For Nigerians who work or live in Mile 2, along Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, Ajegunle, Okokomaiko and Orile area of Lagos State, among others, stories about the activities of trailer and truck drivers may not be strange? But how many of them know the implications of the activities of the drivers who eat, defecate and sleep on the expressway, on the environment and their health? Before now, it was common in the area to find trucks permanently parked by the roadside, thus narrowing the expressway and causing heavy traffic. There has been accusation that some of the drivers deliberately leave their terminals to park by the roadside. Almost every minute of the day, the road is locked down in traffic and motorists spend hours for trips that ordinarily should take less than 20 minutes. Harassment of innocent Nigerians going about their businesses is commonplace as the area is completely taken over by hoodlums and the destitute who smoke dangerous herbs and take all manners of alcohol without caution, and, in the process, littering everywhere with bottles, plastics and product packages. Recently, the situation, particularly around Mile 2 and Apapa, took a different dimension. The situation, which has forced many companies and house owners in the area to relocate, left those remaining frustrated. A drive from the Mile 2 end of the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway down to Coconut area, back to Mazamaza axis, one could vividly see the myriad of health and environmental challenges. Many of these challenges could be immediate or long term. Sadly, not only the people who work and live in the area, including the drivers of the trucks, will suffer the effect but also the environment and the economy. From the Orile end of the rail line to the Mile 2 side of the Lagos – Badagry Expressway, the story is not different. Apart from the logjam, the heap of refuse is beginning to take over the expressway at different spots. The indiscriminate dumping of faeces is also a challenge. Most of the refuse is pushed into the beautifully built gutters without minding the implications since the rainy season is around the corner. While the terminals serve as home for street beggars, other activities such as illegal drug trading and all forms of abuses take place along the rail. Experts warned of short and long term effects of the situation on the health of Lagosians. Amid the unsightly environment, food and bread sellers make brisk business. When Sunday Vanguard visited the area, it took courage on the part of the reporter to chat with the truck drivers who sleep and wake up inside the traffic. The stench from the heaps of refuse and faeces almost derailed the report. Some of the drivers and their assistants, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, described the situation as a nightmare that had refusd to go away. One of them, Akintola Olalekan, could not hide his frustration when he said it had taken him seven days to move on the queue from Mile 2 to Berger Yard, a journey that ordinarily should not have taken more than three minutes. Meanwhile, he is going to AP Molar Computer Terminals at Apapa Wharf to carry a container of goods just imported into the country. According to him, the woes his colleagues and he going to Apapa Wharf to carry containers grew from bad to worse in the last three months. “In February, from my park at Amuwo Odofin to the TITC, Tin Can Island, it took me five days but, this time, it has taken me seven days to move from Mile 2 to Berger Yard and I am still far away from my destination. It is sad that no one seems to understand our frustrations”, he said. Meanwhile, the unhygienic environment, Olalekan said, has not made things easy for them. “We eat, defecate and sleep here. The mosquitoes in this place make this place a hell. In this smelly environment, we must eat whatever we see; we don’t bathe because we cannot go back to our homes. If we say we want to go to toilet, where do we go? How many public toilets have you seen around here? I am going through all these because of my family. My children must feed and go to school,” he said. While stating that the situation should be paid more attention by government, he said many of them may go back home with infections. The truck driver blamed the problem on the inability of AP Molar Computer Terminals at Apapa Wharf to facilitate the process of releasing containers so that the long queues of trucks on the expressway waiting to carry containers bearing imported goods can drive in and go. “We are drivers and not trailer owners or agents. We cannot do anything about it. It is the transporters and the Container Union that should do something about it,” he stated.
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