Godwin ORITSE

THE state of disrepair albeit total neglect of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway by both the Lagos State and Federal Governments may be an indication of the ineffectual, albeit total lack of governance in the country.

The abandonment of the has caused untold hardship to Lagosians, truck drivers, pedestrians and even the officials of both the Lagos State Tarffic Management Authority and Federal Road Safety Corps who have been having an uphill task managing the current traffic situation on that road.

Investigations have shown that billions of Naira is lost each passing day due to the state of disrepair of the road and indications are that the development will lead to depletion of revenue accruing to both the state and federal government.

The Lagos state government collects N500.00 from every container that leave the ports as wharf landing fees while most of the revenue collected by officials of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) comes from the import duties paid by importers, exporters and allied marine based businesses.

The Wharf Landing fee runs into billions of Naira every month and the State has not shown any form of seriousness concerning the rehabilitation of the road.

Although the road is classified as a Federal road, Lagos residents make use of the infrastructure for their businesses, commuting from one end to the other.

The current state of road has negatively impacted the lives of the people in Lagos who commute to and fro the road every day with no respite in sight.

For every container that falls down in transit, losses amounting to millions of Naira is incurred by the importer, not to mention damages done to the trucks, cost incurred by their owners and sometimes the loss of lives of drivers who have dependants.

Port users are totally helpless as most have abandoned their cargoes particularly containers inside the ports for fear of their goods being stranded as a result of the bad road.

Sometimes when a container falls, it ends up on top of other vehicles with passengers and this has led to the untimely deaths of many Nigerians.

Criminals have also taken advantage of the situation to launch attacks on hapless commuters and motorists who are usually caught up in the traffic caused by the deplorable state of the road.

Commercial drivers are groaning under the heavy traffic situation as they spend endless hours on the road every day and resorted to charging exorbitant fares.

Reacting to the deplorable state of the road, Alhaji Shittu Olayiwola, President of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) said “We have a government of neglect”

He explained that the port lays the golden egg and this place has long been neglected by government adding that the government has failed in its responsibility to its citizenry.

Shittu stated that his group made its position on the state of the road known to the last administration and the new government has not deemed it fit to fix this very important road.

“We have resigned ourselves to fate, hoping that one day government will wake up to its responsibility and see to the repair of this all important road.

In another reaction, Mr. Seni Edu, General Manager Eko Support Services stated that the road has become a national embarrassment.

He explained that their clients spend two days to get to their facility inside the Apapa port because of the road.

“We are tired of the ‘what is happening on that road’, the government needs to do something about that road, every year we hear promises without action.”

Managing Director of Integrated Oil and Gas, Mr. Tony Ihenacho said that the state of the road is a big shame and the situation is affecting everybody not just tank farm operators.

Most chief Executives have abandoned the road and use the water ways to go back and forth.