The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Apapa

  • Ripples over multi-billion naira Apapa Port Terminals’ project

    The redevelopment contract of Bullnose I, II and III terminals in Apapa, Port Complex by the Federal Ministry of Transportation and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) awarded to Eko Support Services (ESS) in 2008 at  $124 million (about N40,920,000,000) is causing ripples in the maritime industry.

    Maritime stakeholders said they were uncomfortable, not only with the cost of the contract, but also the process that led to the award of the project to ESS which they alleged was shrouded in secrecy.

    The push for the redevelopment and the award of the contract which was through a letter from the Managing Director of NPA dated 3rd of June, 2008, to the then Minister of Water/Transportation, was said to have been done in response to Federal Government’s initiative for private sector participation in ports development.

    But maritime watchers said that in line with due process and transparency, the initiative should have gone through a public tender to afford other interested private sector players the opportunity to bid. Officials of the Federal Ministry of Transportation last week declined comment on the issue. The NPA also refused to comment on the controversy over which some stakeholders are contemplating petitioning the Presidency, the ICPC, and the Bureau for Public Procurement which vets awards of contracts. They claimed that since it was government’s idea that the private sector should be involved, then it was only fair that the contract award and pricing, should also have been subjected to private sector participation.

    A maritime industry insider said it would be difficult not to assume that the beneficiary firm was handpicked by the awarding authority. ‘’Obviously, the NPA handpicked ESS and went ahead and recommended the company for this project,” the insider said, wondering why the supervising ministry did not raise any issue on the process leading  to submission of the proposal by only ESS.

    It was learnt that in the proposal, ESS offered to handle the project at $127 million, but that following what the then NPA boss said was the approval of the proposal by a Technical Committee and vetting of the proposal by NPA’s Technical Channel Auditors, Messrs Coastal and Reclamation Engineering Services, (CARES), NPA recommended that the project be scaled down to $124 million, indicating a margin of just $3 million lower than what ESS proposed.

    Said the insider: “Even by today’s standard, that redevelopment project could be achieved with a little over $50million,” stressing that a technical audit of what is on ground would tell you vividly that this is not a project that should cost what was allegedly approved.

    Also being contested by ports observers is the fact that the project cost would be amortized through service boat charges in all the ports in Nigeria. “In simple term, said an investment analyst, NPA has awarded a Terminal redevelopment project to, as the insider put it, “ a so-called private player, with NPA providing the exorbitant and inflated cost of contract, through charges collected on behalf of NPA by the contractor,” adding, “yet NPA will not have control of the Terminal for 25 years.” What that means, the insider explained, is that the facility will be used exclusively by the same contractor for the quarter of a century.

    Other stakeholders, in picking holes with the contract, pointed to loopholes with regards to the estimated cost of $124million recommended by CARES, with the proviso that it is accepted pending the determination of the actual cost from the final design; that the cost of financing of 16 per cent be applied to the cost of the project and hat the lease should be for an initial period of 25 years.

    The stakeholders argued that the term which says $124million is accepted pending the determination of the actual cost from the final design is loose, What would then happen if the winners now make a detour, and insist from the final design analysis, that the cost has increased by 200 per cent, they queried?

    They said on balance the development is quite troubling. “Since the money will be amortized from the service boat charges which belongs to NPA and is a sure stream of inflow, why should the cost be this high? they queried, saying the more crucial implication is that both the cost of the project plus the cost of financing put at 16 per cent would be borne by the Nigerian Ports Authority.

  • Apapa Amusement Park opens

    Apapa Amusement Park opens

    Finally, Apapa is back in the family leisure map of Lagos with the opening of the 40-year-old amusement park.

    The rebuilding of the amusement park was carried out in a partnership arrangement between the Lagos State government and a private company, Crystal Cubes Construction Company. The park has been remodelled and looks like a mini Dubai in Lagos.

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mr. Folarin-Coker, who represented the Lagos State  Governor  Akinwunmi Ambode , at the opening ceremony had much to say about the new park.

    He said: “ This is a partnership between the government and the private sector to provide this sort of edifice for entertainment and leisure in Apapa and environs. We believe it will work and this will continue to generate income, create employment and make more people come to invest.

