10th November, 2015
Kazeem Ugbodaga
Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has made a passionate appeal to the Federal Government to urgently mobilize Julius Berger back to site to rehabilitate Apapa-Oshodi Expressway to alleviate the challenges faced by motorists as a result of extreme traffic gridlock.
Ambode spoke on Tuesday after touring Apapa and other areas of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. The governor also visited Ladipo Market, Isolo and other areas.
“What we’ve done today is to continue the monitoring that we had started about three months ago; going to Apapa and seeing some semblance of improvement, but we are not satisfied with what we have seen. I believe strongly that the Federal Government needs to accelerate the need for the contractor to come back to site.
“We are pleading with the Federal Government to make sure that Julius Berger returns to site and alleviate the challenges that motorists are facing. But so far so good, we have seen some parts of Apapa that are now motorable. We believe strongly that once the bridge is completed, the Container Terminal will be put to use. The Container Terminal can take up to 1000 container vehicles and that in itself will improve on the traffic gridlock in Lagos,” he said.
Also, Ambode said the Federal Government is owing Lagos N51 billion, being the fund utilized in repairing Federal Government roads in the state, but noted that the FG “is saying that some conditions must be met and part of the money is actually under contention. But the part that is free from encumbrances, which is almost about N30 billion, if the Federal Government gives that to us, I will be able to do more roads. The most important part of these Federal roads is the Murtala Mohammed Airport Road to Oshodi.”
The governor said he believed the state would meet all the conditions for the repair of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Road and that where the Federal Government did not do early next year, “we would do it.”
On Isolo Road, the governor said in another nine months, the road would be completed, but that in the interim, the contractor would create palliative for the people so that “we can have motorable road access towards this festive period.”
On Ladipo market, Ambode said it represented a major concern for the government, adding that “we’ve seen some of these traders carry out illegal activities around the canal, that in itself is endangering their lives and also creating challenges for us. We believe strongly that if all of us agree on the way out, every trader must be ready to comply with the rules of the state.”
Ambode appealed to Lagosians to be law abiding as government would not shy away from enforcing the law, adding that government is doing more than ever before to ensure that laws are enforced.
“I want to plead with motorists, we do not take joy in taking people’s money because we want to generate revenue. There should be law and order in the first place across the city. We want to be civil first, to say that every citizen has the chance to behave like a normal person. The enforcement should be for those who are actually traffic offenders, but we want to take it first that the people I govern are law abiding citizens and that’s the approach we want to use.
“It’s only when you disobey that we would want to treat you as an offender. I need to appeal to everyone that Lagos is for all of us. We want to make sure that Lagos works for all of us, including me and every other Lagosian and that’s the purpose of this tour.”