THE PARABLE OF APAPA ROADS
Oluwaseun Falope argues that it is time to fix the roads leading to the revenue-yielding Apapa Port
‘’We should not be waiting until accident occurs, bridges collapse and people die to adequately fund our transportation infrastructure’’ - Elizabeth Esty
Transportation lies at the heart of nation’s economic prosperity. It’s a component of an organisation’s ability to remain competitive through the provision of reliable and cost effective service. Reducing transportation costs impacts a company’s ability to generate profit. The federal government introduced major reforms to port’s operations and administration through concession by adopting the Landlord Port Model. This has encouraged commercialisation and has indeed curbed unnecessary government bottle-necks and regulation for a more robust public-private partnership. Some of the major policies are designed to ensure a safe environment and private sector involvement in what have traditionally been government responsibilities. This change in philosophy encourages new entrants into the maritime industry, believing that competition will create efficiencies that will benefit the country.
Fast forward. Over 10 years later and despite the commercialisation of the ports in Nigeria, one critical infrastructure that has not experienced any turn-around since concession is the Apapa port roads. The total neglect by the federal government gives a lot of concerns to all stakeholders in the maritime sector. The roads are at their worst and in the most deplorable state; and the road users are the ones bearing its pangs, especially workers who have to pay additional transport cost to get to work or engage in early morning endurance trek any time there is a stand-still which has been occurring for the past one week. The federal government watchman on the tower on these roads has gone to sleep and still sleeping. No excuse from any quarters will be tenable enough to earn any credit for such blackout abandonment. It’s a paradox that such a revenue generating sector can be so left behind. I have watched the trend of events over the past decade and I can see negligence of the government for not providing good access and exit roads for the Lagos port especially Apapa- Wharf’s. All has been a lip service, year after year. So unpatriotic!
The Nigeria Customs Service has generated N898 billion as revenue in 2016, including VAT, says the service Spokesman, Mr Joseph Attah.
The modes of transportation have developed because each mode performs some delivery activities more effectively than the other modes. Trucking is the most flexible in that it can provide doorto-door service while rail is the most economical way of moving large quantities of products over land. Such infrastructure needs to be developed so that increase in revenue can be accrued to the coffers of the government at the centre. The roads are so bad that it’s always a natural occurrence for truck-laden containers to fall at any time. On many occasions the Apapa-Wharf is on stand -still for reason of gridlock caused by bad roads. Gullies here and there on the road, just like a dredging or a construction site.
According to Nigeria Ports Authority website, ‘’the concession has resulted in vast expansions in line with international best practices in port infrastructure bringing about efficiency and improved productivity’’. As good as the statement was, the reflection outside the gate of the port authority is a paradox as compared to the road networks inside the port. Just like Professor Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,’’ the centre of Apapa roads cannot hold. The major stakeholders in the port are Nigeria Customs Service and Nigeria Ports Authority, both revenue yielding organs for the government based on their statutory functions for rent and import duties collections. Is it not possible for these two government agencies to make a case to the government at the centre for these roads? Peradventure, the ‘’Jagaban’’ state of Lagos can liaise with the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing with adequate modalities and fix these roads. All port users expect the present Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who was a former governor of Lagos State, to do something at the earliest time since the issue falls in his primary domain. If possible, these roads could be concessioned to a private firm to construct and manage for a specific period. In the interim, Lagos as a state can reconstruct these roads herself and present the cost to the federal government and get her money back. Another option is for the government to go into collaboration with the five private firms operating in the Lagos port to construct and manage these roads through their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) or government should grant waivers on rent, give tax exemption or rebates as the case may be.
The present situation in Apapa can be captioned in the words of Robin Williams: Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?
The time to fix these roads is now and let the gremlin be broken! Falope, Senior Care-Business Partner, wrote from Lagos