    “ In my report to the governor, and in our usual way of decentralizing things, that Apapa has one, why shouldn’t Epe, Ikorodu  and Badagry have one as well? So, I know in the next few years, we will have this in these localities.”

    On the issue of traffic affecting patronage of the place, the commissioner said it won’t be so as the traffic situation has improved.

    He said: “The traffic has improved. There is not city of the size of Lagos that would not have traffic issues, 24,000 square kilometers of fairly built up buildings. There is also the population density. Now, how many roads do we have?  22 per cent of Lagos is water. There is bound to be congestion. Maybe we should stop complaining about congestion and start seeking of alternatives.

    “A look at a place like the Apapa Amusement Park here today, they have a good car park. I also noticed they  have an indoor football pitch, which means maybe on Saturdays, when people are coming to the  park,  some children are coming to play football or some parents are playing five-a-side in the evenings.

    “I see they also have two function halls. I was even saying to them, you would need a multi-storey car park like the one you have in Ikoyi Club or Mega-Plaza, so that they can hold the volume of cars that come in here without spilling to the main road. We’ve got to make the best of what we have, we’ve got to consume more of what we have locally, and that is how we could become better.”

    Folarin-Coker said with the huge population of Lagos, a place like Apapa Amusement Park will be a huge success yielding huge return on investment.

    He said: “Whether there is a better one next to Lagos or not, it is the Mathematics of Lagos that is going to determine it. No African city has the density or population like Lagos, simple. How much money will those places turn over, how much money will this make? This will be a successful venture that would grow other ones in other localities within Lagos. I think that is what we should focus.

    “The days of government paying for everything and we just consume have gone. Oil price is  27 dollars per barrel. The dollar is 300 naira to one dollar. Let us face economic reality here and now. So, whatever it is, if it is a car park in the area where car park is non-existent, come and partner  the government to build the car park. If it is hospitals, where we feel there are good private hospitals that want to partner the government because government has infrastructure that they can use.

    “ We have to do business to provide for everybody.  We have to deal with those who have the wealth, who have the expertise, and with we, the constituted authority, we have to come together to create these things. Please, you are only bound by your imagination. Bring it on and we will access it, and if it works, I am sure the governor will do it.”

    The commissioner for tourism said tourism is very much in the agenda of the current state government as means of generating wealth and creating employment.

    The Managing Director of Crystal Cubes, Mr. Rabih Jaafar, in an interview with The Nation said the idea was to recreate the Dubai experience here.

    He said: “When we came here, our engineers that are our partners, had the vision of an amusement park that he had seen in Dubai. All these buildings you see, they are like what you see in Dubai’s Jumeirah. So, he had the vision of building a kind of smaller version of Jumeirah because of the land.

    “That is what we have done here. For the rides, we went through children and adults. It is not only for children. There are amusement facilities for teenagers and adults.

    “There is the disco ride it is for adults. It can take 24 persons. There is also the bumper car for adults and children, carousel for children and adults, the rockets, the pirates’ ship for children, the spinner, and the tea cup for children. “

    There is a whole lot for family fun in the Apapa amusement park including eateries and indoor activities.

    The new amusement, according to the operators, opens daily.

  • MAN bemoans lack of inspection facilities in Apapa ports

    •Customs’ inspection target drops from 200 to 60 containers per day 

    Lack of inspection tools and equipment in Apapa ports has led to a reduction in the inspection target  of   the   Nigeria   Customs Service (NCS)  from 200 containers per day to about 60 containers per day.

    This has resulted in the payment of avoidable demurrage and unnecessary delay  in manufacturing  operations,  the  Manufacturers Association of  Nigeria (MAN) has said.

    The Chairman of MAN, Apapa branch, Mr. Babatunde Odunayo, in his address at its  44th Annual General Meeting (AGM)  held in Lagos on  November 12, spoke on the theme. At the AGM: ‘The Nigerian Manufacturing Sector:  What   Future   for   Capacity   Utilization   and   Growth   under   a   New   Economic   Situation?

    Odunayo said because of lack of inspection facilities at the ports, raw materials, plant and machinery, and spare parts are not released efficiently by Customs.

