President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has lauded the decision of the Federal Government to reconstruct the failed Apapa Wharf road as its grim state serves as both an embarrassment to the country and a huge financial loss to the government on a weekly basis.
Dangote who spoke on Tuesday said “The economy loses more than 20 billion daily and it affects all businesses across the country. All our operations in the hinterland in Ilorin, in Kano are operating at 40 per cent maximum capacity”
Lamenting the state of road infrastructure in the country, Dangote said: “Today there is no linkage road going from South West to the North. You have to go all the way through Ajaokuta, Obajana, lokoja and you have to go by the uncompleted road Obasanjo started 13years ago.”
Commenting on his resolve to personally get involved in the Apapa Wharf road reconstruction, he said: “Because it is very embarrassing! We can’t just sit and have a road like that in the heart of trade in Nigeria. More than 60 per cent of our country’s import and exports come through the port and we leave it un-attended. That is why we started on our own. Flour mills said they will join us, but now government changed the design because they want all the cables and pipes underground and to have a more robust solution.”
Commenting on why he is personally involved in the Apapa Wharf road reconstruction, he said: “Because it is very embarrassing! We can’t just sit and have a road like that in the heart of trade in Nigeria. More than 60 per cent of our country’s import and exports come through the port and we cannot leave it un-attended. That is why we are invested in this project. The government also changed the design because they want all the cables and pipes underground and to have a more robust and sustainable solution to this problem.”
To help in bringing the cost down, he explained that he forced his company to do it at zero profit. According to him, “We will be spending 2.5billion and also Flour Mills for reconstructing 2km double lane in Apapa on each side making a total of 4km” He further explained that “the biggest job is drainage because that is what is destroying the road. We will make sure this problem is sorted out once and for all. This thing should not be allowed to happen. We started discussion with the government over 1year and we are happy that we have been given the opportunity to finally fix it.”
It would be recalled that the FG last weekend handed over the troubled road to Dangote Industries Limited and Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) for immediate reconstruction with concrete overlay.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the construction of the road was signed by the FG, DIL, NPA and the FMN.
Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, signed the agreement for the handover of the road, on behalf of the Federal Government, while Hadiza Usman, managing director, NPA, and Joseph Makoju, honorary advisor to Aliko Dangote, president, Dangote Group, and Gbedebo, signed for their respective organisations. The three organisations are embarking on the project as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to Apapa, where they all do business.
The construction work to be handled by AG Dangote, a civil construction company, and joint venture between Dangote Group and AG of Brazil, would utilise concrete slabs as against asphalt, common with road construction in this part of the world.
AG Dangote is not new to road construction, they have successfully constructed concrete roads in Ibese, Ogun State and currently working on roads in Obajana, Kogi State and also in Benin City, Edo state.
Managing director and chief executive of AG Dangote, Ashif Jumar in a chat with the media also said: “We are building a four kilometer concrete dual carriage road that has a life span of over 40years. It is a rigid pavement road of 250 millimeters thickness with solid underlying materials… We have already mobilized to site, but our major challenge is the chaotic Apapa traffic and the inclement rainy season. I appeal for patience and cooperation.”
Speaking at the MOU signing ceremony held at the Conference Hall of Area B Command of the Nigeria Police, Apapa, Honorary Adviser to the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Engineer Joseph Makoju said the Group is moved by the deplorable state of the road which informed the need to look for like-thinking partners to effect repairs and salvage the road.
According to him, the deplorable state of the road has impacted negatively on businesses, activities and lives of people within the locality. He explained that the state of the road crippled economic activities as people spend whole days in traffic losing precious work hours. Makoju opined that the two kilometer road to the gate of Apapa is vital to the nation’s economy and described it as the national economy’s artery.
He commended the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, who he said put in extra efforts to ensure the handing over of the road for reconstruction as the project has been on ground for over a year. The new road, he said will be concrete based in contrast to laterite base and has a life span of between 30 years to 50 years.
He described the road reconstruction as a higher form of corporate social responsibility as Dangote Group is not asking for tax rebates. According to him, businesses need to engage with host communities through corporate social responsibility projects to ensure sustainability.
He said, “…here at Dangote, we have built houses, new towns, hospitals, schools, roads, markets and awarded scholarships in the communities where we have our operations but this is a higher form of corporate social responsibility. This project is a higher form of intervention on a national level, intervening in provision of critical infrastructure.”
However, he tasked government to do more in terms of providing a conducive and enabling business environment for businesses to thrive stressing that If the environment is conducive and right, businesses will thrive and do more in terms of interventions in national infrastructure.