Comrade Tayo Aboyeji, the Lagos (South West) zonal chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), in this interview with OLORUNDARE ENIMOLA, bares his mind on the burgeoning traffic gridlock on the Apapa road and related safety issues. Excerpts:

Sir the last time I met you, you were the secretary of the Apapa zone of NUPENG and now you are the chairman of the Lagos zone of the union, what happened?

That was not exactly correct, I was actually the south – west P.R.O of the union, before our leaders picked on me to give a shot at the chairmanship, which I did and won at the elections. It is about a year since I assumed the position and it has been remarkable doing the work.

A month ago there seems to be success recorded in the cleanup of trucks from roads leading to Apapa seaport, but now they are back. The situation seems intractable and your members have been accused of non-compliance with orders to leave the roads, what do you have to say to this and what is the solution?

There was no time that tanker drivers were responsible for blocking the roads leading to the Apapa seaport; rather it is the managers of the port operations that lacked the ingenuity to reasonably handle port operations in such a way that there will be seamless flow of trucks in and out of the port.

Could you please clarify your position?

Most of the tank depots located at the ports have their own tanker parking bays, where the trucks could park while awaiting loading, but port authorities are not giving them access to those parking bays, so they are forced to wait outside the port areas till they could be allowed in to load their products.

The issue is compounded by empty container laden trucks which are ever waiting to load imported items from the ports. And port operators have not come up with workable strategies that will expedite clearing process for container laden trucks to always get loaded faster than what is obtainable now.

Read the full interview about the incessant Apapa Gridlock and other related issues on the leading Online Nigerian Newspaper.