We Are Bleeding In Apapa Local Government As Host Community To Seaports , We Need Help! – Chairman

On Sep 22, 2022

Chairman ,Apapa Local Government Area ,Mrs Idowu Senbanjo

Despite huge revenue generation from the port city in Lagos state, authority of the Apapa Local government Area has expressed disappointment on how billions of naira are being collected by the federal and state governments without any benefits to the immediate host community

Chairman of the Apapa LGA of the State,Mrs. Idowu Senbanjo who disclosed this on Wednesday in Lagos at an event put together by the Maritime Anti Corruption Network and Convention for Business Integrity (CBI), said the LGA is at the receiving end on operational activities in the port city lamenting that unemployment of youths is high despite the huge number of private and public organisations within the community .

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She decried that ” The capacity of what I have is not enough, Apapa is bleeding , we are not getting anything , we need help.”

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According to her, the multinationals and federal government agencies within the community are yet to play major roles of engaging the youths through direct and indirect job placement adding that the solution was alarming for her local authority to manage.

She also raised the alarm over abrupt drop of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) adding that the economy of Apapa has dropped to 20 percent.

She lamented that “Every second my IGR continues to drop because people are leaving the communities. The economy of Apapa is down to 20 percent and it is that bad.

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“If the government did not get up and do something about the reforms we have been talking about in the maritime industry then the host community cannot benefit in anyway.

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She further commended the Lagos State government for the timely intervention towards ensuring free flow traffic but lamented that traffic has led to people relocating out of Apapa.

According to her, residents of Apapa have also relocated out of the community adding that companies have also left due to the situation on ground.

She noted that nobody is ready to do business in the port host community noting that despite the support from security agencies and the government there are gains local community.

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From Left:National Coordinator, Port Standing Task Team (PSTT), Mr. Moses Fadipe (left); Secretary, National Trade Facilitation Committee, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), Mr. Abdullahi Usman; Representative of Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Solomon Zaks; Chairperson, Apapa Local Government, Mrs. Idowu Senbanjo; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Emmanuel Jime; Associate Director, Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), Mr. Vivek Menon and Co-founder/Chief Executive Officer, Convention on Business Integrity (CBI) Nigeria, Mr. Soji Apampa at the CBI and MACN Port Users’ Conference held in Ikeja, Lagos.

Asked about the specific number of unemployed youths in Apapa, Senbanjo maintained that “I can’t give you a specific data or figure on that but it is very high. Apapa Local government might be small but people from smaller communities like Ijora and Badia are expectant.”

Senbanjo called on the maritime agencies of government and private organisations in the shipping Industry to assist in providing job placement form the youths of Apapa.

By Roland Ekama