LAGOS – A maritime lawyer, Mr Osuala Nwagbara, on Monday urged the National Security Adviser to declare a state of emergency on access roads to the Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports.
Nwagbara told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the measure would ensure that all articulated vehicles parked on the access roads were removed to ease traffic flow.
“We are calling on the National Security Adviser to declare a state of emergency on all the roads leading to Apapa and ensure that these articulated vehicles are removed off the road.
“Otherwise, the implication for this country is grave. |The economy is dying; the port is the jugular and we need to save it.
“Every country where we have a port, it serves as a gateway to the economy; with the gridlock on all the roads in Apapa, Nigeria’s economy is dying.
“I know that revenue being generated from the maritime sector has fallen. I hear that it has fallen below 50 per cent; and the way it is, Apapa is shut in now and shut down.
“Unless something drastic is done, unless a state of emergency is declared on all the routes leading to Apapa, the economy will go down further and it portends danger for this country.“
Nwagbara said that the constant gridlock on the access roads leading to the Tin-Can ports always constituted a nuisance to commuters and residents of Apapa.
He said: “It has implications on the environment. It has implications on human health, but you have heard that people died in their cars while waiting in the gridlock.
“The entire Apapa environment is polluted because these vehicles parked on the roads emit fumes into the air. It is not good for the environment.
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“It is exacerbating the problem of climate change and it is also affecting humans. So, it is not good for the people and the environment.“
He advised the government to allocate space for truck drivers to park to avoid indiscriminate parking on the ports corridor. (NAN)
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