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Tag: Apapa traffic

  • Breaking: FG withdraws military from Apapa traffic management

    The Federal Government has directed the personnel of the Nigerian Navy to immediately withdraw from traffic management duties in and around the Apapa port and its environs.

    In its place, the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) is to take over as the lead traffic management agency in Apapa while the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is to commence immediate use of the Lilypond Terminal and Trailer Park A as a truck transit park.

    Read Also: Presidency gives 2 weeks ultimatum for Apapa gridlock clearance

    It further directed all military and paramilitary checkpoints in front of the ports and environs are to be dismantled following the new directive
    .
    Details shortly…

  • 72 hours of Apapa traffic hell

    72 hours of Apapa traffic hell

    The Apapa gridlock returned last week, forcing residents and motorists to virtually go through hell. When will this perennial problem be solved? ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE writes.

    It was back to a forgotten nightmare for residents and motorists around Apapa last week as the axis became completely blocked and remained impregnable the whole week.

    Reason: The return of  fuel tankers to the road  following the disruption of loading operation by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at its Ejigbo, Mosinmi and Ibadan depots.

    The gridlock, which became  noticeable  on Tuesday, got worse  on Thursday, when there was a lock down of the  area. Motorists either abandoned their vehicles or trekked to their destinations.

    Chidinma Nwoke was among this class. A journalist in one of the newspapers located in the area, Nwoke, said he had trekked to his office from Creek road, where he had to park his vehicle on Tuesday, but had resorted to parking at the National Theatre on Wednesday and Thursday, from where he picked a N1,000 motorcycle ride to his office.

    Another such worker who passed through such nightmare is Lucky Monday, who said he spent six hours in the traffic on Wednesday. “I’m not sure I would be able to continue like this if the situation persists in the coming week,” Monday, a sales clerk with one of the restaurants at Apapa, said.

    Andrew Thomas, said the traffic jam was caused by petroleum tankers who moved back to the area to join articulated trailers and trucks which had to pick containerised cargoes from the Ports enroute other parts of the country. “Since Tuesday, the traffic jam has been terrible, and sometimes it is practically a standstill. “The last time we saw traffic like this was in July. This week, the petroleum tankers resurfaced, and since they reappeared, traffic has remained chaotic, and standstill,” Thomas disclosed on Friday.

    Apapa has for three decades suffered the twin crisis of a deplorable road network and an over concentration of tank farms that has compounded the axis’ mandate as centre of commerce with the ports as the hub.

     

    Why the return? 

     

    Though Apapa had always been in the news for its culture of perennial traffic, respite had returned to the area around June, following the resumption of the System 2B Distribution systems by NNPC, which made it possible for the tankers to load these essential commodities at Ejigbo, Mosinmi, Ondo State and Ibadan, Oyo State depots.

    During the period, only containerised trailers could be seen in Apapa, and these are restricted to Ijora/Apapa/Wharf roads. The only tankers plying the roads during the period, motorists said, are tankers belonging to the major oil marketers.

    The tankers had returned following a drop in NNPC’s supply at these depots.

    The Southwest chairman of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers union (NUPENG), Olatokunbo Korodo, said the tankers had returned to Apapa following the shortfall in the supply chain by NNPC, knowing that they could get the commodity from the hordes of marketers – private concerns at Apapa.

    “Since they (tanker drivers), knew that the products were readily available at Apapa, they did not care how long they had to wait to load, so long as they got the products,’’ Korodo said.

    He said the solution to the problem was a return to massive loading of the products at the NNPC depots, a development which would keep the tankers away from Apapa.

    Though foreclosing scarcity of the products, Korodo said the lasting solution would be to relocate the depots from Apapa.

    He, however, said the road rehabilitation and the gridlock may affect supply of the product across the country.

    Korodo at a public forum last week said petroleum tanker drivers are finding it difficult accessing the private tank farms in Apapa to get the products. He said though the tank farms within Apapa Marine Bridge received the products from the NNPC for onward distribution across the country, he however, said the reconstruction of the road would affect movement of tankers and containerised trailers either to the tank farms or Wharf road, thus compounding the already chaotic traffic situation in the area.

    The gridlock is due to ongoing reconstruction of the Apapa-Wharf Road Korodo said that since the inauguration of reconstruction of the road, petroleum tanker drivers had been on queue, finding it difficult to gain access to the tank farms to get products. The chairman said that the tank farms within the Apapa Marine Bridge Road received petroleum products from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which was to be distributed by petroleum tankers to different parts of the country. He said that the reconstruction of the road would affect movement of articulated vehicles to the port, adding that it was also taking its toll on tanker drivers as they now find it difficult loading at tank farms in the area.

