By Adedapo Adesanya
The Organised Private Sector (OPS) has said the perennial gridlock in the Apapa area of Lagos State was making federal government of Nigeria lose not less than N6 trillion annually across all sectors of the economy.
Second Vice President of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Mr Mauricio Alarcon, made this disclosure yesterday when the organisation paid a courtesy visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja.
Mr Alarcon noted that operational hitches being experienced at the port has persisted, even a year after the Presidential Executive Order aimed to promote transparency and efficiency.
The NECA chief said there was an urgent need for policy reforms to enable businesses operate efficiently in the area as it can bring about serious boost to the nation’s economy.
“There is the need to fast-track infrastructural development at the Lagos Port, diversification programme, market-driven foreign exchange management, sustain and a significant reduction in the cost of governance and address the Apapa gridlock,” he said.
According to the survey by the OPS, Nigeria lost about N3.06 trillion on non-oil export and about N2.5 trillion earnings annually across different sectors of the country’s economy.
This is of importance because the Apapa Port Road, which is the heart of the nation’s non-oil economy, has remained in a state of disrepair for a long period of time.
This is happening despite experts’ continuous call for action, as well as the fact that Nigeria is losing large amounts of money to the problem. It should also be noted that imports are often trapped in the ports for days, as a result of traffic gridlock.
Also, the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports handle about 80 percent of the cargoes that come into Nigeria. The situation has affected businesses depending on the ports efficient operations and has led many companies to relocate to better and more accessible routes in the country.
Just recently, Dangote’s NASCON Allied Industries Plc moved some of its operations away from the Apapa area of Lagos to Oregun and Port Harcourt as a result of the gridlock.
