AFOLABI GAMBARI
It could be forgiven to conclude that there is no stretch of express road in the world as torturous for commuters as the Oshodi-Apapa road in Lagos. It isn’t more than 20 kilometers. Yet, it looks like eternity, no thanks to the very poor state of the road that has spanned nearly two decades and which makes a journey of mere 25 minutes last for between five and six hours or even more, accompanied by tales of woe.
Environmentally, the “pull factor” offered by the Apapa end of the road is too much to ignore. Everyone just wants to be there as there are so many things to do that could fetch daily bread for different people. In a way, it makes the torture endured on the road so alluring. The stretch from Oshodi to Mile 2, topsy-turvy at some points, is still manageably satisfactory, after which nightmare takes over in snail speed form. The state of the road from that point to the activity-laden Apapa Port could make a first visitor wonder if the place is a jungle of sorts. Heavy duty vehicles jostle with smaller ones for the tiny smooth part of the road. The sight always looks maddening. More than that, it is a true picture of madness in an otherwise sane place. Gridlock has seen taken over the road, stretching all the way to the port. It is as if lots of the commuters have no mission to accomplish for the day as they get stuck for several hours.
Not so, however, for some young boys as well as older men and women whose mission is to make brisk business out of nothing. They probably would wish that government turns a blind eye on the road; the better for them to keep raking in the financial reward, until the government decides to give the bad portions a deserving facelift.
“Every day on this road is huge torture,” one commuter in his private car, Adedayo Kolawole, says. “I have no choice, anyway, as my office is in Apapa. But my partner and I decided we pick the days we come here so that the road doesn’t wear us out easily, considering also the risk of being subjected to lawless heavy vehicle drivers along the road. I think it is a wise decision.”
The sea port of any country is a huge revenue earner, in view of the daily influx. It seems this reality has yet to sink in the Nigerian government. Interestingly, the government has since commissioned contracts to give the port a facelift. But it is curious that the same government has yet to fix the road leading to the port.
“I really wish I know exactly when the road will be smoothened,” another commuter, Kareem Mahamoud says in frustration.
The Lagos State government has made some vital interventions to ease the pain experienced by commuters on the Apapa route. It initiated a public/private effort which saw it establish some form of partnership with companies along the route to collaborate with the state government in effecting repairs where needed. But it appears this would take too long to materialize, considering the busy status of the road and the difficulty of building diversions around the area, resulting from its waterlogged terrain. The state had earlier tried to enforce road worthiness of the heavy vehicles while announcing measures that would make the vehicles to ply the road on specific days and time of the week. In a curious twist, however, the vehicle owners soon began to flout the rules with impunity and it has remained so to date. The manner the heavy vehicles line the route every day on their way to the port, stuck for the most part, has become an eye sore.
It is also as curious that the federal government has yet to reconsider its policy to centralize the port operations in Nigeria, thereby making adequate use of the Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar ports to ease Lagos of the logjam perpetrated by the heavy vehicles which literally invade Lagos from all parts of the country.
Late in July, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo visited the Apapa Port. But he suffered far less torture accessing the place, thanks to the protocol that paved his way. But he couldn’t have failed to see signs of the sorry state of the road, even if there is no guarantee yet on fixing it before the end of this year. There are some, though, who believe that the government would exploit fixing the road politically ahead of its reelection campaign of next year. However it would be fixed is up to the government, provided it sensibly help its own revenue base while easing the pain encountered by the commuters.
Afolabi Gambari
Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +2348064651922, +2348116706849
Journalist, Environmentalist, Social Commentator
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