     

    Dangote’s intervention

     

    Determined to end the nightmare, Dangote Group, President Aliko Dangote promised to repair the road.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola had recently, signed a N4.34 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dangote Group and other stakeholders for reconstruction of the Apapa-Wharf Road.

    The project is to be funded by AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN). The site was handed over to the stakeholders for commencement of reconstruction works after the agreement was signed in Lagos.

    Fashola had lamented that the gridlock in Apapa became capricious and had reached an unbearable level because transporters ignored the old system of moving cargo through railway.

    According to the minister, the recourse to freighting liquid or hard cargoes by road had not only distorted the transportation system, but had put undue pressure on the roads resulting in their deplorable state.

    While the stakeholders’ initiative is welcomed, Fashola hinted that the Federal Government is committed to the revitalisation of the railway, and repositioning it to ensure that it contributes maximally to improving logistics and transportation architecture of the nation.

    Korodo however, held that the reconstruction will undoubtedly impact on the loading of petroleum products by tankers at the various tank farms in Apapa.

    “Since the takeoff of the reconstruction works, our tankers have queued up on the roads because they cannot gain access to the tank farms.

    “Queuing containerised trailers, heading to the port have blocked the access road and our tankers have been on the same spot for three days now, unable to get to the farms to load fuel.”

    That is why he suggested that the best way out is for the NNPC to stabilise its operations and boost its supply chain to ensure that at least tankers have alternative depots to load the commodity apart from Apapa.

    “We want NNPC to maximise the use of its System 2B distribution channel at least during this period to pump products to its depots in Mosinmi, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ilorin and Ore, so that most of the tankers which now besiege the area will stop coming to Lagos to load at Apapa, but could approach any of these other locations to buy the product.

    Even without the reconstruction going on, motorists said that it is becoming irrational and unacceptable for tankers to continue to head to Apapa to load petroleum products.

    “It is irrational to still have tankers come to load these products at Apapa because their presence complicates the traffic situation leading usually to a total close-up of the area,” a motorist who lives in the area said.

    That was why Korodo would want the NNPC to tackle whatever might have led to the shortfall in its supply chain in recent times, which made the tankers to come back to Lagos.

    He said a timely resolution of this skeletal operation would save the nation from being plunged into another era of fuel scarcity as a result of the tankers’ continued inability to access the tank farms at Apapa.

    Unwieldy cluster

    Experts agreed that Apapa being home to the nation’s busiest port has enough headaches than for petroleum tankers compounding the crisis.

    At last count, 17 privately owned tank farms operate on two roads – Apapa/Wharf road and Coconut/Apapa road.

    While some of the companies: MRS Oil and Gas, Nipco Oil and Gas, Ateo Oil Ltd, Techno Oil and Gas, Mobil Oil and Gas, and Folawiyo Oil and Gas, Oando Oil and Gas, Conoil Oil and Gas, are on Apapa/Wharf road, the Coconut/Apapa road axis have among others; Capital Oil and Gas, Sahara Oil and Gas, Integrated Oil and Gas, Eternal Oil and Gas, Total Oil and Gas and Acorn Oil and Gas. Others are Obat Oil Petroleum, Aquitaine Oil Ltd, and Spog Oil Nig Ltd.

    Though these tank farms have bailed the nation out of crushing scarcity of supply of the products in the past, when the NNPC’s Atlas Cove was practically shut, they have however become a cog to liveability index of Apapa, the nation’s gateway to international trade and commerce.

    That was why Lagosians would argue that it is time the farms are relocated from Apapa, which is already saturated with commercial activity to a saner, less challenging axis.

    To make Apapa attractive as a centre of commerce, the perennial traffic gridlock  needed to be solved.

    While tackling the deplorable road network may be one side of the coin, the other enduring side remains the return to the railway as the preferred cargo freight choice and the removal of the tank farms from the axis. Only these could bring back the sanity long lost in the area. Maybe if that is done, coming generation could have nostalgic recollection of scenic Apapa, almost lost to the chaotic noise of commerce.

  • Unlocking the Apapa traffic gridlock

    Unlocking the Apapa traffic gridlock

    The Apapa, Lagos traffic gridlock seems to have defied all solution. With a sea port and 57 tank farms, Apapa attracts heavy duty trucks, which during fuel scarcity, constitute a menace on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, throwing residents and motorists into panic. ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE and MIRIAM EKENE-OKORO examine the Lagos State Government’s efforts to address the problem. 

    To many motorists, Apapa has become a nightmare. They are subjected to traffic gridlock caused by trailers and petrol tankers trying to access the port and the tank farms.

    The situation has worsened in the last three years, forcing many residents and businesses to relocate from the area. The Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) claim to have  lost over  N7 trillion to the traffic lockdown.

    Giving Apapa a proper traffic traction was one of the headaches of former Lagos State Governor  Babatunde Fashola. Daily, his phone number, which he made public, was inundated with  calls, text messages and emails from motorists, complaining about their hardship in moving in and out of Apapa.

