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Terminal operators hit back at Ameachi —-  absolve themselves from  traffic gridlock on port access roads

Eyewitness reporter

In an apparent reaction to the vote of no confidence handed on them by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi, the terminal operators had attempted to absolve themselves from the notorious and intractable traffic gridlock on the Lagos port access roads which have over the years made the ports inefficient.
Ameachi, last week in Lagos during the send-forth of  Hassan Bello, who retired as the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Shippers council, had accused the terminal operators of gross inefficiency and clog on the efforts of the government to automate the port operations.
The Minister said that the Lagos ports do not need as much rehabilitation as efficiency by the terminal operators.
However, the terminal operators, under the aegis of the Seaports Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN) have attributed the inefficiency at the ports to dilapidated port access roads, poor traffic management and manual examination of cargo by Customs.
According to the press statement by the spokesman of STOAN, Dr Bolaji Akinola, terminal operators, like other business entities in Apapa, are victims of the “dysfunctional state and chaos” on the port access roads.

According to Akinola, operations inside the port terminals across the country are well organised and professionally coordinated by port operators, otherwise known as concessionaires.

He said, “The port terminals are well organised and efficient. Concessionaires have done very well to ensure efficiency in their various terminals. The major problem is the road.

“Terminal operators do not have any role to play or responsibility to bear on the road. We don’t own the road; we don’t control the roads, and we don’t control happenings on the road. We cannot control the security agencies saddled with the responsibility of managing traffic on the road.”

He said terminal operators, more than any other entities in the logistics chain, bear the brunt of the Apapa traffic congestion because it hampers the evacuation of cargo from the port.

“The business of terminal operators is to keep trade moving. We don’t make money from cargo sitting at the terminal.

“Our profitability is in the volume of cargo we handle so it is in our best interest for cargo to leave the port as soon as possible. Unfortunately, those who profit from the chaos on the road make it difficult for trucks to move freely to evacuate cargo from the port,” he said.

Akinola said the fact that the roads were cleared and rid of the notorious traffic anytime President Muhammadu Buhari visited Lagos “shows that security operatives know what to do to deliver us all from the pains we suffer daily from the gridlock.”

“In 2019 when the President visited Lagos, the otherwise intractable Apapa gridlock disappeared. The gridlock also disappeared on June 10, 2021, when he visited to commission the rail line and the Deep Blue project.

” It was not terminal operators that cleared the road; it was the same security operatives that manned the road that cleared it. How did they make it happen? Can they continue to do on a daily basis, what they did on those two occasions of Mr. President’s visits?”

“It should be noted the problem with the roads leading into and out of Apapa is caused by bad roads, numerous checkpoints mounted by security agencies and rickety trucks.

“If these three issues are addressed and adequate parking lots provided for trucks, the gridlock will become history.

“The trucks that have a direct business to do at the port are less than half the number of trucks you see on the road. The other half consists of petroleum tankers heading to petroleum jetties/tank farms and trucks owned by some Apapa-based manufacturing concerns such as Honeywell, Flour Mills and Dangote, among others.

“A few days ago, the Acting Managing Director of Nigerians Ports Authority (NPA) Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko said NPA counted about 30 checkpoints mounted by security and traffic management officials on the roads in Apapa.

“The truth is that those who mount these illegal checkpoints are profiting from the chaos they deliberately create. It has nothing to do with terminal operators. We cannot control the activities of these government officials. Only government can call them to order,” he said.

Akinola said private terminal operators at the seaports invested N538 billion in port development from 2006 when the ports were concessioned to December 2017.

He said the ports have become much more efficient than they were before the 2006 port concession, “but those who thrive in chaos desperately want to cast aspersion on the concession exercise because orderliness does not benefit their pockets”.

“Port concession has endured and it is the most successful privatization exercise of the Nigerian government.

” Port terminal operators have done very well. If not for the terminal operators, our ports would have since gone into a meltdown. We were all witnesses to the inefficiency and chaos in the port before the concession.

“The Federal Government’s revenue from the ports has more than tripled 15 years post-port concession. Port workers’ welfare has been enhanced significantly and they are now among the best-paid workers in the country.

“We have since addressed the chaos inside the port but those who profit at the expense of Nigerians have moved the chaos to the roads. Unfortunately, we have no control over the roads,” he added.

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Analyses

The invisible toll gates:Why National Single Window is Nigeria’s ultimate economic battleground

Monday Discourse with  Ibrahim Nasiru
Walk into any market in Nigeria today, from the commercial hubs of Lagos to the roadside stalls in Yola, and ask why a bag of rice or an imported spare part costs three times what it did last year.
The typical public commentator will blame global inflation, floating currencies, or macro-economic shocks.
But those who understand logistics know the real truth lies buried under layers of paper, manual stamps, and artificial delays at our seaports.
Nigeria’s international trade is suffocating not from a lack of deep water, but from a deliberate design of convenience.
The recent operational rollout of the National Single Window (NSW) has triggered behind-the-scenes panic among Port cartels, and for good reason.
For decades, keeping our clearing processes fragmented, manual, and dependent on desk-to-desk human interaction was the perfect business model for syndicates.
When cargo dwell times drag on for 21 days, those delays are money in the pockets of the gatekeepers and a death sentence for local businesses.
Let us look at the raw field realities. The push by the Nigeria Customs Service to aggressively crash clearance times down to global 48-hour standards is meeting fierce internal resistance.
Why? Because a unified digital ecosystem means you cannot easily manipulate documentation, hide illicit cargo, or demand “mobilization fees” before signing off a container.
The outcry and protests from certain freight-forwarding syndicates aren’t about technical glitches; they are about the sudden closure of invisible toll gates.
This is exactly why governance at our national gateways can no longer be left to the mercy of transactional bureaucratic habits.
Building deep-sea infrastructure like Lekki Port is a massive physical achievement, but concrete and cranes are useless if the administrative processes at the gate remain backward.
 Real structural reform requires turning our Ports into automated, friction-free pipelines that prioritize production over rent-seeking.
If Nigeria wants to survive this fiscal squeeze, the National Single Window cannot just be treated as another glossy IT project launched in Abuja.
 It requires unyielding administrative enforcement to completely dismantle the corrupt cartels managing the manual desk chains.
The invisible toll gates at our Ports must be completely demolished, and that exact same structural discipline must be scaled across our border stations and trade corridors.
The era of managing international trade with 20th-century paper trails is dying. The future belongs to the builders of automated, transparent systems.
Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, a public affairs analyst,  writes from Abuja 
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Headlines

