In his determination to ensure the sustainability of gradual sanity being restored in Apapa and environs, Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu has given a warning to anyone or corporate bodies that might want to revert to the old unruly characters, noting such people would be dealt with.
Governor Sanwo-Olu gave the charge on Wednesday during the commissioning of Lekki-Epe Remodelling Roundabouts at Lekki, Lagos.
The unveiling of the reconfigured Abraham Adesanya Roundabouts, Lekki I and Lekki II junctions were done to mitigate travel journey hitherto experienced around the Lekki-Epe axis.
Speaking on the effort taken by his administration to restore sanity in Apapa, Governor Sanwo-Olu said he was not unaware of some unscrupulous people who would be willing to fight back because they had been cut to size.
Lagos State Government in conjunction with the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) had introduced call-up system at the port for truckers to address the challenges of gridlock.
Sanwo-Olu said, “All of you had woken up on Saturday as we started what we promised our citizens. We gave a commitment that we will do everything possible to solve the gridlock problem of Apapa.
“Yes, you can say that it is taking us a year because we need to have a concerted effort we need to work a lot from the background, and you remember that there was a first presidential task force that was there, so we needed to unbundled that and take it up.
“But beyond that, we needed to collaborate with a lot of stakeholders on that corridor.
NPA being number one stakeholder that is working with us, federal ministry of transportation, all of the maritime operators, the unions that are in that corridor. And what we are seeing is the begining of a lasting solution that we have brought to Apapa.
“Our appeal is that we are not out of it completely yet, this is a taste of the pudding they say is in the eating.
“Our citizens has seen that what used to cause two to three hours can indeed take fifteen to twenty minutes for them to commune.
“We have seen that when we work together and we say that the resilience of Lagos, we can solve our problem internally, we have seen that indeed this can happen in our clime and environment.
“Obviously, what we are doing now is that we have take the unscrupulous people, who have been benefiting from the gridlock, we have take whatever it is they are earning from them and we know they will want to fight back.
“I am facing the camera now that we will not stop at anything to ensure that anybody that tries to retract and take us back to where we are coming from on the gridlock on Apapa, we will do everything that we have to fight those people.
“We will name and shame them, we will bring out thier names, be it a corporate organization, company, police officer, Lagos State officer, be it a union, that will say that solution that we have brought about will not work, they will go and answer to the citizens of Nigeria and Lagos. We will bring them to the public court for them to see that we are about seriousness.
“We cannot condone the recklesness and carelessness that our citizens have gone through.
“I want to use this opportunity to commend the MD of NPA because they have worked with us on this agenda.
“My appeal is to others who have not signed on to this wonderful call up system that we have embarked upon.
“I want to call most of the big transport logistics companies, I am not calling thier names because they have done anything wrong, but I want them to collaborate with us.
“CIFAX, I want to you come because we know you have huge numbers of trailers, DANGOTE, FLOUR MILLS, TUNDE FOLAWIYO, and others, let us have a system that our citizens will be proud of and that’s the real reason we are in government,” Sanwo-Olu warned.
“We are going to put resources there and ensure that whatever that we need to do to continue make Apapa free and flow, we will do it and do it well.
“Finally is to thank everyone that our job is not done yet, it is work in progress, and we will continue to ensure the solution that we promised you, we are not stopping until when we realized all,” the Governor stated.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Frederick Oladeinde said, “The Commissioning of these projects today is symbolic in two ways; One, it is a demonstration of Mr.Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu led Administration’s commitment to efficient Traffic Management and Transportation; which is the First Pillar of the THEMES Development Agenda of the State Government.
“Secondly, it is a testimonial to Mr. Governor’s belief, trust, and confidence in our Ministry as Government Agency, saddled with the responsibility of driving the ongoing reforms in the transport sector.
The Commissioner recalled how 60 traffic Gridlock areas in the Metropolis were discovered, noting “One of the solutions recommended to Mr. Governor was the reconfiguration and remodelling of some of the existing Roundabouts and Junctions that could no longer cope with the current volume of vehicles that ply them. The improvement works was planned to allow for more vehicular movements especially during peak hours.
“In addition, it was discovered that most of the existing Roundabouts/ Junctions were prepared mainly for manual traffic control system; which in reality, could not meet the 21st century technology driven traffic control system needed in an emerging Smart City with fast growing population like ours.
“I am glad to notify you that Mr. Governor did not only give speedy approvals for the execution of these Three projects we are commissioning and others that has been delivered, the Ministry equally enjoyed his total supports and commitment in supervision, inspection and direction until successful completion.
He added, “Six major Junction/Roundabout Improvement Projects have been successfully completed as we speak, with three already delivered for public use, these includes: Allen Avenue Roundabout, Maryland Junction and Ikotun Roundabout.
“Since the completion of these Junction/Roundabout Improvement projects, we have noticed significant improvement in traffic management along these corridors, commuters travel time is saved, while the usual traffic gridlocks have reduced considerably,” Oladeinde stated.
