and nothing more. Despite the growing<\/p>\n
business in these two major ports, the two roads have remained the<\/p>\n
same for nearly fifty years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To demonstrate how wicked, hopeless and helpless our leaders have<\/p>\n
been, even the two roads have been left to decay for years. Soon the<\/p>\n
racket called the importation of petroleum products led to the<\/p>\n
massive building of Tank farms in Apapa. Today all the petrol<\/p>\n
products trucks head to Apapa and what we see is chaos all the way.<\/p>\n
The Whites who built Apapa Wharf knew then that only the rail system<\/p>\n
will be suitable for evacuating the containers leaving the roads free<\/p>\n
for other users. The rail system that runs from Apapa to different<\/p>\n
parts of the country lies in ruins and today trucks moving containers<\/p>\n
out of Apapa and Tincan Island remain the biggest problem. People<\/p>\n
have been killed by container laden trucks, vehicles and bridges<\/p>\n
destroyed. We need to restore the rail system in Apapa as a matter of<\/p>\n
urgency. We must also have the courage to move the Tank farms away<\/p>\n
from Apapa. We must make our Refineries to work to stop the<\/p>\n
importation of petroleum products.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another biggest problem is the concession of the ports few years back<\/p>\n
by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to private individuals. These<\/p>\n
concessionaires soon converted the huge truck parks in Apapa Wharf<\/p>\n
and Tincan Island to places where empty containers are parked for<\/p>\n
years. Consequently, the parks which are capable of housing 3000<\/p>\n
trucks at any given time have been rendered useless. Today trucks use<\/p>\n
highways as parking lots constituting monumental traffic problems and<\/p>\n
robberies in the metropolis. The roads and volume of trucks that go<\/p>\n
in and out of Apapa on a daily basis have ruined Apapa GRA. In the<\/p>\n
course of trying to secure an office space for the Wharf Landing Fees<\/p>\n
Collecting Authority, I discovered that Apapa has been destroyed and<\/p>\n
decimated. Residents of Apapa GRA have left in droves. There are so<\/p>\n
many houses for sale and many to rent but no buyers and even those to<\/p>\n
rent. Roads, drainage systems, security, orderliness have been<\/p>\n
crushed in Apapa beyond imagination. It is that bad. Situations in<\/p>\n
Apapa should prick the conscience of any responsible and responsive<\/p>\n
Nigerian. No strangers from other lands came to destroy the peace and<\/p>\n
serenity of Apapa. Our leaders destroyed Apapa. They took everything<\/p>\n
in Apapa and left nothing. They plundered, pillaged Apapa and did<\/p>\n
nothing to add values to Apapa. Estate developers are counting their<\/p>\n
losses in Apapa. They are the worst losers. When leaders fail to do<\/p>\n
their job, everybody goes down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thank God our own Distinguished Senator Oluremi Tinubu has risen up<\/p>\n
in the Hallowed chamber of the Senate of the Federal Republic to draw<\/p>\n
our attention to the broken national mirror called Apapa. His<\/p>\n
Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has been intervening and<\/p>\n
proffering solutions. Thank God president Buhari is on the throne. It<\/p>\n
is either we build Nigeria or we perish.<\/p>\n
Apapa remains a big challenge to all of us. We cannot be taking<\/p>\n
trillions from Apapa every year without giving anything in return.<\/p>\n
Federal Government owns Apapa GRA, Apapa wharf and Tincan Island. We<\/p>\n
want concrete actions now not idle talks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Revenues from the oil sector is dwindling and it behoves on all our<\/p>\n
leaders to be pro-active and hyper active now in looking at the<\/p>\n
alternative sources of Revenue. Our ports in Lagos offer an<\/p>\n
alternative and may we not joke with this. Restoring the rail system,<\/p>\n
rebuilding the road networks, creating additional access roads and<\/p>\n
rehabilitating Apapa GRA is the way to go at least for now. We need<\/p>\n
to quickly create additional roads to Apapa wharf and Tincan Island<\/p>\n
no matter the cost to the existing two ways in and out of Apapa.<\/p>\n
Houses may be demolished to achieve this. We need to look for the<\/p>\n
funds and do the needful now or never.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Joe Igbokwe<\/p>\n
Lagos<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode appointed me the Chairman Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority, I was excited that I have been given another challenge and opportunity to explore another…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n