    “Presently, trailers also queue up on port roads leading to loss of man-hours and contribute to the cost of doing business in Nigeria,” Odunayo lamented, adding that already the deplorable state of roads within Lagos metropolis and the consequent traffic gridlock at the Tin-Can Island   and   Apapa   Ports   have   led   to   closure   of   and   relocation   of   some   manufacturing companies from Apapa to other neighbouring states.

    While noting that the Lagos State Government’s rail transportation project appears to have stalled,   Odunayo   calling   on   the   State   Government   to   fast-track   the   completion   of   the proposed Trailer Pack at Tin Can Inland, which, when completed, would promote an orderly and traffic-free conduct of business in that area.

    The Man chief also expressed hope that the NCS will improve on the facilities and processes at the ports in order to achieve the 48-hour clearing mandate, while also improving on the Pre-Arrival Assessment  Report (PAAR) procedures  in   order   to ensure  that   PAAR-related challenges such as complaints arising from Free on Board (FOB) values are minimized.

    This year’s AGM,  according to   Odunayo,  was  aimed  at engaging  with some  established economists and  technocrats in  further  understanding the  strategies  required   to  rescue  the manufacturing sector from imminent danger in the prevailing macro-economic and currency controls environment.

    He noted, for instance, that the controversial exclusion of 41 items from the official foreign exchange (forex), and the shortage of forex to finance imports is threatening operators in the manufacturer sector. “This unfavourable business environment poses serious threats to the survival of the manufacturing sector,” he said.

    According to Odunayo, “The Central Bank of Nigeria may have stampeded itself into the removal of the 41 items from the official forex window if you consider that the list includes essential raw material inputs for manufacturing, which do not have local substitutes.”

  • Apapa: Broken national mirror

    Apapa: Broken national mirror

    WHEN His Excellency, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode appointed me the Chairman Wharf Landing Fees Collecting Authority, I was excited to have been given another challenge and opportunity to explore another critical sector in the economy of Lagos State. I was happy because I like great challenges but the Apapa situation and the horrible traffic chaos scared me stiff. My friends and associates called to celebrate with me but added a proviso that traffic in Apapa may be a big stumbling block.

    I have gone to Apapa to see things for myself. In search for a new office complex for the Authority, I came face to face with trouble in Apapa and Tincan Island Ports. Apapa, the goose that has been laying the golden eggs lies in ruins in the midst of plenty. The two national mirrors are broken into pieces, mercilessly plundered and ruthlessly pillaged. I lack words to describe these two great ports, the largest in the country except to add that our past leaders are wicked, irresponsible and totally heartless. They must have travelled severally to different parts of the world. They must have seen their seaports and the state of art infrastructure available. I have seen the ones in China, US and Singapore. Our leaders have returned to continue the business as usual. After all, to have ears is not to listen, to listen is not to hear, to hear is not to understand, to understand is not to put to practice.

    What of the big Managing Directors and CEOs of blue chip companies, the Customs, the Ship owners, the Shippers Council, the Ship owners, the business magnets etc who do business in Apapa and Tincan Island ? For years they have been making trillions at the ports but lack the capacity and capability to look through the windows of their cars and offices to see the ruins and the devastations around the ports. If they cannot collectively repair roads through Corporate Social Responsibility, what stops them from drawing the attention of the Federal Government which takes all the money from the ports? It pains me to no end that people with full dose of western education who should know better turn out to be the problem because they have refused to do what is right.

    The pandemic problems we have in Lagos ports remain an indictment to all of us, the political leaders, managers of blue chip companies, business managers etc. If we cannot work hard to develop this country for our young ones and generations yet unborn, let us accept the obvious and painful truth that we have all failed. No wonder the Republican Presidential candidate in the United States, Donald Trump described African leaders as meretricious mediocrity, empty heads and ethical failures. But how did we get into this dead end in Apapa? Both Apapa and Tincan Island ports have only two major ingress and egress – Apapa-Tincan-Mile Two-Oshodi expressway and Apapa-Ijora-Western Avenue axis and nothing more. Despite the growing business in these two major ports, the two roads have remained the same for nearly 50 years.

