Gloria Odion, Maritme reporter

The Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) has officially commenced operations as Nigeria’s new statutory economic regulator for the nation’s ports.

This development ushers in a new phase in the country’s port governance with a mandate to enforce fair tariffs, promote competition, accelerate cargo clearance and create a more predictable business environment.

The commencement of operations follows President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent to the Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency Bill, 2026, which formally establishes NPERA as the dedicated authority responsible for the economic regulation of Nigeria’s ports.

Chairman of the NPERA Governing Board, Dr. Ibrahim Shema, described the development as a “fundamental reform” of Nigeria’s port governance, saying it represents the culmination of nearly five decades of institutional evolution in port economic regulation.

Shema traced the history of port economic regulation in Nigeria to the establishment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in 1978 and the subsequent concessioning of port terminals in 2006.

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council was designated as the interim Port Economic Regulator in 2014 and subsequently performed critical functions, including tariff regulation, dispute resolution and protection of port users.

With the enactment of the NPERA Act, Shema said those responsibilities now have a permanent statutory foundation.

Under the new framework, NPERA will regulate port tariffs and charges, licensing, service standards, competition, commercial dispute resolution, trade facilitation and the protection of port users.

“This is not about creating competing authorities. It is about establishing a coherent system in which institutions work together, each within its statutory responsibilities,” Shema said.

He stressed that the creation of NPERA would not undermine the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), which retains responsibility for port infrastructure and its landlord functions.

Rather, he said, NPERA would concentrate on reducing regulatory uncertainty, eliminating unnecessary barriers, facilitating faster cargo movement and strengthening Nigeria’s position as a competitive trading and investment destination.

Shema identified transparency, fairness, predictability, efficiency and accountability as the five principles that would anchor the agency’s regulatory framework.

On tariffs, he said NPERA would give port users greater clarity on the basis for regulated charges, while service providers would have clearer expectations regarding compliance and regulatory requirements.

The agency, he added, would also provide more accessible mechanisms for resolving commercial disputes and deploy digital platforms for licensing, tariff administration, regulatory monitoring, compliance and stakeholder engagement.

Shema assured stakeholders that the transition from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council to NPERA would be orderly and designed to minimise disruption to port operations.

He said the transition process would address personnel, assets, liabilities, existing contracts, pending disputes, regulatory records and licensing arrangements.

The NPERA chairman also called for sustained collaboration among the NPA, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), terminal operators, shipping lines, freight forwarders, importers, exporters and other stakeholders.

“The establishment of NPERA is a historic achievement, but the harder work begins now,” he said.

According to him, the real test of the new agency will be its ability to convert the provisions of the law into tangible improvements in port services, operational efficiency, regulatory certainty and national competitiveness.

“The new era of port economic regulation has begun. The journey has been long. The opportunity before us is enormous. And the work starts now,” he added.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of NPERA, Dr. Pius Akutah, expressed optimism that the new law and the agency’s operations would significantly clarify Nigeria’s port regulatory environment within the next one to two years.

Akutah said NPERA would prioritise fair pricing, promote healthy competition, enhance trade facilitation and strengthen government revenue.

He added that the NPERA Act gives the agency stronger powers to improve commercial dispute resolution and protect the interests and welfare of port users and other stakeholders.

The emergence of NPERA marks a significant restructuring of Nigeria’s port governance architecture, with economic regulation now vested in a dedicated statutory institution separate from the NPA’s infrastructure and landlord functions.

For port users and operators, the new regime is expected to bring greater clarity to tariffs, charges, licensing and service standards, while providing a more structured avenue for resolving commercial disputes.

But beyond the institutional change, the success of NPERA will ultimately be measured by what happens inside Nigeria’s ports: whether cargo moves faster, charges become more transparent, disputes are resolved more efficiently, investors gain greater confidence and Nigerian ports become more competitive.

The agency therefore faces a formidable task. Its credibility will depend not merely on the powers conferred by the new law, but on how effectively those powers are exercised, how consistently regulations are enforced and how quickly port users begin to experience measurable improvements.

For an industry long confronted by complaints over multiple charges, regulatory uncertainty, delays and inefficiencies, the arrival of NPERA represents a significant opportunity.

The challenge now is to turn that opportunity into results.

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) has launched a major offensive against pollution on Nigeria’s inland waterways, partnering indigenous firm, Parts Central Ltd. on a comprehensive clean-up initiative designed to restore the waterways to cleaner, safer and more navigable condition.

The initiative, unveiled on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, targets the growing menace of plastic bottles, human waste, refuse and other pollutants indiscriminately dumped into the nation’s waterways.

Under the partnership, NIWA and Parts Central will deploy a structured waste-management and collection system covering waterfronts, landing points, jetties and other strategic locations along the waterways.

