Residents of Apapa and environs in Lagos seem to have heaved a sigh of relief as the once congested area is gradually enjoying some sanity and fair flow of traffic.
This is unlike what was obtained in the past with trucks occupying both lanes of the narrow roads leading to Lagos ports.
This new status was achieved from the commencement of the electronic call-up system (ETO) introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Recall that the area had over the years suffered from gridlocks which usually last for hours, crippling business activities and resulting to loss of productive man-hours. This development had defied strategies from succeeding administrations with many lamenting corruption as one bottleneck that had made the situation linger.
KaftanPost investigations revealed that the long queue of trucks that once occupied the Western Avenue, Oshodi-Apapa and the National Theatre corridors leading into Ijora had started to disappear.
Sources say tow vehicles belonging to NPA taskforce were mandated to remove trucks that either delay or park on the road.
The electronic call-up system, according to KaftanPost findings, is an automated process, known as ‘Eto App’.
The NPA had, towards the end of 2020, announced the launch of the App – an Electronic Truck call-up system designed for the management of truck movement and access to and from the Lagos Ports Complex and the Tin Can Island Ports, Apapa, Lagos.
Under the system, all trucks doing business at the ports would be required to park at the approved truck parks awaiting their call-up into the port through the Eto App.
According to the NPA, the Eto App will be responsible for the scheduling, entry and exit of all trucks from the ports from February 27, while adding that about 7,000 trucks had already been certified fit for the digitalized call-up system.
This system therefore took effect with the drivers accessing the ports with a bar code access.
The development was applauded by residents who said the system, if sustained, will make the gridlock permanently a thing of the past.
A transporter, Mallam Abdullahi Kabir, while speaking on the development said, “I never thought that I could call for my truck driver to meet me at Ojota from Apapa and, in less than an hour, arrive.
“I was shocked because I haven’t been in Lagos for a while and had planned to wait for hours before he arrives or even call to tell me he was stuck. I applaud this move and believe this will help our haulage businesses,” Kabir concluded.
In a recent response on the new status quo, the Vice Chairman, National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Dry Cargo section, Alhaji Abdullahi Inuwa, said the call-up system would end artificial bottlenecks on the port access roads.
Inuwa said: “I call on all stakeholders to cooperate and allow it work. If that happens, then we will get good result.
“Actually, if it takes off successfully, it will eradicate corruption, no human contact and other artificial bottleneck. NARTO wishes the authority a successful take-off.
“The motive is to take trucks off the roads, but NPA should involve other garages where trucks are parked in order to successfully decongest the roads.”
Recall that the traffic situation around the area had attracted the attention of international tabloids and made loud headlines globally especially from economic standpoints.
According to a Bloomberg report in 2020, the congestion outside and the problems within Nigerian ports were counter-productive to the nation’s economy.
The report also observed that in the World Bank’s Trading Across Borders survey, which measures the time and expense involved in importing and exporting goods, Nigeria ranks 182 out of 190 countries, below Syria and Afghanistan.
Similarly, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry lamented that about $19 billion is lost by Nigeria yearly from the traffic around the Ports annually.
So many investors operating around the Ports and Maritime stakeholders have counted their losses from the congestion.
Also last year, Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote, lamented that the gridlock was costing the country an estimated N140 billion in revenue weekly or more than N20 billion daily.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, had visited the area recently and stated that he would set up an all inclusive committee making that would engage all stakeholders on major decisions on the gridlock.
Industry players have argued that the revenue base of the ports will be better enhanced with the introduction of the electronic call-up system but are of the view that sustenance of policies will make the system stand the test of time even as the country seeks wider options of revenue generation from non-oil sectors of the economy.