    To demonstrate how wicked, hopeless and helpless our leaders have been, even the two roads have been left to decay for years. The racket called the importation of petroleum products led to the massive building of Tank farms in Apapa. Today all the petrol products trucks head to Apapa and what we see is chaos all the way. The Europeans who built Apapa Wharf knew then that only the rail system will be suitable for evacuating the containers leaving the roads free for other users. The rail system that runs from Apapa to different parts of the country lies in ruins and today trucks moving containers out of Apapa and Tincan Island remain the biggest problem. People have been killed by container-laden trucks, vehicles and bridges destroyed. We need to restore the rail system in Apapa as a matter of urgency. We must also have the courage to move the tank farms away from Apapa. We must make our refineries to work to stop the importation of petroleum products.

    Another biggest problem is the concession of the ports few years back by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to private individuals. These concessionaires soon converted the huge truck parks in Apapa Wharf and Tin-can Island to places where empty containers are parked for years. Consequently, the parks which are capable of housing 3000 trucks at any given time have been rendered useless. Today, trucks use highways as parking lots constituting monumental traffic problems and robberies in the metropolis. The roads and volume of trucks that go in and out of Apapa on a daily basis have ruined Apapa GRA. Residents of Apapa GRA have left in droves. There are so many houses for sale and many to rent but no buyers and even those to rent. Roads, drainage systems, security, orderliness have been crushed in Apapa beyond imagination. It is that bad. Situations in Apapa should prick the conscience of any responsible and responsive Nigerian. No strangers from other lands came to destroy the peace and serenity of Apapa. Our leaders destroyed Apapa. They took everything in Apapa and left nothing. They plundered, pillaged Apapa and did nothing to add value to Apapa. Estate developers are counting their losses in Apapa. They are the worst losers. When leaders fail to do their job, everybody goes down.

    Thank God our own Distinguished Senator Oluremi Tinubu has risen up in the hallowed chamber of the Senate o to draw our attention to the broken national mirror called Apapa. Governor Ambode has been intervening and proffering solutions. Thank God President Buhari is on the seat. It is either we build Nigeria or we perish.

    Apapa remains a big challenge to all of us. We cannot be taking trillions from Apapa every year without giving anything in return. Federal Government owns Apapa GRA, Apapa Wharf and Tin-can Island. We want concrete actions now not idle talks.

    Revenues from the oil sector is dwindling and it behoves on all our leaders to be pro-active and hyper active now in looking at the alternative sources of revenue. Our ports in Lagos offer an alternative and may we not joke with this. Restoring the rail system, rebuilding the road networks, creating additional access roads and rehabilitating Apapa GRA is the way to go at least for now. We need to quickly create additional roads to Apapa Wharf and Tin-can Island no matter the cost to the existing two ways in and out of Apapa. Houses may be demolished to achieve this. We need to look for the funds and do the needful now or never.

     

  • Apapa: The good times are back

    SIR: Whatever magic the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode put in place to ease the traffic gridlock in Apapa must be sustained.

    I spent less than 35 minutes from Shangisha to Lagoon Hospital, Apapa.

    I must also thank the Lagos Governor for saving the life of my bosom friend, who was involved in a fatal Accident along Lekki – Epe Expressway last Sunday.

    The swift response of the Emergency Team with just a call to 112 and the mobile ambulance (which I now termed hospital on the wheel) was key to my friend’s survival. He was treated free of charge!

    I recall that those mobile clinics were launched by the Lagos state Governor just two weeks earlier.

    I must also commend the effort of the medical team at the Lagos Trauma (Accident & Emergency Centre) Ikeja Toll Gate, Near 7-Up. You guys are wonderful and I thank you all!

    Honestly, I can say that Lagos is working and Nigeria should learn from this example.

    Thank you Mr. Governor and your wonderful team in the health care delivery sector!

     

    • Mojeed Jamiu

    jamiumojeed@yahoo.co.uk

     

  • FERMA warns against obstructing Apapa port canals

    FERMA warns against obstructing Apapa port canals

    The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has warned that illegal structures on drainage channels in Apapa/Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, could cause flooding.

    Mr Shakunle Oyekunle, a representative of the agency spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos at the weekend when he visited the ongoing rehabilitation sites on the Apapa/Tin Can Island Port section of Apapa/Oshodi Expressway.

