Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX
Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, has said that infrastructure deficiency at the port
would be a hindrance to the recent order by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbanjo, to government agencies to commence 24 hours port operations.
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| Group Executive Vice Chairman of Sifax Group, Taiwo Afolabi |
The Sifax boss explained that though
the Ease of Doing Business initiative by the government is a welcome
development due to the needless bottleneck encountered in the service delivery
process, the problem of infrastructure deficiency should be urgently addressed
in order to compliment the executive order.
Afolabi, citing the case of the Apapa
access roads that have literally broken down and are source of concern for all
business stakeholders; said fixing the roads would not only aid the initiative
but also bring relief and order to one of the country’s economic gateways.
According to him, “The Ease of Doing
Business executive order is good and brilliant initiative to improve the
customer experience, particularly at the nation’s points of entry. I want to
commend the government for it. However, I want to submit that the initiative
should be an all-encompassing one, where other hindering factors, especially
critical infrastructure, are attended to without delay.
“Take for instance, the Apapa ports.
There is no way a customer experience can be improved when the importers and exporters
find it extremely difficult to transport their goods in and out of the ports
because the roads are in a sorry state. Containers fall on these roads on a
daily basis with attendant losses. Workers, residents and business owners in
the area are not finding things easy as well.
“My appeal to the government is to do a
thorough review of other inhibiting factors to doing business in Nigeria and
immediately tackle such issues with the urgency with which the Abuja airport’s
faulty runway was fixed. Only then we will truly improve the customer
experience in the country,” he pointed out.
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