The programme has a renewable 10-year lifespan, signalling a long-term commitment rather than a one-off environmental campaign.

Speaking at the unveiling, NIWA Lagos Area Manager, Engr. Sarat Braimah, said the partnership was aimed at ensuring that Nigeria’s inland waterways remained clean, safe and navigable.

She explained that Lagos was chosen as the starting point because of the extensive network of waterways in the state and the critical role water transportation plays in its economy.

According to Braimah, about one-third of Lagos State is covered by water, making the health and usability of its waterways critical to economic activities and the livelihoods of thousands of people who depend on them.

“Making it work starts from making it clean. If the water is clean, navigation will be easy. If the water is clean, it will create jobs for even our youth,” she said.

Braimah said the initiative would involve waterfront owners, dredging operators, boat operators and other users of the waterways, stressing that their cooperation would be essential to sustaining the gains of the programme.

She urged waterfront owners to provide appropriate waste-disposal facilities and called on companies operating along the waterways to treat and dispose of their waste responsibly.

Boat operators and other waterways users were equally urged to cooperate with NIWA and Parts Central as the clean-up operations gather momentum.

Waste bins for boats, mother bins for jetties

The Managing Director of Parts Central Ltd., Hon. Henry Olaoluwa Onifade, said the company would deploy technology and a dedicated waste-management system to cover waterfronts, landing ports and jetties.

He disclosed that boats and other watercraft operating on Nigeria’s inland waterways would be provided with NIWA- and Parts Central-approved waste bins, while larger “mother bins” would be installed at jetties to enable operators to offload collected waste when they dock.

Onifade said the system was designed to create an organised chain of waste collection and disposal, while reducing the quantity of refuse entering the waterways.

He appealed to stakeholders to give maximum cooperation to the clean-up teams, insisting that the success of the initiative would depend on collective responsibility.

The Parts Central boss also urged waterways users to embrace recycling and other environmentally responsible practices.

“Our waterways must not only be clean, they must be safe, productive and sustainable,” he said.

According to him, cleaner waterways would unlock greater economic opportunities, create employment and support the development of Nigeria’s blue economy.

Lagos seeks tougher action on illegal dredging

Also speaking, Lagos State Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Hon. Ekundayo Alebiosu, described the initiative as an important demonstration of cooperation between the Federal and Lagos State governments in protecting the state’s waterways.

Alebiosu said clean, safe and usable waterways should remain a priority because the condition of the aquatic environment directly affects fishing, navigation and the wider waterfront economy.

He, however, raised concerns over the environmental consequences of illegal dredging, warning that activities that disturb the underwater environment could damage aquatic life and force fishermen to travel farther in search of fish.

The commissioner also drew attention to illegal infrastructure associated with dredging, particularly underground pipes and other obstructions capable of endangering boats and contributing to accidents and capsizing.

He called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, waterfront communities and waterways operators to tackle activities threatening the safety and sustainability of Lagos waterways.

Marine Police link pollution to safety, security

The initiative also received the backing of the Maritime Police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police U.M. Ogechi, who represented the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Maritime Police, said environmental protection was inseparable from maritime safety and security.

She noted that Nigeria’s economy depended heavily on maritime activities and warned that unhealthy waterways could threaten aquatic life, boat operators and passengers.

According to her, polluted and unsafe waterways could increase the risk of boat accidents and loss of lives, making waterways protection not only an environmental responsibility but also a security imperative.

Ogechi commended traditional rulers and communities for providing intelligence that had assisted security agencies in combating piracy and other crimes on the waterways.

She urged communities to continue providing useful information to security agencies, adding that the Marine Police maintained a presence across several waterways and states.

Tourism operators demand cleaner waterways

President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Operators (NATOP), Mrs. Bolaji Mustapha, said clean and safe waterways were indispensable to the growth of water-based tourism.

Mustapha noted that the state of Nigeria’s waterways could influence tourists’ perception of the country, recalling an incident in which a tourist boat became stuck while conveying visitors.

Such incidents, she warned, could create a negative impression among international tourists.

She therefore urged NIWA and Parts Central to intensify public awareness among communities and waterways operators, stressing that the benefits of cleaner waterways would extend beyond boat owners and marine operators to tourism and the wider economy.

Communities welcome intervention

The Odofin of Onisiwo, High Chief Lateef Rufai, welcomed the initiative, observing that waste dumped into waterways often ended up along the shores of waterfront communities.

He expressed optimism that sustained clean-up operations would improve the environment and living conditions of communities located along the waterways.

Similarly, the Head of Corporate Communication and Strategy of the Sustainable Waterways Awareness, Advancement and Development Organisation (SWAADO), Chief Raymond Gold, pledged the organisation’s support.

