Headlines

Tin Can Port hosts Grimaldi’s largest RORO ship in West Africa

R-L: Managing Director, PTML Terminal, Mr. Ascanio Russo; Lagos State Head of Service, Mr. Bode Agoro; Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Captain of MV Great Lagos, Captain Facondini Graciano; and the Opeluwa of Lagos, Chief Aderibigbe Lateef, who represented Oba Rilwan Akiolu, at the reception to celebrate the maiden call of MV Great Lagos to Nigeria at PTML Terminal, Tin-Can Island Port, Lagos, on Monday.

The Eyewitness Reporter

The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola; Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello Koko and the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh were among dignitaries that received MV Great Lagos – the largest container-RORO ship to visit Nigeria and the West African sub-region.

MV Great Lagos, which is on its maiden call to Nigeria’s largest multipurpose roll-on-roll-off (RORO) terminal, the Port Terminal Multipurpose Limited (PTML) at the Tin Can Island Port Complex, Lagos, is owned by the Grimaldi Group.

In his address at a reception organised to celebrate the ship’s maiden call, Governor Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Deputy Governor, said the visit of the MV Great Lagos to Tin-Can Island Port is an expression of confidence of the international community in Nigeria.

He also commended the Grimaldi Group for its investment in Lagos State.

Also speaking, the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, said the successful berthing of the vessel testifies to the dedication of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and PTML to enhance efficiency at the port.

The Minister commended the Grimaldi Group and PTML for deploying the vessel to Nigeria and adding value to the Nigerian economy.

In his welcome address, the Managing Director of PTML, Mr. Ascanio Russo, said the new ultramodern mega-ship is a marvel of modern engineering and environmental consciousness, stretching 290 meters in length with a beam of 38 meters and a deadweight of over 45,000 tonnes.

The ship, he said, has the capacity to transport 4.7 kilometers of rolling freight, 2,500 Car Equivalent Units (CEUs), and 2,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).

He said MV GREAT LAGOS is the second of the G5-class of ships recently launched by the Grimaldi Group and named after Nigeria’s commercial capital, which it has served for many decades.

“Today marks a significant milestone, not only for PTML and Grimaldi but for Lagos and Nigeria as a whole.

” We are gathered here on board this magnificent ship to celebrate the maiden call of the “Great Lagos”, a majestic vessel in the new G5 class of Ro/Ro multipurpose ships.

” The naming of this vessel is not merely a coincidence; it is a deliberate and meaningful choice that reflects the deep and enduring connection between the Grimaldi Group and the port city of Lagos,” he said.

Russo said for more than six decades, the Grimaldi Group has been a cornerstone in the development of trade and maritime relations with Nigeria, a journey of mutual growth, understanding, and unwavering commitment.

“The arrival of the “Great Lagos” is not just an addition to our fleet but a reaffirmation of our devotion to the Nigerian economy and its vibrant economic capital.

“The “Great Lagos” is amongst the largest ships ever built in its class.

“This is not just an upgrade; it is a leap into the future of maritime transport and we are proud that we are witnessing this in Nigeria.

“But the greatness of the “Great Lagos” is not measured solely by her size or capacity. This vessel stands as a testament to our enthusiasm to achieve the minimum environmental impact.

” With technological advancements allowing for a reduction of CO2 emissions by up to 43% per tonne transported, the “Great Lagos” is a beacon of sustainable maritime transport, setting new industry standards.

“At PTML, the port terminal which is hosting us now, we have always prided ourselves on being at the forefront of technological advancement and operational efficiency.

” Our terminal, the largest multipurpose terminal in Nigeria, stands as a clear demonstration of our ambitions.

” In the last one year alone, we have invested over USD20 million to upgrade our facilities to receive this beautiful ship.

“We have been extending our quay by over 40 meters while strengthening it to enable us to receive and operate a new Mobile Harbour Crane. All of this to accommodate the “Great Lagos.”

” This investment underscores our strive to achieve operational excellence, while delivering efficient and cost-effective logistics services to the broader Nigerian economy and its people.

” It reinforces our position as a key player in the maritime sector and confirms our readiness to take the port of Lagos on larger roles in the global trading community.

“Our efforts align seamlessly with the vision and support of the Nigerian authorities.

“I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to the Ministry of Transport, now the Ministry of the Blue Economy, and the Nigerian Port Authority for enabling the infrastructural work critical to today’s event.

” Our appreciation extends to NIMASA for ensuring the security of our waterways, the Nigerian Shippers Council for fostering a competitive environment conducive to enhanced port services, and Nigerian Customs for their dedication to facilitating trade while maintaining essential security functions.

“To the Lagos State Government, whose unwavering support has been instrumental in our massive infrastructure investments beyond the port area, I say a heartfelt thank you,” the PTML Managing Director said.

Other speakers including the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh; Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima; the Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Stefano De Leo and President-General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, all showered encomiums on Grimaldi Group and PTML for deploying the vessel and for making a significant investment at the port.

Analyses

The Anchor of Dependency: Rethinking Nigeria’s Port Financing Strategy

Monday Discourse with Ibrahim Nasiru

The recent Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) conference in Lagos concluded with a dizzying array of multi-billion-dollar infrastructure promises.

Amidst the boardroom handshakes and official communiques, a familiar theme emerged: West Africa requires tens of billions of dollars to build the “Ports of the Future.”

For Nigeria, a nation grappling with aging brownfield infrastructure and the pressure to fully optimize its deep seaports, the question of infrastructure is no longer about what to build, but how to pay for it.

For decades, Nigeria’s approach to Port development has been tethered to a traditional anchor of dependency, an over-reliance on foreign loans, lopsided concession frameworks, and external development contracts.

