Emmanuel Thomas, Lagos
November 6, 2015 – The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has threatened to shut tank farms in Apapa, Lagos if they fail to provide loading bay for their trucks in the next 90 days.
Ambode who addressed reporters after an emergency security council meeting said that Lagos alone accounts for 80 percent of the cargo that comes into the country through the ports while about 90 percent of the fuel used across Nigeria is loaded in Lagos.
He also frowned at the fact that three months after meeting with tank farm and petrol tanker owners, they have been unable to come up with a solution to the gridlock caused by the tankers queuing up on roads and bridges to load petroleum products.
He however said that the state of affairs that has accentuated traffic gridlock in Apapa area and its environs is no longer tolerable to the State Government saying that necessary arrangements have been made with the relevant Regulatory Institutions to sanction defaulting port users – importers, tank farm owners, terminal operators and shipping companies.
On the backdrop of this, Governor Ambode said the Security Council decided that all tank farms be given a 90-day grace period to build loading bays for their tank farms, with a caveat that any tank farm that fails to provide a loading bay after the grace period, would be shut down by the state government.
“In addition, tank farms owners must desist from allocating pick-up papers to trucks beyond and above their daily capacity as is the case presently,” he said.
Ambode also admonished residents of the state to see the last two months of the year as a period that calls for vigilance and a changed attitude towards issues relating to crime and terrorism.
He urged residents to cooperate with the government at all times, just as he warned them against the dangers of patronizing street hawkers.
“The next hawker could be a robber or terrorist. You are now well-advised. If we all cooperate and decide not to buy, gradually and collectively, the hawkers will not come to the highways and streets anymore. Our roads will definitely become safer”.
“Our security agencies have been directed to increase their presence on the roads and highways to ensure greater safety. Once again, I am committed to a safer, cleaner and more prosperous Lagos; a Lagos that works for all”, he said.
On his part, Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni also assured that the Police will increase their presence across major areas of the state as well as ensure the total enforcement of the laws of the land.
Various stakeholders of transport associations who were also present at the briefing took turns to pledge their support and stressed the need for their members to comply with the directive to ensure free flow of traffic and sanity on the roads.
Among those who spoke include Chairmen, Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, (RTEAN), Alhaji Mohammed Musa Chairman, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW),Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, representative of Maritime Truck Owners, Remi Ogungbemi,, Chairman NATO, Alhaji Sikiru Kaka, Chairman ANACONWA, Alhaji Sulaiman Adesina, representative Lagos Taxi Drivers And Cab Operators, Tajudeen Adetoro and Chairman, Tricycle Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Branch, Prince Joseph Olu Odusanya.
