Apapa Local Government Chairman, Adele Owolabi is seeking partnership with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as a way of finding lasting solution to the Apapa traffic gridlock which has paralysed the whole community.

Owolabi, who paid a courtesy visit to the Agency, regretted the danger the current Apapa port access road poses to the citizenry of Apapa community as well as the Nigerian economy, noting that it required urgent action, which could only be achieved through collaboration the stakeholders within the Apapa Local Government Area of the state.

According to him, the traffic gridlock is a very big security and environmental challenge which needs organized efforts to forestall break down of law and order.

“Before now, Apapa used to be a beehive of economic activities and one of the highest revenue generating local government area in Lagos and a place where people engage in all forms of recreational activities. Today, the reverse is now the case as so many industries have relocated from the area, thereby crippling economic activities and in turn low revenue generation,” the Chairman lamented.

He appealed to the NIMASA Executive Management to partner with the local government to restore sanity to the Apapa environs to ensure economic activities go on unhindered.

He said that presently various committees have been set up to look into the immediate solution to the challenges identified and that the Agency will be duly informed of the outcome, to enable NIMASA assist.

Also concerned with the rate of criminality in the Apapa axis which mostly involves the youths, he requested for the Agency’s assistance in the area of capacity building so as to engage them in meaningful trades that will deter them from criminality.

In his response, the Director General of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside said that services to the community bring development to the populace, hence the need for continuous partnership with host communities.

The Director General, who was represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Bashir Jamoh noted that the traffic situation in Apapa creates cause for concern to all parties, because of the security threat.

“The solution to the Apapa gridlock is above the local government and NIMASA; it is a national issue which needs the urgent attention of the federal government and all stakeholders in the sector. On the immediate, we can be talking about a short-term solution, but on the long run we must have medium and long-term plans on how to tackle the situation”, he said.

He assured the Chairman and his team of the continuous support of NIMASA to any development that would help resolve the traffic challenge in Apapa, adding however that the Federal Government was doing its best to finding a lasting solution to the persistent traffic situation.

He noted that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government was not resting on its oars to fulfill its election mandate of transforming the economy and making life more comfortable for the Nigerian people.

•Photo shows, L-R; Secretary to the Apapa, Local Government, Lagos State, Mr. Benjamin Mokwuye, Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr. Bashir Jamoh, Chairman, Apapa Local Government, Lagos, Hon. Owolabi Adele and Mr. Olujobi Adegbola in a photograph during a courtesy visit to the Agency recently.

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