AMG Logistics: Apapa Gridlock: Sanwo-Olu threatens to name and shame saboteurs of the e-call up system
Individuals, private organisations, and law enforcement officials seeking to thwart the newly introduced electronic call-up system that helped to restore sanity to Apapa and the port community will have to negotiate with the state government of Lagos.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said that his government would stop at nothing by exposing and pulling such a group into public opprobrium — by naming and shaming them as Lagos could not afford to return to the dark days of Apapa.
“I’m asking the camera now that we’re not going to hesitate to make sure that nobody else is able to push us back to where we’re coming from on the Apapa gridlock; we’re going to do everything we can to get to grips with it. We’re going to call and shame them, whether they’re a private body, an agency, a police officer or a state official at Lagos,” said Sanwo-Olu while commissioning the remodeled Lekki first, second, and Abraham Adesanya roundabouts on the Lekki-Ajah corridor on Wednesday.
The electronic call-up system, which became operational on 27 February, allows only trucks cleared by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to fly to the port of Apapa from any of the eight licensed truck parks within and outside the metropolis of Lagos.
As a result, previously parked vehicles on roads and bridges with the accompanying chronic gridlock are no longer allowed. The State Government, collaborating with the NPA and other agencies, including the Nigerian Police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has already deployed some 500 operatives to monitor and enforce traffic flows around Apapa, which are already witnessing the free movement of people, trucks and goods.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the government is no longer able to condone carelessness in the port environment.
The governor said that his administration would pursue a name and shame plan to get any saboteurs into the new government before the court of popular opinion.
“Those who say that the approach that we are bringing to Apapa will not work will answer to the people of Nigeria and the state of Lagos,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor also appealed to SIFAX, Dangote, Flour Mills, Tunde Folawiyo Oil, and other major players within Apapa to collaborate with the government to overcome the Apapa gridlock.
“We made a promise and said we’re going to do whatever we can to fix the Apapa gridlock problem,” Sanwo-Olu said, adding that the action has taken longer because the government wants to collaborate with all the players in the Apapa corridor.
According to him, what is currently going on in Apapa is the beginning of a lasting solution that his administration is bringing to the city.
Frederic Oladeinde, State Commissioner for Transport, said that the remodeling of the roundabouts was symbolic and demonstrated Lagos’ commitment to ensuring successful traffic management and transport, which, according to him, is the first pillar of the THEMES development agenda of the current administration.
Oladeinde also said that the projects bear witness to Sanwo-conviction, Olu’s support, and confidence in the ministry as a government agency responsible for moving forward with the reforms in the transport sector.
“Most of the existing roundabouts/junctions were prepared primarily for the manual traffic control system, which could not, in reality, fulfill the 21st-century technology-driven traffic control system required in the emerging Smart City with a rapidly increasing population like ours,” said Oladeinde.
According to the Commissioner, six new development junction/roundabout projects have been successfully completed and three are now being delivered for public use. This includes the Allen Avenue Roundabout, the Maryland Junction, and the Ikotun Roundabout.
