Lagos crawls as traffic situation worsens
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, is now moving on its knees as a result of traffic congestion in the metropolis.
No location is spared. Whether it is the island or mainland, the story is the same.
Due largely to early morning rainfall and a fallen 40-foot container in Apapa on Thursday, movement to the port city and Lagos island was at snail speed.
But Friday is not better, meaning that there are fundamental problems the state government is not addressing and the residents are paying dearly for it in terms of travel time and cost which have quadrupled.
Again, economic activities are paralysed. Quality man-hours are spent in traffic, leading to the cancellation of business engagements.
“I had an appointment to sign a business contract in Apapa Thursday. After driving for five hours and unable to reach my destination, I turned back and went home in anger,” Victor Ogwauessy, a PR consultant, told BusinessDay.
Ogwuessy was not an isolated case. So many business engagements have been canceled and opportunities lost to traffic in Lagos.
“This makes a mockery of the Sanwo-Olu Themes Agenda and also makes building a 21st-century economy a pipe dream, ” said an estate developer, who did not want to be named. (BusinessDay)