    He said the illegal structures will block the waterways, cause flooding and constant degeneration of the dual-carriage road.

    Oyekunle said the agency decided to address the root cause of flooding along the axis due to predictions of heavy rainfall and flooding by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

    He said: “We tried to locate the problem and we discovered that most of the cross drains along this section is silted as a result of illegal structures built on the other end of the road occupied by sand dealers.

    “The sand dealers are occupying those places illegally; the area where the major surface water on the road is supposed to flow straight into the canal is being hampered by these people. Their activities are destroying most of the Federal Government infrastructure, including roads on this axis, and we cannot allow it to continue because the two major ports in the country are here.

    “We will continue to carry out constant de-silting of the drains and rehabilitation work to make the roads good and stop traffic congestion.”

    He said the surface and underground drainage channels on both carriageways will be cleared regularly to avert flooding.

    According to him, the agency will liaise with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on how to evacuate the illegal occupants.

    Oyekunle assured that FERMA will restore all the critical sections on the highway after the drains had been cleaned up, lamentng that water had destroyed the road pavement.

    He expressed happiness that the ongoing Apapa Trailer Park project was nearing completion as it addresses the challenge of indiscriminate parking of articulated vehicles.

    He observed that indiscriminate parking of vehicles could also aggravate flooding and road degeneration.

  • Apapa amusement park re-opens on Sallah Day

    The famous Apapa Amusement Park, Lagos, which was not only known for its being a fun centre for children but also a recreational centre as well as venue for promotion and exhibitions has been closed since 2012. The place is undergoing renovations and necessary arrangements are made to re-open on Sallah Day.

    Head of the construction team, Mr Hussein Jamal who works with Crystal Cubes Company, the construction company handling the renovation, told The Nation: “The park will re-open soon, most certainly on Eid-Fitri Day, but not fully, because we are still working on some part, and there is plenty of work yet to be done to make the place better than what it used to be.”

    Mr Kelvin Gordon, the security officer attached to the park, said: “So far, plenty of work has been done in a short while beyond human imagination. The hotel is almost ready, the playing ground also, which is now stocked with new and improved playing equipments, blocks of shops and a supper market have also been completed for business purposes. There is a party hall for occasions and events.”

    Comparing the park with what it used to be before the renovation, he said: “Amusement park is better and would be busier than what it used to be. As big as this place is, I don’t think it will accommodate the number of people that will be visiting on a daily basis. All the equipments are new and modernised to entice more people than before.”

  • Federal Govt, Lagos and Apapa

    SIR: Apapa is very strategic to the economy of Nigeria, being a major gateway to the country’s sea ports. The major share of government’s revenue comes from both the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports. More than 75 per cent of the goods imported into the country come through the ports in Lagos and the major ports in the country are based in Apapa. Apapa is undoubtedly vital to the prosperity of Nigeria.

    Unfortunately, in recent time, motorists, commuters as well as business men moving towards the axis have been subjected to untold hardship occasioned by perennial traffic gridlock that has become a recurring decimal along the ever-busy Apapa-Oshodi expressway. The traffic which usually stretches several kilometers is often mostly chaotic at Mile 2 and Julius Berger yard with people spending close to four hours on a journey that should not be more than thirty minutes.

    The issues involved along the axis are multi-faceted. One, the Apapa-Oshodi road, a federal government road, is in bad shape and in need of urgent rehabilitation. Second, the nuisance of trailer drivers on the road is a major concern. Not only that they drive recklessly, but they equally park their trailers indiscriminately along the road. The indiscriminate packing of trailers on either side of the road is a serious factor in the painful traffic gridlock that commuters regularly suffer on the road. Third, incessant cases of abandoned vehicles equally constitute a major hindrance to motorists on the highway.

    Also, the unprecedented upsurge of petrol tankers on the road is closely tied to the continuous importation of locally consumed fuel in the country. There are more than 50 depots in Lagos, which means there are between 50 and 400 trucks that load in one day. Consequently, a minimum of 3,000 trucks travel to Lagos on daily basis to lift petroleum products. Over 80 per cent of fuel supplies in the country are from Lagos. Hence, tanker drivers come from all over the country to source the products.

