By Joshua Yousouph
Following the pace of the ongoing reconstruction of the Apapa- Oshodi expressway, there are clear indications that the Federal Government will not be able to complete and deliver the road by November as promised. This is even as stakeholders have said that the construction may even span till next year.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Kayode Popoola had earlier assured that the road will be completed in November this year. He also confirmed that the Federal Government will deliver the Apapa-Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonshoki Expressway project on the scheduled date.
A few months ago, he had told our correspondent that, “there is no cause for alarm, we are working on it, the road should be ready in November this year, and the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that not just the Tin Can road is completed, the Federal government is committed to ensuring that the Apapa- Oshodi-Ojota-Oworonshoki expressway project is delivered on schedule.
While giving update concerning the progress of the road construction, Popoola had earlier told Shipping Position Daily that the roads have been substantially completed. He stated that the remaining part is just the fixing of street lights and the marking of lanes.
However, last week our correspondent observed that although the service lanes from Mile 2 down to Tin Can have been completed, there are still heavy constructions going on at Mile 2 bridge down towards the construction of a bridge by Lagos State Government at Second Rainbow bus stop by FESTAC link road, off the Apapa Oshodi Expressway.
These constructions have worsened traffic nightmares experienced daily on the dual carriageway as motorists now use the service lanes from Second Rainbow to Cele Bus stop. Motorists going towards Mile 2 from Oshodi are forced to divert at Ijesha as there is no thoroughfare due to the heavy presence of tankers on both sides of the lanes.
A freight forwarder and National Public Relations Officer of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (AREFFN), Mr. Taiwo Fatomilola noted that with the slow pace of work by the contractors, the road construction might not be completed until next year.
Fatomilola said that the road can only be delivered by the end of November if the contractors work 24 hours even on Public holidays.
“The government is very good at promising what is unrealistic or unachievable. You can see the condition of the road; it is getting worse and worse every day. Yesterday we spent not less than one hour at Cele with no vehicle. Also going back to Cele, there was no vehicle. I was forced to take Okada. The traffic was on a stand still. The vehicle, we had to even alight at Berger yard from the vehicle that took us from Tin Can. We had to trek to Mile 2 due to the heavy traffic. In the morning, we spend about two hours from Mile 2 to Tin Can. The service lanes are flooded with tankers. The Police are collecting money from them and the government is just making noise as if they have something good to offer.
“That road cannot be completed; even till next year, March or April the way it. There are some areas they have not even started at all. I don’t know the way they are doing the road. It is when people are resuming work, that is when they will start their road construction. You will not see them during public holidays or at night. If they can go into 24 hours’ construction, probably it can be realizable by the end of the month. But with the way they are going, nothing can be done” Fatomilola, concluded.
Also speaking, a truck owner; Mr. Kunle Ajayi told our correspondent last week, that truck drivers now avoid plying that route to the port, unless their customers insist and are ready to pay for the expenses. He informed that a truck now spends not less than one week between Cele bus stop to Apapa.
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Asides the construction, Ajayi blamed the perennial gridlock experienced on the Cele – Apapa expressway on the heavy presence of tankers on that route describing them as “untouchable” by the government. He also noted that truck drivers pay as high as N10,000 to government security agencies who have created roadblocks on some of the alternative routes along that axis.
He said: “Plying that road alone is a journey of one week or more if care is not taken. We put that into consideration before we even get any job that will take us along that route.
“Whether they complete it or not, the story may not change because it is the almighty tankers’ route and they are untouchable. Assuming it is an access road where everyone plies, then it will be a different ball game. The untouchable tankers are the ones plying that route and if one tanker falls it will be difficult for any other person to move and you cannot force tankers. They have more power over the government, because once they go on strike, the whole country suffers. So if you want to ply that route you have to plan yourself”.
“The security agencies have mounted their checkpoints where you pay money as high as N10,000 to access a diverted route. It is always a big war when you are going to drop a container. The minimum days you can spend on that road is one week. Sometimes the road may be free when a gate is opened and you move for about 10 to 15 minutes thereby the gate is closed again for another 24 hours” Ajayi said.
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