By Simeon Ebulu
The gains to the Nigerian ports from the border closure are fast fading due to the poor state of the ports.
Dilapidated ports’ access roads and the insistence of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on 100 per cent physical examination of cargoes are some of the biggest challenges threatening to turn the initial gains of the border closure to pains, according to stakeholders.
The situation is made worse with the re-routing of cargoes to the Lagos ports from Togo and the Republic of Benin, following the border closure now in its third month.
The Nation investigation has revealed that vessels billed for unlading at the neigbouring West African Ports of Togo, Republic of Benin and others are heading for Lagos and other ports, but the nation’s ports and its goods clearing processes are not yet ready for this volume of cargoes.
One of the biggest obstacles is that the roads leading to the ports of Lagos are unmotorable. The Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne and Calabar ports are not better, as the roads and available ports’ infrastructure are in various state of disrepair.
The worst is Lagos, as the nation’s largest seaports – the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports have not only been unduly bugged down by severely dilapidated roads, the entire transport infrastructure has gone awry and in no way ready to cope with diverted cargoes from the neighbouring sea ports.
In Lagos for instance, the situation is so bad that only one narrow lane is in use by trucks accessing the port terminals of Apapa and Tin Can, and at anytime a vehicle breaks down on the lane, as is often the case, the entire system becomes paralysed.
The attendant consequence of this develoment is the hike in the cost of haulage of cargoes from the ports to their intended destination.
Two years ago, between N75,000 and N100,000 was required to move a 40ft container from either the Apapa or Tin Can ports, today the rate has risen astronomically to between N500,000 and N700,000. Moving a container from any of the ports to a location outside Lagos is above N1million, The Nation gathered. In essence, it has become much cheaper to ship a container from Europe, Asia or America to Nigeria than to move it within Nigeria.
The President-General, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju, who has joined several stakeholders to bring the government’s attention to the poor state of the port roads, said the union might be left with no option than to declare a strike to compel government to act.
“On May 14, 2017, the union issued a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to fix the access roads to the seaports, especially the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way that leads to Apapa and Tin-Can Ports. Before the expiration of the ultimatum, the management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) met with us and pleaded with us that they were doing something to fix the roads, especially the Apapa and Tin-Can Ports’axis of the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way.
“We were assured that remedial works would be done on the road because it was not captured in 2017 national budget. We decided to suspend our planned industrial action. We have waited and endured very harrowing experiences on the access roads to the Ports in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri, hoping upon hope that the government will, at least do a quick fix on the roads to make them motorable.
“Nine months after we suspended the ultimatum, the roads have deteriorated and in addition, have claimed several lives and properties. In fact, we lost two of our members on the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way. The Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way has failed and is unmotorable. From Berger Bridge, there are countless craters and potholes on the road. To worsen the already terrible situation, from Otto Wharf, the road has been turned into parks and mechanic workshops for heavy duty trucks parked and abandoned by drivers and owners.
“People now defecate, sleep, cook wash clothes, bathe and do whatever they like on the road. As a result, the road has become a haven for criminals who use every opportunity to attack, assault and rob innocent Nigerians, including our members who walk to and from work daily on the road because it is no longer motorable.
Adeyanju said last week, the union took an assessment tour of the roads, saying “to our dismay, the Apapa axis of the Oshodi-Apapa Dual Carriage Way said to be under reconstruction by a consortium of private individuals, is now at a stand still. We even understand that NPA has paid a substantial part of the N270million it pledge on the reconstruction of the road.”
The union, however, suspended the planned strike upon assurances by the government that repairs would be carried out on the port access roads. But over a year after, nothing concrete has been done to assuage the sufferings of port workers prompting a renewal of the strikes threats by the union.
Adeyanju said: “If you remember vividly, we only suspended the strike last time, and the way things are going, we may be forced to resume the ultimatum and commence our strike and it will be total. So it will be better for the government to talk to the contractor handling the job to expedite action on it.
The other major factor militating against an efficient port system in Nigeria is the highly manual processes adopted by the Nigeria Customs Service. It is instructive to note that no cargo or container can exit the port without the approval of Customs and Customs will not approve except they inspect. Elsewhere, technology is deployed in performing those checks but in Nigeria, it is a manual process. The process adopted by the Nigeria Customs Service, according to the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello is “archaic”. Unfortunately, rather than modernise its system, Customs has remained fixated on this unproductive process.
In addition, Customs mounts multiple checkpoints around the ports. For instance at the Lagos Port, cargo owners are subjected to multiple Customs checks in the port and immediately they exit the port, after their cargoes have been duly released by Customs and appropriate duty and other charges by Customs are paid, they are confronted by another round of checks usually mounted by officials of the Customs Comptroller-General Strike Force or the Customs Federal Operations Unit (FOU).
In Lagos, the Strike Force and FOU officers are stationed less than 500 metres from the port gate. They are at Leventis Bus Stop stopping trucks for fresh checks on the narrow port road and block the only exit. This is a major contributor to the Apapa gridlock. The situation is the same with other ports, Port Harcourt and Onne Ports in Rivers State.
“At present, cargo volume coming into the port has increased, but Customs is not helping matter in quick evacuation of these cargoes. You can imagine a situation where Customs will give clearance to the agents and after examination at the terminal; another unit will still subject the consignment to another round of examination at the exit gate. This action by Customs is causing traffic congestion at the gate as the trucks are delayed.
“They will give you clearance, and once it is issued, the terminal operator has no reason to delay the container. They will load and the same Customs that release the container and give clearance will still not allow the consignment go at the exit gate. That is the problem.
“The government should look into the activities of Customs, if the ease of doing business at the port will be achieved because they are creating artificial gridlock and constituting a clog in the wheel of ease of doing business,” a freight forwarder, Eyitayo Williams, said.
Clearly, until the government repairs the port roads and automate the processes of the NSC, the ports will continue to struggle among their peers in the West and Central Africa sub-regions.
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