Chief Tochukwu Ezisi, NAGAFF President.
Story by Dili Utomi.
A few weeks after the President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) Chief Tochukwu Ezisi called on relevant government agencies to take urgent action on traffic management and control within the corridor the call has yielded results.
Recall that for over 17 years, container lorries, tankers and shanty structures have occupied the Apapa – mile 2 port access road making it extremely difficult for other port users in the maritime sector to conveniently move cargo into and out of Apapa and Tin Can Island port terminals. Even after the roads were reconstructed 3 years ago under a special arrangement between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Dangote group, the traffic situation had remained largely brutish, arduous, and hellish.
Succor has suddenly come to all Port users on the Apapa – mile 2 port road as the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigeria Customs Service, and the Lagos State Government in conjunction with other stakeholders have now taken concrete actions at resolving the seemingly intractable traffic situation. The result is the current reasonable sanity now enjoyed by most road users along the corridor.
This writer is an eyewitness and has personally traveled through the route in question for 3 of the past 5 days and the level of freedom that one enjoys while moving unimpeded is quite commendable. The usual traumatic stretch from the Cele bus stop through Ijeshatedo to Mile 2 and further to the Tin Can Island Port has become surprisingly become unclogged. Vehicles now move without the usual truck and lorry congestion along the corridor.
This new experience of commuters is what the president of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Ezisi is commending. The NAGAFF President has made an appeal to the various authorities to put in place strategies that would sustain this level of sanity on the corridor and even beyond.
Chief Ezisi noted that the Ports are the gateways to the Nigerian economy and as such should have all encumbrances to the free movement of men and materials within and outside the corridor completely removed as he says that he is largely happy with the present situation. The NAGAFF President added that the current situation would raise productivity as transport costs would be less than what was usual and hopefully the reigniting of the activities at the Ports will start in earnest.