By Ola Kehinde-Balogun
Apapa area of Lagos State has lately been in the news for the wrong reasons. Apart from being synonymous with port activities, the core area of the nation’s maritime industry has over the years maintained another ugly feature: intractable traffic jams.
The unending gridlock, as well as the untold hardship it has meted out to residents and commuters around the area has been a source of worry to the people, including the authorities, and the problem has defied all efforts so far. Many have argued that traffic congestion in the area is caused by the carelessness of the drivers of articulated vehicles that park their trucks and trailers by the roadside.
Apapa, once an abode of the rich and mighty, is gradually turning into a no-go area, with most businesses, banks and other commercial concerns relocating in droves from the settlement.
Many others have argued that the ugly trend is engendered by the poor state of federal roads in the area. Some others insist that the reckless attitude of trailer drivers and the inability of the authorities to enforce the Lagos State Traffic Law 2012 have contributed in no small measure to the continued gridlock in the area.
Over the years, there have been recurrent accidents as tankers loaded with inflammable products topple over, pour their contents on the road and ignite omfernos, virtually making life hell on earth. On Saturday last week, there was another explosion, which killed three persons. Property worth millions of naira was destroyed in the inferno, in the Kirikiri area of Apapa.
According to eyewitnesses, the fire started around 4.30pm after a fuel-laden tanker tipped over as a result of a poor portion of the road, which was abandoned after the road was partially repaired recently. Daily Sun’s reporters who witnessed the incident counted five trucks, five cars and 14 motorcycles and about 35 kiosks razed.
“One of those who died in the inferno was said to have been burnt beyond recognition. The victim was suspected to have been trapped in the fire as the charred remains were discovered in one of the shops directly in front of the fuel tanker that caused the inferno. An eyewitness who gave his name simply as Chinedu said that the driver of one of the ill-fated oil tankers was trying to navigate through the bad portion of the road when the vehicle tumbled and ignited the fire, which spread to the truck behind it. Other eyewitnesses confirmed Chinedu’s account and blamed the incident on government for failing to complete the remaining portion of the road, which they claimed is less than 500 metres.
Oftentimes, the two major federal roads leading into Apapa are completely blocked by tankers waiting in turn to pick fuel from tank farms in the area as well as some other trailer drivers approaching the port to either drop or pick items.
This reporter saw how commuters were stuck for hours after the close of work in the Kirikiri area towards the Berger end of the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway on Wednesday, October 24, 2016. On the said day, no trailer fell on the highway, but the gridlock could be traced to many of the truck drivers that had pulled over abruptly by the roadside. All the lanes, including service lanes, were completely blocked, leaving drivers and other road users stranded and frustrated in a completely motionless state.
Another monster in the endless nightmare that is the Oshodi-Apapa expressway is the asphyxiating stench from many part of the expressway. In the past week, many commuters have been forced to disembark from their different buses and cars, as they embarked on a long “endurance trek,” in spite of the insecurity on the entire stretch of the highway.
Some workers around Kirikiri noted that, after a few months of relief from the gridlock on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, petrol tanker drivers were back in full force with their recklessness. They also alleged that some traffic officials stationed to control the menace have aided it by extorting money from the drivers, who thereafter act wantonly to the anguish of other road users. Motorists and other road users explained how they get trapped in gridlocks most days of the week, spending their productive hours in anguish.
Many Lagos residents, especially, those that commute in and out of the Apapa axis, argued that they daily go through a hellfire while trying to earn their daily bread.
Mr. John Anichebe, a resident and business owner in the axis, told this reporter that he had to trek to beat the unending traffic whenever he discovered that trailers had blocked the whole expressway.
“In particular, the roads are bad. You will see gullies and craters as you have never seen before on the main expressway around Berger. Some of the roads have totally failed and collapsed, and government is not doing anything about it, despite the gains they make from this area,” he said.
Mr. Tajudeen Ojoade, who works in one of the oil-servicing firms in Apapa, told our correspondent that motorists driving against oncoming traffic has become a routine feature in Apapa. Ironically, though the state government has banned motorcycles on major highways, commercial motorcyclists are now having a field day in Apapa.
“Each day, the bus will only take you as far as Mile 2 from where you take Okada, which will go against traffic from Mile 2 to Coconut. That is where I get down to cross over to my office.
“I know there is more to the problem of trailers here. Trailers and trucks don’t belong to the common men, but people that are connected to the high and mighty. I believe that is why it is difficult to solve the problem all this while. If you notice, anytime a successive government takes over, once it tries, it drops it, and the problems have persisted. Mind you, you can’t talk of effecting the ban on okadas around here.
“How do they expect people to get to their destinations in this axis, since vehicles can’t get through? The only solution left are the okada riders. Even when you look at the roads, you know they are inaccessible. Everything is just upside down in this country, and in this Apapa in particular.”