Gold said SWAADO was committed to promoting sustainability and safety on Nigeria’s waterways, adding that its Nigeria Waterways Directory could provide useful data for the programme.

He described the directory as a comprehensive mapping of operators, jetties, communities and waterways infrastructure across the country’s inland waterways system, saying the resource could support targeted and measurable interventions.

A cleaner route to blue economy

The stakeholders agreed that the success of the NIWA-Parts Central initiative would ultimately depend on sustained cooperation among government agencies, the Lagos State Government, security agencies, waterfront communities, boat operators, tourism operators and other waterways users.

Beyond removing refuse, the initiative is expected to establish a more disciplined waste-management culture on the waterways through the provision of approved waste bins for boats and mother bins at jetties.

For NIWA, the challenge is no longer simply about cleaning polluted waterways. It is about changing the behaviour that produces the pollution in the first place.

A cleaner waterways system means safer navigation, healthier aquatic ecosystems, stronger tourism prospects, more employment opportunities and greater economic utilisation of Nigeria’s inland waterways.

With the 10-year renewable partnership now underway, NIWA and Parts Central are betting that sustained intervention, technology-driven waste collection and stakeholder cooperation can turn Nigeria’s polluted waterways from an environmental liability into a major asset for the country’s blue economy.

Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru

The global maritime industry is currently navigating an irreversible transition toward decarbonisation.

For a littoral maritime nation like Nigeria, moving toward a “Green Port” model is no longer an optional environmental line item or a luxury corporate social responsibility project; it is a strict macroeconomic imperative for operational survival.

If our Port infrastructure fails to meet international eco-compliance standards, our maritime gateways will eventually face severe international isolation, increased freight premiums, and punitive carbon penalties from global shipping lines.

Transitioning to green Ports completely reshapes a nation’s competitive maritime mathematics through a dual mechanism of technological velocity and asset optimization.

First, modern mega ships and top-tier global shipping lines actively prioritize maritime hubs that offer smart vessel scheduling, eco-efficient infrastructure, and green refueling options.

Green certification instantly elevates a nation’s Port status from an analogue harbour to a premium global transit hub.

Second, implementing automated energy grids and shore-power connections drastically reduces vessel turnaround times, lowering long-term administrative overhead and insulating the Port from volatile fossil fuel costs.

In Nigeria’s current Port modernisation drive, Green Port development represents the ultimate missing link between superficial digital upgrades and physical back-end infrastructure execution.

As i continuously argue in my maritime audits, including ‘The Single Window Illusion,’ true automation cannot stop at the front-end software portal.

It must extend to the hard, physical operations on the ground.

Nigeria cannot claim to be modernizing its Ports under the new national single window frameworks if our terminal gates and cargo handling ecosystems remain entirely tied to archaic, carbon-heavy, analogue operational models.

The current placement of Green Port metrics within Nigeria’s master plan reveals critical operational touchpoints that must be aggressively enforced.

The ongoing, high-stakes infrastructure reconstruction plans for the Lagos Port Complex (Apapa), Tin Can Island, Rivers, and Delta Ports must not merely replace broken concrete.

They must serve as the foundation for hard coding eco-efficient cargo handling systems, automated crane networks, and green energy infrastructure directly into the Port layout.

The Lekki Deep Sea Port already stands as the definitive blueprint for what is possible.

By integrating automated ship-to-shore cranes and advanced terminal tracking software, Lekki demonstrates that technological velocity naturally reduces vessel idling times and cuts down on emissions. The rest of our legacy Ports must match this baseline.

Furthermore, the Nigeria Customs Service’s transition to the new B’Odogwu Unified Customs Management System provides a clean runway for this transition.

By eliminating manual parallel paper trails and streamlining electronic manifest transmissions, it directly reduces the carbon footprint generated by thousands of clearing agents printing and moving physical files across commands.

However, the access corridors remain our greatest structural vulnerability.

You cannot achieve a green Port ecosystem when thousands of diesel-guzzling trucks are stuck in gridlock along the access roads due to manual checkpoints and bridge shakedowns.

True green modernization requires the aggressive expansion of the Electronic Call-Up System (Eto), expanding rail cargo connectivity, and deploying inland barges to completely eliminate physical Port gate congestion.

Nigeria’s Port modernization drive cannot succeed on paper alone.

For the National Single Window and our master Port designs to transition from policy declarations into a genuine economic catalyst, the presidency and the NPA must treat green Port development as a mandatory statutory requirement.

Until the physical gate complies with global eco-technological standards, the Port infrastructure remains structurally grounded.

Chief Ibrahim Nasiru, public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja.