Osinbajo: We are going to build more ports, to meet Pence in Washington

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the Federal Government “is committed to building more ports across the country to decongest the gridlock being experienced in and out of Apapa ports”.
Osinbajo, who spoke on Saturday in Lagos after inspecting the Lilipond Transit Truck Park, Creek Road and other roads leading to the Apapa Port, declared that the volume of shipping and cargo services in the port today was higher than what it was designed to accommodate.
Osinbajo was accompanied by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, The Commissioner of Police in charge of the decongestion, Hakeem Odumosu and former Commissioner for Transport, Lagos State, Mr. Kayode Opeifa, among others.
Osinbajo said: “We need to understand that this is a port that was designed to take 34 million metric tonnes daily but it is currently taking over 80 million metric tonnes.
“With this, it is obvious that there is a need to find an alternative quickly and to expand, where that is possible.
“The Lekki port is an ongoing project which will be a great help when completed because it will support the Apapa and Tin Can ports.”
He further said; “We are dredging the Warri Port which is aimed to decongest the traffic into and out of the Apapa and Tin Can ports,”
The Vice President noted that the Federal Government would continue to implement short and long term measures to ensure a long-lasting solution to the gridlock in the Apapa area of the state and its environs.
“You will see that the entry route to the port has been cleared. So, we need to understand that there are short term, mid to long term solutions.
“One of the mid-to-long term measures is to decongest the cargo traffic coming into the port”.
Osinbajo noted that the government was set to improve infrastructure and call up system for trucks and the ports while working on harnessing opportunities of the intermodal transport system.
“Also, the Lagos-Kano rail is also starting from the Apapa ports. So, we expect that we should be able to get cargo out of the Apapa port using the rail than take cargo out of the port using the hinterlands and some are using badges at the moment.
“So, I can tell you that there are different approaches toward getting better movement in and out of Apapa.
“The other thing is the clearing of the trailers and tankers on the road so that there can be easy access to the port and you will see that there is considerable improvement within the axis.
“The Mile 2 end is the axis where we think that there is a difficulty but we think that in the next couple of days, it will be resolved especially with the opening of the Tin Can Island trailer parks and the palliative work that is ongoing all the way to Mile 2.”
Osinbajo expressed satisfaction over the work carried out by the Presidential Task Force vested with the responsibility of decongesting the truck-laden roads where residents spend all days grounded.
Meanwhile, Osinbajo will depart Nigeria on Saturday  for the United States (U.S.) where he will be meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Mr Mike Pence, and other key groups and interests in the country.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Mr Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
Ahead of his meeting with Pence on Wednesday in Washington D.C, Osinbajo will be meeting with the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday in New York.
In his meeting with Pence, Osinbajo will be discussing matters of mutual interests between Nigeria and the U.S.
He will be speaking on Nigeria’s economic prospects and other related matters in his meeting with the Council on Foreign Relations.
The vice president is expected back in Abuja on Thursday.