NANTA Exco embarks on seven-day Ghana retreat, fam trip to deepen regional tourism partnership

Gloria Odion, Reporter

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) has commenced a seven-day executive retreat and familiarisation (fam) trip to Ghana, hosted by Safari World, as part of efforts to strengthen regional tourism partnerships and expand cross-border travel opportunities.

The NANTA delegation was received at Safari World Homes in Accra by the Chairman of the Safari World Group, Mr. Ernest Gyekye, who expressed delight at hosting the Nigerian travel trade leaders.

He assured the delegation of a memorable experience throughout their week-long stay.

Speaking on the significance of the visit, NANTA President, Mr. Yinka Folami, described the retreat and familiarisation tour as a strategic initiative aimed at fostering stronger business relationships and promoting collaborative tourism development across Africa.

“This mission is not a leisure trip,” Folami said. “It is a deliberate step to implement and expand our association’s marketing advocacy for Nigerian brands across borders.”

He noted that Nigeria and Ghana share deep historical, cultural and commercial ties that should be leveraged to drive tourism growth on the continent.

“Nigeria and Ghana share history, culture, trade and people. The future of our tourism cannot be built in silos,” he said.

“This retreat is about moving from policy to practice—creating real products, real partnerships and real movement of travellers between Accra and Lagos.”

As part of the programme, the NANTA executives will engage in strategic business-to-business (B2B) meetings with their Ghanaian counterparts, tour key tourism destinations under the Safari World brand, and participate in cultural exchange activities designed to promote stronger bilateral tourism cooperation.

The itinerary spans Safari World’s three flagship destinations, including Safari Homes in Accra, the Aqua Safari riverfront experience, Safari Island Cruise, Safari Nautica, and Safari Recreation and Sports facilities in Ada, as well as the Safari Valley Eco Resort and Safari Eco Park in Dawu.

Operating under the brand promise, “One World, Three Destinations, Over 20 Unique Experiences,” Safari World is leveraging the visit to strengthen its footprint in the Nigerian travel market while positioning Ghana as a premier destination for leisure tourism, conferences, group travel, family holidays and premium tourism experiences.

A major highlight of the visit will be the Executive Dinner scheduled for July 21 at the Safari Valley Eco Resort, where key stakeholders from Nigeria and Ghana’s tourism industries will deliberate on strategies for deepening travel trade and advancing regional tourism development.

The familiarisation tour is expected to provide NANTA’s leadership with first-hand knowledge of Safari World’s tourism offerings, paving the way for the development of attractive travel packages and stronger business partnerships that will benefit Nigerian travellers and the wider West African tourism industry.

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Customs

Ogun Customs spurns claims of Smugglers’ takeover of Idiroko–Sango Ota trading Route

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Ogun I Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has dismissed as false reports alleging that smugglers had taken over the Idiroko–Sango Ota trading route in Ogun State, describing the claims as a deliberate misrepresentation of a traffic incident.
In a statement issued by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Superintendent of Customs (SC) Chado, the Command clarified that the traffic gridlock on the route resulted from the breakdown of an articulated commercial trailer after it fell into a badly deteriorated section of Atan Road, temporarily obstructing the free flow of traffic.
According to the Command, the vehicles caught in the ensuing congestion were legitimate commercial trucks transporting red palm oil to various local markets and had no connection whatsoever with smuggling activities.
It explained that the large number of heavy-duty trucks trapped in the gridlock may have led some members of the public to wrongly conclude that smugglers had taken over the road.
“The reports that smugglers blocked the road are inaccurate. The disruption resulted from a road accident and poor road conditions. The vehicles involved were lawful commercial vehicles transporting red palm oil for legitimate trade,” Chado stated.
The Command urged journalists, social media users and the general public to verify information before disseminating reports capable of creating unnecessary panic or undermining public confidence in security agencies.
Observers within the border trade sector noted that the allegation does not reflect the prevailing security situation within the Ogun I Area Command, where anti-smuggling operations have been intensified under the leadership of the Acting Customs Area Controller, Comptroller O.O. Afeni.
Since assuming office, Comptroller Afeni has strengthened intelligence-driven surveillance, enhanced collaboration with other security agencies and host communities, and sustained pressure on economic saboteurs operating along the Ogun border corridors.
These measures, according to stakeholders, have resulted in significant seizures of prohibited goods and reinforced the Command’s resolve to safeguard Nigeria’s economy and territorial integrity.
Maritime and border trade stakeholders also cautioned against the spread of unverified information capable of undermining the efforts of security personnel or creating a false impression of lawlessness in border communities.
They stressed that while combating smuggling remains an ongoing responsibility, responsible and accurate reporting is equally critical to ensuring that operational achievements are not overshadowed by misinformation.
The Ogun I Area Command reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining its anti-smuggling campaign while facilitating legitimate cross-border trade in line with the statutory mandate of the Nigeria Customs Service.

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