Apapa-Oshodi Expressway rehabilitation

Recently, the Federal Government announced that it has provided N4 billion in the 2016 budget for the rehabilitation of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. The N4 billion is part of the N165.3 billion which the government has proposed to spend on new infrastructure projects this year and is also an addition to N1.3 billion provided in the budget for the construction of new access roads to Apapa/Tin Can NNPC depots, Atlas Cove to Mile 2, among others.

For motorists, commuters, port operators, sundry businesses and Lagos residents along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, there could be no greater news than this announcement as it signposts an end to the nagging gridlock on that expressway which is crippling economic activities in Apapa and making life unbearable for the residents.

Contract for the rehabilitation/reconstruction of the expressway was awarded about five years ago by the Federal Government to the German construction giant, Julius Berger, and Borini Prono both of which were to take the reconstruction work from the Tin Can Second Gate/Liverpool Bridge junction to Cele Bus Stop.

Though Julius Berger has been able to complete its portion of the expressway, beginning from Sunrise Bus Stop to Cele Bus Stop, Borini Prono, whose portion of the expressway starts from Tin Can/Liverpool Bridge junction to Sunrise Bus Stop with an accompaniment of a trailer park, is yet to get off the ground. The excuse/explanation frequently given for this failure was lack of funds and the allegation that the Federal Government, then controlled by the People’s Democratic Party, did not want to do the work in Lagos because the state was then ruled by the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria, with Babatunde Fashola as governor.

Today, the story has changed. It is not only that the All Progressives Congress which forms the government at the centre is also in control of government in Lagos, Fashola who cried loudest over the Federal Government’s neglect of the expressway is today the man calling the shots as minister of works.

For us, as far as Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and its seemingly intractable problems are concerned, Fashola is a Daniel come to judgment because it is not only that he knows where the shoe on that expressway pinches, he had, as governor, demonstrated strong passion and determination to see an end to the legendary Apapa gridlock and its tendency to render this port city a wasteland.

Given his antecedents, we have no doubt in our mind that the minister will deliver on this project, but we are not unmindful of the depth of the rot on this expressway, especially the portion between Coconut Bus Stop and Liverpool Bridge, hence our appeal that there should be no disparity between earmarking and actual disbursement as has always been the case with government budget proposal implementation.

There’s no gainsaying that Apapa-Oshodi Expressway is a critical road infrastructure in Nigeria, being the only major route to Nigeria’s busiest seaports – the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports – from where the Federal Government rakes in billions of naira in revenue annually.

The minister had in his maiden press briefing disclosed that government would prioritise road projects execution based on their state connectivity and traffic-bearing capacity, in which case we also welcome the choice of Lagos/Shagamu and Lagos/Ibadan Expressway for rehabilitation as a good development. Because of the poor condition of the latter coupled with the heavy traffic it bears on daily basis, it has recorded the highest number of casualties from road accidents involving heavy articulated vehicles and intercity mini-buses, lorries and trucks.

In the same spirit, we suggest to the Federal Government to consider the takeover of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway with a view to completing the reconstruction and expansion of the expressway with a light rail track which the Lagos State government, under Fashola as governor, started and seems to be constrained by lack of funds to progress and complete. While this consideration is ongoing, we urge the minister to also include the expressway in the planned road repairs for which government has set aside about N111.7 billion. We consider this as not just necessary but also imperative given the stress and armed robbery attacks which motorists and commuters on this expressway experience on daily basis due to its deplorable condition.

We commend the present government for its enhanced budget for roads infrastructure which, as against a little above N18 billion in the 2015 budget, has a whole N165.3 billion this year, raising our expectation that this is a year for Nigerian roads which, over the past two decades, have remained in terrible and dehumanising conditions with little or no attention from the government.