    The fallout of the current situation on the country’s economy is indeed rather enormous. First, the difficulty in accessing the ports makes it very hard for agents to process their papers for the clearance of goods.  The delay in the clearance of goods from the ports, invariably, makes the nation’s ports one of the most expensive in the world.  It takes about two to five days for empty containers to be returned back to the port and yet the importers and their agents are made to pay demurrage and levies for a fault that is not theirs. The situation might get worse unless government muster the will to effectively intervene. The traffic crisis has equally resulted to loss of business and enormous man-hours. Indeed, most business interests in the Apapa axis have either folded up or relocated while the value of properties along the axis has seriously diminished.

    Evidently, the Apapa- Oshodi chaos is a reflection of the systemic failure in the country. There is a need to creatively look into the petroleum distributive system and bring out more acceptable system of distribution. Equally vital is the need to redevelop the Apapa- Oshodi Road into a modern and world class highway.  The Lagos State Government is showing the way forward in this respect with its on-going effort to transform the Badagry Expressway into a world class six lanes highway with BRT and light rail facilities. The Federal Government needs to closely work with the Lagos State government to fully restore the lost glory of Apapa.

     

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi

    Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Apapa Amusement Park: Coming alive again

    Apapa Amusement Park: Coming alive again

    The children milled in front of the gate to the park in expectation not minding the stern looking policemen stationed to man the gate. They waited impatiently not necessarily because there was an invitation extended to them to come there. They must have heard the fun spot is ready and being Children’s Day, what better place was there to spend the day than the park?

    The day was far gone, but the children kept hope alive. Finally, around 3:00pm, a lady in yellow top and black jeans came and informed the policemen that the children should be allowed to go in. They overheard her and rushed to enter.

    They milled and pushed themselves in and sprinted from the parking area down to the main gate of the park.

    Inside, there were cups of chilled Coca- cola products to refresh with. They then dashed to the fun area. It was very obvious that these children both from rich and poor homes had been longing for a place like this.

    The first impression one gets on entering the park is the feeling that one is in one of those fun spots that dot the city. The buildings are built in the Arabian style architecture. The flat top with horns, the dark yellow paint and the rough wall all remind one of Dubai Jumeirah. This is a kind of mini Jumeirah tucked inside Apapa.

    Some years ago, the Apapa Amusement Park used to be the number one leisure spot for family entertainment. Families trooped to the leisure spot for healthy family entertainment. That was before the rot set in and the park fell into decay and at the end of the day collapsed.

    Years after, just as the Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola administration in Lagos was winding up, a couple of tourist offerings were added to the state, giving residents and tourist visitors options for entertainment and relaxation. A few weeks after the commissioning of the family fun park at the Lekki Conservation Centre in Lekki, another major family fun spot was added. The Apapa Amusement Park is back and better.

    The park tucked opposite the Apapa General Hospital, the new place has upped the ante in terms of choice fun spot for family. The park has just done a soft opening last Wednesday in honour of former Governor Fashola.

    The Lagos State government had concessioned it to the company to redevelop and bring back the former fun of the place.

    The new Apapa Amusement Park is bigger and with better facilities than what were there before. In addition, there has been an addition of conference centre and indoor game facilities. There is also a mini-football field for visitors.

    Entering the game area, on the right is the rocket, the tea cup, carousel, pirate ship and many other games were all available. It is a place that one could easily spend the whole day without knowing.

    The managing director of Crystal Cubies Construction Company, the company the park was concessioned to, Mr.  Rabih Jaafar, spoke about the new Apapa Amusement Park.

    He said the company had to start from the scratch. “When we came here, our engineer, that is our partner, had the vision of an amusement park that he had seen in Dubai. All these buildings you see, they are like what you see in Dubai’s Jumeirah, so he had the vision of building a kind of  a smaller version of Jumeirah because of  the land.

    “That is what we have done here. For the rides, we went through children and adults. It is not only for children. There are amusement facilities for teenagers and adults also. They will be improved upon in the near future,”Jaafar said.