If the nation is to truly unlock the economic sovereignty promised by the Blue Economy, it must critically re-evaluate its Port financing strategy, shifting away from debt-heavy models toward aggressive domestic capital mobilization and genuine structural reforms that address how we handle our internal maritime revenues.

Historically, major Port expansions in Sub-Saharan Africa have followed a predictable financial script.

A sovereign state secures a massive bilateral loan, frequently from foreign development banks, backed by state guarantees or the projected revenues of the Port asset itself.

On the surface, this model delivers immediate gratification: shiny new gantry cranes, dredged channels, and modern breakwaters.

Below the surface, however, this architecture creates a cycle of financial vulnerability.

When Port assets are financed through rigid, foreign-denominated debt, the pressure to service that debt often overrides the Port’s primary economic mandate, which is to lower the cost of doing business.

High debt-servicing costs force Port authorities to maintain punitive tariff structures, expensive regulatory charges, and inflated berthing fees.

Consequently, while the infrastructure appears world-class, the Port becomes economically uncompetitive, driving shipping lines to cheaper regional alternatives and defeating the purpose of the initial investment.

To break this loop, Nigeria must confront a glaring fiscal paradox sitting right inside its balance sheet: the architecture of the Nigerian Ports Authority’s (NPA) internal revenue framework.

As revealed in recent National Assembly budget defenses under Managing Director Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, the NPA is projecting a staggering ₦1.489 trillion in internally generated revenue (IGR) for the 2026 fiscal year, hot on the heels of generating nearly ₦2 trillion in 2025.

The agency is a financial powerhouse, generating enormous wealth from ship dues, cargo fees, and concession tariffs.

Yet, because of rigid fiscal remittance laws, a massive chunk of this liquidity is swallowed directly by the federation’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) and swept straight into the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

The NPA is effectively treated as a cash cow to finance federal budget deficits rather than being allowed to legally retain and reinvest its own earnings back into the infrastructure that generates them.

Forcing an agency to remit massive sums to the federal treasury while simultaneously asking it to borrow foreign capital or beg for funding via the Central Bank just to dredge a channel or rebuild a collapsing berth is an unsustainable contradiction.

True financial independence requires a sweeping legislative rethink of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to allow the NPA to establish a dedicated, ring-fenced infrastructure retention fund.

If the agency could legally retain just 20 to 30 percent more of its trillions in actual collections specifically for a Port Modernization Sinking Fund, it could fully self-finance the urgently needed overhauls of the 100-year-old Apapa Port and the decaying infrastructure at Tin Can Island without adding a single dollar of foreign debt to Nigeria’s sovereign balance sheet.

Furthermore, this internal liquidity could be used as equity to issue local currency maritime infrastructure bonds on the domestic capital market, allowing Nigerian pension funds to invest in an asset class that generates predictable, long-term, inflation-hedged cash flows.

Ultimately, breaking the anchor of dependency requires moving past the illusion that a nation must always look outward or borrow its way to maritime dominance.

True Port efficiency cannot coexist with a system that starves its primary trade gateway of operational liquidity in the name of national revenue extraction.

As Nigeria positions itself to capture the trade volumes of a developing continent, its leadership must realize that financial engineering is just as critical as civil engineering.

We must design financing models that allow the maritime sector to feed itself first before feeding the national treasury.

Until we cut the chains of debt-heavy external financing and reform our internal revenue retention laws, our Ports will not function as engines of economic liberation, but rather as highly sophisticated toll gates filtering both national wealth and foreign debt back to external creditors.

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

Headlines

NPA: Starving the goose that lays the golden eggs

Chief Ibrahim Nasiru

Tomorrow, on Monday Discourse, Ibrahim Nasiru looks at what he describes as the paradox in the financing system of the Nigerian Ports Authority( NPA).

An agency which lays the golden eggs that feed the nation, yet has to borrow from external creditors to fix its infrastructures.

On Monday Discourse, Nasiru advises government to rethink Nigeria’s Port Financing Strategy

“The NPA is projecting a staggering ₦1.489 trillion in revenue for 2026. Yet, why are we still looking outward to borrow billions of dollars for Port Modernization?

“The truth is, Nigeria’s Ports are trapped in a fiscal paradox.

“We treat the NPA as a cash cow to fund federal deficits, sweeping its massive trillions into the central treasury, while leaving our 100-year-old Ports to starve of the vital liquidity needed for self maintenance.

“Forcing an agency to bleed cash to the treasury while begging foreign creditors for infrastructure loans is an unsustainable contradiction.

“If we are serious about the Blue Economy, it’s time for a legislative rethink that allows internal revenue retention for a dedicated Port Modernization Fund.

Read Nasiru’s analysis on why Nigerian Ports must feed themselves before they can sustainably feed the nation.

Keep a date with Nasiru on Monday Discourse tomorrow ,Monday, June 1st, 2026.

It’s a must read

Headlines

NRC suspends Warri- Itakpe train service over operational concerns

Funso OLOJO, Editor

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has announced the temporary suspension of Warri–Itakpe Train Service (WITS) due to what the management described as operational exigency and technical advice from the Corporation’s Engineers.

The temporary suspension, according to a public statement by the NRC, has become necessary to enable the Corporation carry out critical operational assessments aimed at ensuring continued safety, reliability, and improved service delivery on the corridor.

“The NRC regrets the inconvenience this development may cause passengers and other stakeholders, and assures the public that efforts are currently ongoing to resolve the issues within the shortest possible time.

“Passengers and intending travelers will be duly informed before the end of the week on the date for the resumption of normal train operations.

“The Corporation remains committed to safe, efficient, and customer-friendly rail services across the country and appreciates the understanding, patience, and continued support of the public during this period” the NRC declared.