Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on
Wednesday expressed confidence in the ongoing efforts to permanently resolve
traffic congestion in the Apapa axis due to activities at the Port, just as he
restated his administration's commitment to restore the glory of the area.
Governor Ambode, who spoke at the Lagos House,
Ikeja when he received the management team of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA)
led by its Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman on a courtesy visit, said he
was highly desirous of transforming the Apapa axis to be a beauty to behold.
While expressing confidence in the ability of the
new NPA management to make positive difference, Governor Ambode said he was
extremely delighted that the agency was being led at this time of economic
turbulence by a thoroughbred professional who is equally grounded in the
political terrain.
He said Lagos, being the commercial nerve centre
and a city surrounded by water, deserved more than one port, adding that his
administration would not hesitate to partner with and support the NPA to succeed
in whatever form needed.
"We have had issues about movement of cargo
and every other vehicular movement that relates to traffic congestion in the
Apapa axis and I think with the new management in charge of NPA, a whole lot of
things will be resolved so quickly and I am very glad that this is the way we
have decided to go and we will support everything to make Apapa a place that we
will all be delighted to speak about," Governor Ambode said.
He commended the NPA for investing in the Lekki
Deep Sea Port project, saying that there was no doubt about the fact that such
partnership would go a long way in driving more investment into Lagos.
Earlier, Usman said she was at the Lagos House
with her team to expand the existing relationship between the NPA and the Lagos
State Government for the benefit of the people.
In an interview with Government House
Correspondents, she said the major area of partnership principally centered on
decongestion of Apapa gridlock as soon as possible and the success of the Lekki
Deep Sea Port project, among others.
"We discussed various areas of cooperation
and one of the priorities was the decongestion of the Apapa area. We have
looked at the priority activities that we need to do to decongest the area and
we would proceed with that in the next few weeks.
"There are several partnerships that exist
and we intend to forge ahead with them. We have the Lekki Deep Sea Port
development which both Lagos State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria
through the NPA have shareholdings.
We believe that it is a project which we need to
take forward within the shortest period. We have reaffirmed our partnership and
commitment to drive the project and we want to do that within the shortest
period," Usman said.
SIGNED
HABIB ARUNA
CHIEF PRESS SECRETARY
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