    Fashola’s visit to the area on a Sunday, few months back, left him speechless. Scores of trucks and tankers were parked indiscriminately on the road for days, with their drivers nowhere to be found. Several times, the tankers were ordered to vacate the roads, but the ultimatums merely brought temporary reprieve.

    In no time, the tankers would return, and in full force. Soon, Fashola’s Sundays were dedicated to on-the-spot assessment of the situation but it yielded no fruit.

    At the climax of the general elections, Apapa became a dead end. Businesses were threatened. Those who could not withstand the nightmare relocated. Some workers were forced to work from their homes, while others looked for greener pastures. Car owners dumped their vehicles.

    The situation was not helped by fuel scarcity. Petrol tankers from various parts of the country who had made their way to Lagos to lift the product were stranded.

    Lillian Emmanuel, who has worked in a new generation bank in Apapa for over eight years, told our reporter that during the period, she had to engage a commercial motorcycle operator, otherwise known as okada man, to take her to and fro her place of work for an agreed fee.

    “I spent over half of my salary on transportation. I have no choice because that is the only way I could get to the office and return home on time,” she said.

    Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode’s baptism at Apapa wasn’t palatable either. When he visited Apapa penultimate Thursday, the governor and all his aides who were visiting major traffic points in the area, had a taste of the nightmare.

    Twice, the convoy had to retreat and seek escape routes as the trailers and petrol tankers had virtually taken over the roads.

    When he alighted from his vehicle, the look on his face showed his disdain for what has become of Apapa, a once-viable commercial hub and, arguably, the main artery of the nation’s economy.

    Ambode there upon appealed to the Federal Government to pay the contractor awarded the construction of the road to enable him return to site.

    He was disturbed by the traffic gridlock residents and motorists  face daily, which is largely due to the indiscriminate parking of articulated trucks by drivers attempting to access the port and tank farms within the axis.

    He said: “What we have done in the last three hours is trying to find out the issues peculiar to Apapa. We’ve all seen that the gridlock in Apapa is multifaceted and we observed that they relate to activities of trailer and tanker drivers on the road.”

    Alluding to the fact that the network of roads in Apapa belong to the Federal Government, he lamented that the Tin Can Bridge, which has been under construction for about six years, was abandoned, noting that this has given rise to tankers parking indiscriminately on the road.

    “It is totally unacceptable that we would be having tankers and trailers on our bridges. It is also not acceptable that they would decide to block all lanes that lead to Apapa. We’ve also seen that we must do something immediately to alleviate the challenges that the residents and businesses are  facing.

    “But again, you’ll also realise that the roads that lead to Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island actually belong to the Federal Government.

    It is unacceptable that the Tin Can Bridge, has been under construction for six years. We’ve also seen a trailer park that can actually contain about 500 trailers, that has been abandoned by the Federal Government.

    “What we want to do now is firstly to appeal to the Federal Government and, most especially, Mr. President that the contractor working on this particular bridge should come back to site and once we are able to open the trailer park, we would be able to allow other trailers and tankers to use the park.”

    The governor also expressed concern about the activities at the 57 tank farms in the area, saying they constitute great security challenge for the state government, adding that their owners will be summoned for a meeting soon.

    “The greater part of this challenge is posed by the tank farm owners. As we speak, we have 57 tank farms around Apapa alone; that’s a major security challenge for the government.

    “We have to start to look at the security issues relating to these tank farms. All trailers across the country come to these tank farms and the tank farm owners would be summoned to a meeting. They must tell us their remedy for the traffic menace in Apapa.”

    As a palliative measure towards ensuring free flow of traffic, Governor Ambode said a task force would be immediately set up to ensure 24- hour surveillance of traffic flow, stressing that the Lagos Road Traffic Law will be strictly enforced.

    “Right now on our part, the immediate palliative is that we would set up a task force that would involve most of our security agencies including the police and we would do a 24/7 monitoring of the area and free up traffic.

    “We would pay more attention to enforcement. From this evening, you would see that there would be more attention on enforcement and we would also fund that enforcement. We are going to give incentives to our law enforcement officers to ensure that the Lagos Traffic Law is obeyed,” he added.

    The governor also assured that there would be regular road repair to address the deplorable state of some of the roads.

    The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, who was at the event, before he was deployed last week, said the concern of the Police was to nip in the bud the rising crime rate in the area.

    “What we have observed in the last one year, due to the poor road network, is that most of these trailers always collapse and when this happens, you see a lot of hoodlums coming around to steal the items meant to be freighted to other parts of the country.

    “By the time we have very good road network in Apapa area, it would lead to free flow of traffic and less criminality. An improved partnership between the police and the state government would enable us to reduce all forms of criminality around this axis. It would boost the national and state’s economy.

