thisday0518

THISDAY • MONDAY, MAY 18, 2 015
15
EDITORIAL
STILL ON THE APAPA TRAFFIC GRIDLOCK
There are perils for the economy in leaving Apapa the way it is. Something must be done
The Association of Nigeria Licenced
Customs Agents (ANLCA) said
last week that the nation was losing
about N5 billion daily on account
of the traffic gridlock along Oshodi-
Apapa Expressway, Wharf Road,
Marine Bridge, Ijora and Orile-
Iganmu. Calling on the relevant
authorities to act over the nuisance being constituted
by trucks and tankers in the town which hosts the
nation’s major sea ports, ANLCA warned that it
might soon down tools if nothing is done to redress
the ugly situation. We align ourselves with the call.
On a normal working day, it takes an average of
five hours to meander through the maze of tankers
and trailers that have turned most of the roads in
Apapa into parking lots. Besides, the horror offered
by the craters and potholes is worse during raining
season when navigating the traffic- prone zones by
motorists becomes very difficult. What this implies
is that the Apapa-Oshodi Express-road through the
Tin Can Ports is most often literally shut down. The
same is true for the Seven Up/Apapa Bridge, which
is another parking lot for in-coming trailers and
tankers.
Hoodlums have also taken advantage of this
IT IS SAD THAT APAPA,
WHICH ORDINARILY
SHOULD BE THE
HEARTBEAT FOR
CORPORATE NIGERIA, IS
A NEGLECTED BUSINESS
DISTRICT WHOSE
INFRASTRUCTURE,
ESPECIALLY ROADS,
ARE NOT ONLY DECAYED
BUT IGNORED BY THE
RELEVANT AUTHORITIES
state of confusion
to unleash mayhem
on road users who
severally have had to
abandon their cars to
run for safety. Many
have lost their lives
and property worth
millions to these men
of the underworld.
Yet, as the days
unfold, the Apapa
Business District gets
worse for what it
offers both residents and businesses. It is even more
saddening to note that some of these problems are
within human control.
Virtually every company located in Apapa is
THISDAY
EDITOR IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU
DEPUTY EDITORS EDDY ODIVWRI, ROLAND OGBONNAYA
MANAGING DIRECTOR ENIOLA BELLO
DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR KAYODE KOMOLAFE
CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD OLUSEGUN ADENIYI
THISDAY NEWSPAPERS LIMITED
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/CHAIRMAN NDUKA OBAIGBENA
GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ENIOLA BELLO, KAYODE KOMOLAFE, ISRAEL IWEGBU
GROUP FINANCE DIRECTOR OLUFEMI ABOROWA
DIVISIONAL DIRECTORS IJEOMA NWOGWUGWU, EMMANUEL EFENI,
‘GBAYODE SOMUYIWA
ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS PETER IWEGBU, FIDELIS ELEMA
GENERAL MANAGER PATRICK EIMIUHI
GROUP HEADS FEMI TOLUFASHE
ART DIRECTOR OCHI OGBUAKU II
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR OJOGUN VICTOR DANBOYI
DIRECTOR, PRINTING PRODUCTION CHUKS ONWUDINJO
GENERAL COUNSEL CHINWE IZEGBU (NATION’S CAPITAL)
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY SUNMI SMART-COLE
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now being short-changed by the excesses and sharp
practices of these tanker and trailer drivers as well as
their owners. It is either that one tanker is struggling
to avoid the queue and therefore drives from one
end of the road down to the gate to beat those on the
queue, or that another trailer has successfully beaten
the others and is being given an executive clearance
to load or offload. Of course at the other end are the
owners of the tank farms and depots who do not
allow these trucks into their parking lots. All these
help to create an atmosphere of chaos which makes
life very difficult for Apapa residents and visitors.
The Lagos State Government is at the vanguard
of instilling discipline but these truck
drivers are ever unwilling to comply with
laid down rules on the use of the highway.
On several occasions, these tanker drivers had gone
on strike and with that create scarcity of petroleum
products thus bringing enormous suffering on the
populace.
In more civilised climes, what is happening in
Apapa is anathema. This armada of trailers and
petroleum tankers will be considered primitive.
