Yemisi Izuora
Lagos State Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has given the assurance that he would end the traffic gridlock in the Apapa area of the state within the first 60 days of his administration.
Sanwo-Olu, who spoke at an interactive session with his classmates at the Executive Master of Business Administration class, University of Lagos, 1998/2000 set, on Saturday promised to look into the operation of the Bus Rapid Transport in the state.
The incoming governor said the first step in solving the Apapa gridlock is to rid the area of trailers.
He said: “The Apapa trailer issue, it’s a campaign issue, it’s very serious.
“I’m going to take it very seriously.
“I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government.
“Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out.
“There is a lot of politics being played around there.
“But no, it cannot be the way we’ll continue to live.
“We cannot continue to give excuses.
“Five or 10 years ago, if we had been forward-thinking, we would have also realised that the city had actually outgrown the Apapa Port.
“So, the long-term solution is to build another one.
“Our government, by the Grace of God, will start the Badagry Port.
“That is the long-term solution.”
On the recklessness of some BRT bus drivers, Sanwo-Olu said: “The BRT issue is something that has to do with culture.
“When we take over, by the Grace of God, we will advertise and see if we can employ some of our graduates as drivers.
“What I realised is that apart from the money we will be paying them, which is more than what they are paying an average graduate, we need to very quickly tell our people and encourage ourselves that there is dignity in work.
“We are going to be paying (them) between N80,000 and N100,000 to come and drive these buses because we expect a lot more decency.
“By the time we get the culture of the drivers’ right, the routes are coming up, by the time we finish the Abule-Egba/Iyana Ipaja/Ikeja route, it will boost the number of BRT.”