    He talked about the facilities so far put in place and what would be added in future.

    bumper cars

    “There is the disco ride. It is for adults. It can take 24 persons. There is also the bumper cars for adults and children, the carousel for children and adults, the rockets, the pirate ship for children, the spinner and the tea cup for children.

    “ We also have an air bicycle for fun and exercise. It is not electrically operated, you paddle it. With the children playing at the carousel, the adults could have fun with the air bicycle and still monitor them from the top.

    “It is a total fun spot for the family. You can come here and spend your day easily having fun. We will have snacks, pop-corn and ice-cream points.

    “There is the 7-D cinema facility. We have indoor games. We are going to add an arcade  in the next two or three months. Hopefully there will be  gym and conference facilities.

    “With what we have here on ground, there is no need to go out of Lagos. Sorry to say it, now there is not a place to go and spend the full day in family entertainment. That is what we have here. It is a good place for tourists to come to while in Lagos.

    “ We brought in experts to put this together. They have done it in Lebanon and in Senegal. This is their second construction in Africa. In Lebanon, they have done about seven. This is the second one in Africa.

    “If things go well, we are thinking of building others within Lagos and later out of Lagos. We have offers to build outside Lagos, but we first want to put this one on sound footing”,he said.

    Some of the parents that brought their children to the park commented also. “It is a pleasure to have such a place here  in Apapa. It is a place that I will always bring my children. They really had a good time” said Mrs. Atinuke Ajao who came with two children.

    Although almost every thing needed for families to have a good time has been put in the place, the management of the park said what was done on the Children’s Day was simply a soft opening for children to  also feel the facilities and enjoy themselves for that day.

    The doors of the park would be fully  thrown wide open to fun lovers in the middle of July at the end of the Ramadan.

  • Apapa Traffic: Truck drivers get 48-hour ultimatum

    Stakeholders at the petroleum industry on Wednesday held a meeting with men of the security forces in a deliberate effort to end incessant gridlock on the Apapa, Oshodi-Mile 2 express road. The meeting at the NNS Beecroft, Navy yard at Apapa, was called to identify and proffer solutions to the causes of traffic problems in order to free the entire area. Addressing journalists after the meeting, Commander Ovenseri Uwadiae, who is the Chairman of the occasion and Commander of NNS Beecroft, lamented the economic loss brought upon the country by the perennial gridlock as well as threat to the general security to some extent. He further assured that with the commitment and support of the stakeholders to confront the traffic problem, the entire gridlock in the area can be completely solved. According to the Commander, some of the solutions proffered by stakeholders can be categorised into long and short term. “But for now, members of the stakeholders have resolved to focus on immediate solutions capable of bringing relief to motorists using Apapa Mile2 express way road. “Members of the stakeholders have agreed to set up a committee that would implement all the decisions taken at the meeting,” he noted. He also maintained that the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) would lead other members of the committee to inspect and ensure that shipping companies are operating loading bays in order to reduce number of trucks around the area and only trucks that have been marked for loading are within Apapa vicinity. Similarly, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA),Police, NPA and other stakeholders are therefore expected to fashion out alternative routes for trailers and tankers coming to Apapa – Mile 2 area for business in a way that they will only occupy a dedicated section of the service lane. This, Uwadiae maintained is necessary to bring orderliness on the road while reiterating his conviction that with the support of every stakeholder, motorists would soon begin to experience stress-free driving around the said axis. The commander said the management of NPA, must see to it that concessionaire operating at the port improves on human and facilities in order to reduce time being spent by trucks at the ports entrance, as spill over from the entrance often lead to traffic gridlock. The meeting urged the truck owners to cooperate with the management of the NPA in the area of registration to reduce cases of truck drivers packing within the area to solicit for business in the port, that such action is partially responsible for road blockade at Apapa. So too, the commander disclosed to media that he has been reliably informed that the repair of Apapa Mile 2 road will commence in earnest by Julius Berger. On his part, the General Manager, LASTMA, Eng. Babatunde Edu reaffirmed the commitment of the agency to pay attention to traffic along the axis and therefore solicited for the support and cooperation of other stakeholders for roads to be free of any gridlock. Other stakeholders at the meeting are leaders and representative of RTEAN, AMATO, NARTO, POLICE, NPA, FMW, UTQEN and Nigeria Navy