Years of toeing the path of impropriety and poor
infrastructure development and maintenance in the
energy and other sectors are having their crushing
toll on other forms of business. It is sad, if not tragic
that Apapa, which ordinarily should be the heartbeat
for corporate Nigeria, is a neglected business district
whose infrastructure especially roads are not only
decayed but ignored by the relevant authorities.
Until the federal government finds it appropriate
to build refineries close to the points of consumption,
revive our rail systems and create a more orderly
and cost effective means of lifting bulk cargo and
petroleum products, Apapa will continue to be a
nightmare for the residents and businesses operating
within the town. But a measure of sanity can still be
restored today. We therefore call on the Lagos State
government not to relent in fighting this blackmail
by tanker drivers as well as owners of petroleum
and gas tank farms, who have scant regard for other
businesses in Apapa.
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REFORMING THE UNREFORMABLE: THE UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Few years ago, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala wrote a book
by this same title. I had the good fortune of reading
this book few days ago. What resulted from my
reading this book was a light-bulb moment which
I will now attempt to document with the hope that
people like me, who want nothing more than to see
this nation set on the right path, will get some clarity on certain
matters currently filling our consciousness as a result of the
news hitting our airwaves and digital space.
Contrary to what we have been told and the accusations that
have been hurled at the finance minister in the last year or so,
I have found that from as far back as 2003, Dr Okonjo-Iweala
has been calling for reforms of parastatals, Ministries, Departments
and Agencies (MDAs) and other government-owned
entities. One of the things she quickly observed when she
became finance minister under the Olusegun Obasanjo
administration was that entities like Customs, Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and a few others were
structured by the military to be opaque and to enable deliberate
siphoning of funds. And these nefarious activities had gone
on for so long that she knew fighting that level of corruption
would be an uphill task; but she did not relent nor has she
given up even till now.
It is amazing – and even offensive – that it took a major
scandal such as the allegedly missing $20 billion from the
coffers of NNPC as well as the PricewaterCoopers (PwC) audit
report to open the eyes of many to the same issue that Madam
Iweala has been singing about for years. Of course, NNPC is in
dire need of reforms, but let us not be so distracted by all the
hype and buzz this news is creating and lead ourselves in the
erroneous belief that it is NNPC alone that must be dealt the
firm hand of reformation. These same people who now clamour
for its reform should also speak on the reform of Customs,
since it is a huge money generator for government.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala herself mentions customs reforms
in her book, calling it an outright failure. Like many other
government-owned entities, when the reform was broached,
it was immediately met with a lot of resistance and opposition
because the powerful political elite controlling that and other
organisations fought hard to crush her efforts. The honourable
minister admits that the structural reforms carried out at that
time required time; and with the administration winding down
its activities, it left behind some unfinished businesses, while
some other reforms suffered major setbacks.
One major cause of setbacks, apart from lack of continuity,
was the ability of the political elite to influence decisionmaking,
to frustrate all efforts made and to block any hope of
achieving success. It is clear that these people, who did not
want their lucrative means of enrichment blocked, would stop
at nothing to ensure the reforms met with little or no success
at all. Powerful Northern interests would besiege the Presidency
to halt any reforms that would affect their pockets and bank
accounts. This happened during Obasanjo’s government and
happened under Goodluck Jonathan also.
In our bid to ensure transparency and accountability in the
management of our national resources through necessary
reforms, let us not stop with NNPC and Customs alone. There
is a call for a complete overhaul of every sector, every ministry,
and every parastatal. This is the time for a wholesome reformation
of the nation. Call Dr Okonjo-Iweala a prophet, and her
book a prophecy of sorts. She has foretold too accurately that
reformation is not only important; it is the foundation upon
which we must build a new Nigeria.
The president-elect would do well to know that if there
is any hope of fulfilling his promises to the Nigerian people,
then he must use Dr Okonjo-Iweala’s book as a roadmap.
But should we stop at parastatals, MDAs, ministries and other
government-controlled organisations? I do not think so. The
minds of the people too need a major overhaul; the scales in
our mental eyes need to fall off so that we can truly see the
issues pervading this nation as they really are.
Akinola Johnson, Garki, Abuja