The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the level of decay, vandalism and deterioration of infrastructure in the Apapa area of Lagos state can shut down the nation’s economy.
Apapa hosts Nigeria’s two top seaports – the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island Port Complex.
Fashola, who inspected roads and other infrastructure in Apapa, on Saturday, said the facilities in the area were supposed to boost the nation’s economy.
He also inspected the National Stadium, Surulere, some roads in Alaka and Apapa and also the Apongbon Bridge to the outer Marina.
At Alaka flyover bridge, the minister instructed the team of engineers led by the Director of Federal Highways, South-West, Emmanuel Adeoye, to expedite action on the replacement of vandalised manhole covers.
Fashola urged the engineers to reconstruct some drains and blocked drainage channels connecting a major canal in front of the National Theatre, Iganmu, to solve flood problem causing persistent road degeneration in the area.
“Why did you have to wait this long to allow this level of degeneration?” Fashola asked.
“If you have to do the drainage and construct some box culverts to keep the drainage flowing, please do it.
“If we lose Liverpool Road (in Apapa) and this place (Funsho Williams Road), we would have shut down the nation,” he said.
He appealed to Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), the firm handling the rehabilitation of Funsho Williams road to the Ijora bridge, to speed up construction.
Fashola said that the entire stretch of the road was sitting on swampy land and stressed the need to finish the construction before another rainfall.
He directed the team of engineers to liaise with the relevant authorities to relocate Costain bus stop on Funsho Williams avenue, to check gridlock and persistent road degeneration.
“This Costain Roundabout is not a bus stop, but the layby ahead,’’ he said.
“If there are new solar technologies, adopt them. It is a total regeneration of this Apapa area.”
Fashola, however, added that President Muhammadu Buhari was happy with the financiers of the Apapa-Wharf road reconstruction project.