Meanwhile, there have been efforts to bring an end to the problem. Recently, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) came up with what it called a solution to the persistent Apapa traffic, even though many have argued that they were yet to see tangible results in terms of freeing the roads permanently.
LASTMA, last year, disclosed plans to move trailers and containers from Apapa to a proposed site for the truck farm located in the premises of the Lagos Trade Fair Complex, Mile 2. The facility was said to be about 3,000 square metres, which should hold an estimated 5,000 trucks at a time. According to the agency, this was part of government’s efforts towards ridding Apapa of the persistent gridlock caused mostly by indiscriminate parking of trucks.
However, the problem has persisted, with many calling on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to rise up to the occasion by limiting the trailers and tankers to just one lane so that other road users could safely ply the road.
Ndigbo welcome New Yam with pomp, festivity in Lagos
By Tessy Igomu
In a stellar performance that will remain memorable for a while, Igbo people from various areas of the South-East recently set Okota, Lagos State, agog with celebrations to mark the annual festival of harvest, rebirth and renewal, acknowledged universally among the Igbo as Iri ji ndigbo, the New Yam festival.
Okota, sprawling suburb in Isolo area of Lagos, has a large Igbo community, which spared no expense in showcasing the rich cultural heritage of the people of the South-East; the event turned out to be a confluence of various aspects of Igbo culture. The line-up of musicians, masquerade groups and crowds that swarmed around the venue practically brought tehe neighbourhood to a standstill, especially on the busy Cele-Okota Road. However, at various points along the road, uniformed men did their best to maintain law and order.
The festival was graced by top government functionaries, a representative of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, prominent Igbo sons and daughters at home and abroad as well as other ethnic groups. Also on hand to distribute souvenirs to guests were staff of two major telecommunication companies.
In his address on the occasion, the Eze Ndigbo of Lagos State, Eze Christian Nwachukwu, described the festival as one of the strongest tools for the preservation of Igbo cultural identity and values within the country and in the Diaspora. He noted that, in Igbo cosmology, yam is regarded as the king of crops; it also symbolises success and virility, which are attributes of an average Igbo person.
Nwachukwu described new yam festivals as occasions to appreciate the God of creation who made it possible for the year’s harvest to be bountiful. He averred that the rain, which watered the ground at the event, was a sign that God had granted the wishes of Ndigbo for the year, adding that the healthy tubers harvested across the land were a testimony that God had answered the people’s prayer. He maintained that the unity of any group of people was guaranteed by their culture, which he said was a product of their religious beliefs.
“The yam is the major crop, which Igbo people revere and prefer for use on every occasion. As the king of crops, it is the first to be cultivated and it occupies a very important position both in the diet and socio-cultural life of Igbo people. Important ceremonies are incomplete without it. For us, Ndigbo, recognising this crop is part of our very foundation,” he said.
Nwachukwu appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to give the festival a befitting image by reconstructing the deplorable Nwachukwu Drive, which hosts his palace and the Igbo Community Centre.
Lamenting the deplorable state of roads in the South-East and South-South regions, the traditional ruler called on President Muhammadu Buhari to act urgently by giving the roads due priority to forestall further loss of lives and property.
While also condemning the erosion of indigenous culture, tradition and language, he explained that restoring Igbo values remained an agenda that the New Yam festival was set to address.
Leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazurike, in his welcome address, appreciated Ndigbo for the peace and unity they had exhibited over the years across the country. He noted that the celebration was not just to celebrate a bountiful harvest, but also to serne as a rallying point to foster agendas that would benefit every Igbo son and daughter.
Uwazurike reiterated the call for the sovereign State of Biafra, stressing that he would resist any form of injustice, even as he said no one can deny the Igbo their rights.
He also appealed to Ambode to construct the only road leading to the venue of the event.
While jointly cutting the yam roasted for the ceremony with other dignitaries, Uwazurike prayed that the event would bring good health and abundant harvest in the coming year. He also prayed for the unity and progress of Igbo people worldwide.
The lawmaker representing Oshodi Constituency 2 in the Lagos State House of Assemby, Mr. Jude Emeka, and his wife, Roseline, who represented the Lagos State governor and his wife, noted that government was committed to fighting the cause of the Igbo people. He assured the audience that the governor meant well for everyone and would work towards ensuring that the road leading to the Eze’s Palace got a facelift.
The lawmaker disclosed that the state government has promised to construct a pedestrian bridge by Ladipo bus stop, along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway to put an end to incidents of traders being knocked down by speeding vehicles.
Chairman of the festivel’s planning committee, Chief Innocent Nwankwo, expressed gratitude to everyone for making the event a success. He also thanked the Lagos State Government and leaders of various Igbo socio-cultural organisations for their support.
Nwankwo said the New Yam festival, which has always been upheld and revered for generations, would always be celebrated by Ndigbo in Lagos.