TheCable

Babatunde Fashola, minister of works and housing, says the gridlock in the Apapa area of Lagos is not caused by poor road.

Speaking during a session at the 2021 Lagos ‘Ehingbeti’ Economic Summit on Wednesday, Fashola said the situation is caused by those trying to frustrate other citizens.

He said some residents moved into an “inefficient area” thereby making life difficult for those engaging in legitimate businesses.

“If you understudy Apapa properly, you will see that the biggest contributing factor there is not the poor condition of the road, people have just move into an inefficient area and are making life difficult for those who want to do legitimate business, so they must be removed,” he said.

“Government must step up and say ‘no, you can’t prosper on the back of those doing legitimate business while undertaking an illegal activity’. So government must reoccupy those spaces.”

Fashola, who served as Lagos governor between 2007 and 2015, called for improved database to tackle insecurity and boost economic development.

He said the Lagos state residence registration exercise should be continued.

The minister added that the government must step up action on enforcing law and order while punishing perpetrators of crime.

“The Lagos state residence registration exercise must continue so we can know who the residents are. Those are part of the law enforcement infrastructure. Street lightening, police patrol, prompt dispensation of justice, it’s a whole pack,” he said.

“People must understand that this is a city where we can only prosper when we are on the side of the law. Those who then choose to live outside the law, we must make it difficult for them.”

To address the constant traffic at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had announced that it will commence the electronic call-up system to control entry and exit of trucks on February 27.