    For Commodore Daniel Ikoli, Commander, NNS Beecroft, Apapa Naval Base, “We are partnering under OP MESA. We are supporting the state government and the police in ensuring security within Apapa area. Under that same platform, we have also been actively involved in ensuring the traffic flow  in Apapa, we try to ensure that everybody that moves into Apapa have free flow of traffic.”

    Less than 48 hours after the governor’s visit, the General Manager Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr Babatunde Edu, led a team of LASTMA, the Police and Navy on the rescue mission aimed at making the road accessible to all road users.

    Edu said over 50 trailers were removed from the area in accordance with the government’s zero tolerance for gridlocks and indiscipline and also to checkmate tanker drivers’ excesses and restore sanity in Apapa.

    He said the government would sustain the onslaught to ensure that every citizen has a right to use the road and ensure that the road is not closed up and used only by tankers or trucks again.

    He recalled that several efforts had been made in the past to restore sanity and the old glory of Apapa, but that these have always been truncated by recalcitrant drivers.

    He said: “This time round, the enforcement will be continuous as the agency is out to ensure that all tanker drivers comply with government’s directive.”

    According to him, series of meetings have been held with the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) Branch of the National Union of Petroleum and the Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to educate their members and ensure that they desist from indiscriminate parking and indiscipline as these could pose danger to other road users.

    He urged tanker drivers to adhere strictly to the new directive, as the government would not hesitate to enforce traffic rules and regulations to the latter whenever they violate the law.

    Edu called  on the public to take possession of the cleared  roads, and not hesitate to inform the agency of any broken down or abandoned tankers and trucks on the expressway as LASTMA has been empowered to respond promptly to such distress and remove them to pave way for uninterrupted traffic.

     

  • Apapa traffic: ‘Tough times await erring drivers’

    Traffic gridlock on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway will soon be a thing of the past, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said yesterday after an assessment.

    He said a task force comprising all security agencies, including the police, would began “24/7 monitoring” of traffic to ease motorists’ and commutters’ parks.

    “Right now on our part, the immediate palliative is that we will set up a task force involving most of our security agencies, including the police and we will do a 24/7 monitoring of traffic flow.

    “We will pay more attention to enforcement. Form this evening, there will be more focus on enforcement and its funding. We are going to give incentives to our law enforcement officers to ensure that traffic law is obeyed,” Ambode said during a tour of major traffic points in Apapa, Lekki and Ajah.

    Ambode frowned on indiscriminate parking on Apapa Expressway by tanker drivers, saying he was ready to end traffic gridlock to give road users respite.

    The governor said the traffic jam was caused by many factors, adding that a stakeholders’ meeting would soon be convened to find a lasting solution to it.

    “What we have done in the last three hours is trying to find out what are the issues that pertain to Apapa. We have all seen that the gridlock in Apapa is multifaceted. We have examined things that relate to activities of trailer and tanker drivers. It is totally unacceptable that we would be having tankers and trailers on our bridges.

    “It is also not acceptable that they would decide to block all lanes that lead to Apapa. We have also seen that we must do something immediately to alleviate the challenges that the residents and businessmen are facing. But again, you will also realise that the roads that lead to Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island actually belong to the Federal Government,” he said.

    Ambode added: “This bridge (Tin Can) has been under construction in the last six years; we have also seen a trailer park that can actually contain about 500 trailers at a time, which has been abandoned by the Federal Government. What we want to do now is firstly to appeal to the Federal Government, most especially Mr. President, that the contractor constructing this particular bridge should come back to site and once we are able to open the trailer park, we would be able to allow other trailers and tankers to use the park.”

    He noted that the tank farms in the area were an additional challenge, saying: “That is a major security challenge for the state government. We have to start to look at the security issues relating to these tank farms. All trailers across the country come to these tank farms. The tank farm owners will soon be summoned to a meeting to tell us what they see as their remedy to this menace that we are having in Apapa.”

    Police chief Kayode Aderanti said his concern was the nexus between infrastructural development and the crime rate in the area.

    “What we have observed in the last one year, due to the road network, is that most of these trailers always collapse and when this happens, you see a lot of hoodlums coming around to steal most of the items meant to be shipped to different parts of the country.

    “So, we are of the view that by the time we have very good infrastructural development in Apapa area and free flow of traffic, there will be less criminality by hoodlums who take advantage of the situation. Then there will be a boost in the economy of Lagos State,” he said.

    Commodore Daniel Ikoli, Commander, NNS Beecroft, Apapa Naval Base, said: “We are supporting the state government and the police at ensuring security within Apapa area. Under that same apparatus, you would agree with me that we have also been present in mitigating the traffic gridlock in Apapa. We try to ensure that everybody that moves into Apapa enjoys stress-free movement.”