Presidential order on Apapa road: NECA urges stringent measures

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Federal Government to put up a stringent action that will ensure ease of clearing goods at the Lagos ports. Its Director General of NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale, speaking in Lagos on the heels of the recent presidential order on the evacuation of trucks on the Apapa […]

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has urged the Federal Government to put up a stringent action that will ensure ease of clearing goods at the Lagos ports.

Its Director General of NECA, Mr. Timothy Olawale, speaking in Lagos on the heels of the recent presidential order on the evacuation of trucks on the Apapa Port access road, said plans to build alternative truck parks and reconstruction of the deplorable road network should be fast-tracked, adding that resolving this mafia-like challenge would go a long way in returning Nigeria to the path of economic growth.

He said although the presidential order was overdue and commendable, businesses, especially those using the ports for importation of raw materials, had had to face untold hardship and loss of money through the high level bottlenecks that had created a platform for corruption at the ports.

“The adverse effects of the lingering traffic situation and bad road network within the Apapa/Tincan port axis and environs on corporate businesses, commercial activities, as well as the social-cultural way of life of individuals either residing or doing business within that environment cannot be overemphasised,” he said.

While noting failed effort of government, the NECA boss averred that “regardless of several efforts by government at the federal, state and even local government levels to tackle the situation, we tend to have more of degeneration than a solution to the situation. Over the last couple of years, there have been recorded cases of companies either closing down permanently or relocating from Apapa completely. Apapa Port Road has become a constant nightmare and is ever on complete lock-down due to the activities of the massive, unchecked and unregulated activities of trailers and tankers accessing the ports and various tank farms, as well as bad road network and the deplorable state of infrastructure in the area.”