Ahead of the June 24 winding down of the activities of the presidential task team constituted by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo on Apapa traffic, stakeholders have expressed apprehension over the possibility of the return of the chaotic traffic.
Freight forwarders, including the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) and other trucking associations has expressed fear that insanity may likely return to the roads.
The stakeholders, who spoke to Shipping Position Daily last week in Lagos, lauded the decision of the government to wade in, saying that it is a right move in the right direction.
The founder of AREFFN, Dr. Frank Ukor pleaded with the government that if after the expiration date and the normalcy didn’t return to the axis, the team should be allowed to continue with their works.
“I have not really gone round to see the level of work they have done there, but if the efforts the government is making to clear that place is anything to go by, then it will be safe to say that they have the interest of the masses at hand that is why they want all the trucks cleared from the road. But whether they are succeeding or not is a different thing all together”
“When they said they gave them 14-day matching order, I said they are not serious because nobody can do that under the number of days. If after that expiration day they were not able to conclude, then the government should give them more time, let them continue until they get it right so that the traffic will move”
He also said that the initial 14 days given to the team was not enough for them to work, even as he added that they should not leave the place until they are done with their works.
“I know that they will not leave until they finish the job because if they do, the situation will be worst than what it was before.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of NAGAFF, Stanley Ezenga, who lauded the team for their effort in reducing the gridlock, blamed the terminal operators for the traffic on the two approaches to Lagos ports..
He reiterated that though the bad spots on the road is one of the causes of the gridlock, the bulk of the problem lies on the terminal operator as they lack the needed equipments for cargo handling.
“Of course the bad spot on the road is there, but the main bulk of the story is cause by the terminal operators. Along the Apapa Ijora axis there is a tremendous improvement in the traffic flow but then you will not see container there on the road”
Ezenga also said that the trucks have left the main roads and have occupied all the streets of the state.
“But the thing is where are the containers, have they all vanished, of course they have not vanished rather they are parked if you go into the nooks and gcrannies of the city you will see them there. So they are only pushing the trucks away from the road where they are supposed to follow to the ports where they are working making it look as if they are working”
He argued that the team is supposed to have addressed the issue from the root cause which is the terminal operators, instead of just facing the road alone.
He lauded the team for addressing the issue of extortion, saying that it will help to sustain sanity on the axis.
“I suggest that they continue to work even after the must have wind up. Because one is the attitude of the driver themselves and secondly the extortion that has been going along those corridors. If they have been able to address those issues, I am sure even after they must have gone the traffic would have improved
On his part, the President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMARTO), Chief Remi Ogungbemi, said that the most important thing is the measure put in place by the team to address the gridlock.
“What matters most is for them to put in place a measure that will ensure lasting solution that will sustain the exercise, it is not how long, but how effective is the measure, even if they extend it for six month, if the necessary measure to regulate the movement of trucks is not in place, it won't work, so they have a put a measure in place, if they chased the trucks out of the bridge and roads without putting the necessary measure that will regulate the movement of the trucks, there is no how we can sustain whatever we have achieved now”
Also, the Chairman Dry, Cargo Section of the Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa, said that his anxiety is that people will feel that insanity will return to the roads
“Yes, there may be anxiety owing to the fact so many people will think when the task team leaves, the truckers will return to the road, we have seen so many task force, none of them ever achieved as much as this Presidential task team has achieved”
He urged the federal government to see if there will additional times for them to perform and handle some of the bottlenecks.
“We can only appeal to the Federal Government to look at the two weeks once again, because out of the two weeks given to them, four days have been wasted and we so we could not do anything for those days so I will urge the federal government to extend the stay once more, to solve areas where we still have some bottlenecks” he pleaded.
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