The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has commended the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authourity (NPA); Hadiza Bala Usman for introducing electronic call-up for trucks coming into Lagos ports.
The new system which is already attracting accolades from stakeholders by bringing sanity to Apapa, was flagged-off last Saturday.
According to the President General of the union; Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, the new e-call up which is powered by a google app, known as eto is the masterstroke that will finally address the monster of traffic in Apapa.
“It is a good one and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria wants to appreciate the Nigerian Ports Authourity under the leadership of Hadiza Bala Usman. I think the name that we should give the woman now is ‘mama eto’, it is her project, she brought the idea and it is working fine”, he said, even as he added that the union has keyed into it and will not allow anyone to sabotage the efforts.
Comrade Adeyanju however called attention to the incursion of petroleum products tankers on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway, a development which he said could rubbish the manifest gains of the e-call up.
‘But, there is the issue of tankers on the road, it should be the responsibility of the truckers and the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD)”.
He stressed that the tanker drivers are the ones that the government should focus its attention on, so as not to erode the gains of the electronic call by the NPA.
“They need to sit them down, they are the ones whom the government should focus attention on, because they can not be using their tankers to block the expressway in the name of wanting to load petroleum products”, he maintained.
Recall that, residents and motorists plying the Apapa corridor had on Monday expressed relief with the take-off of the electronic call-up system.
A trucker, Usman Musa, welcomed the development, saying the electronic solution had brought an end to years of agony he had faced on the route. It’s a new lease of life for truck operations around the seaports, he stated.
Another transporter, Ismail Olaitan, admitted that the innovation introduced had reorganised the chaotic operation of trucks around the seaports, praising Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, for displaying strong will in enforcing the change.
He said, “We are happy with this development. When the electronic call-up system was launched at the weekend, most of our colleagues took their trucks off the roads and moved into Lilypond Terminal in compliance.
“This new system will bring about positive impacts on our business, and this is why we are embracing it with joy. The old system had only brought us pain and sorrow.”
Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, dismantled all checkpoints mounted by the police along the Apapa corridor from Surulere into the seaports, according to the statement titled ‘Residents, motorists excited as Apapa gridlock eases off.
According to the police boss, the checkpoints were part of the factors creating traffic along the Apapa corridor.
Odumosu warned that dire consequence awaited any officer who returned on the Apapa routes to create an unapproved beat
He, however, allowed a checkpoint in front of SIFAX Depot for enforcement by men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority.
