Nigeria losing N20 billion daily to bad roads in Apapa

Africa’s richest man and the Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has revealed that Nigerian economy is losing an estimated N20 billion on a daily basis to the bad roads around Apapa, Lagos.

Dangote disclosed this fact during a chat with the journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, June 2017. He categorically stated that the country is losing about N140 billion weekly to traffic gridlock on all roads linking the city.

“The economy loses more than N20 billion daily. It affects businesses across the country. All our operations in the hinterland in Ilorin and Kano are operating at 40 percent capacity."

Apapa is a commercial city of Lagos with the country’s largest and busiest seaports (Tin-Can Island and Wharf Ports) and a site of many big manufacturing conglomerates in Nigeria.

“Today, there is no road linking the South-West to the North. You have to go all the way through Ajaokuta, Obajana, Lokoja and you have to go through the uncompleted road Obasanjo started 13 years ago,” Mr Dangote stated.

The Nigerian businessman also used the occasion to address its commitment towards addressing the problem through the corporate social responsibility of the Dangote Group and Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN).

“Because it is very embarrassing! We can’t just sit and have a road like that where it is the heart of the trade of the country. More than 60 percent of our country’s import and exports come through the port and we leave it unattended.”

It would be recalled that the Federal Government, represented by the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and Nigerian Port Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) over the weekend with Dangote Flour Mills and Flour Mills of Nigeria.