Tag: NPA

Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has called on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to renew the contract of Truck Transit Park Limited (TTP), operators of the ETO electronic call-up system.

They insisted that the digital platform ended the N350,000-per-truck extortion regime and the years of crippling gridlock that once paralysed Apapa and Tin Can Island.

In a statement signed by its Secretary General, Mohammed Sani Bala, at the weekend, the association said truckers will resist attempts by “vested interests” to return the ports to what it described as the “dark era of manual call-up chaos.

 “Before ETO, truckers paid as much as N350,000 just to access the ports. Drivers spent weeks or even months on the queue to make a single trip. Our drivers were dying behind the steering. Apapa became a ghost town. Businesses collapsed under the weight of the gridlock,” Bala said.

The association said any campaign against the renewal of TTP’s contract is “self-serving, dangerous to national interest and a desperate attempt by beneficiaries of the former gridlock economy to regain relevance.”

According to AMATO, the transformation brought by the ETO call-up system represents one of the most impactful reforms in port logistics in more than a decade. The group said the platform, introduced by the NPA and operated by TTP, cleaned up a logistics corridor once overrun by extortion rings, racketeers and informal checkpoint operators.

Read Also: Play-Offs:  NFF tips Super Eagles to subdue Panthers  after pay dispute

 “Since ETO was introduced, all those challenges have practically evaporated,” Bala said.

 “We access Apapa and Tincan ports within a few days at affordable rates. Traffic gridlock has disappeared. Truck turnaround time has drastically improved. Drivers no longer sleep on bridges and roads.”

AMATO added that businesses in Apapa, once shuttered due to congestion, have reopened, while cargo evacuation has become more predictable and efficient.

 “The ETO system is a game changer — a watershed innovation that has enhanced ease of doing business, improved trade facilitation and ensured efficient cargo evacuation,” he stated.

AMATO warned that the renewed push by anti-automation groups to pressure the NPA into abandoning the eto system threatens over a decade of progress.

 “The only offense of the eto system is that it has rendered jobless and irrelevant the vested interests who profited massively from the gridlock economy,” the association said.

 “These groups, sworn enemies of automation, are desperate to drag the system back to the shameful era of manual call-up so they can return to the roads to extort and dominate truckers.”

The truck owners described the campaigns against TTP as orchestrated blackmail aimed at restoring disorder for personal gain, warning that the ports cannot afford to return to the era of endless queues, decaying access roads, human suffering and multi-billion-naira economic losses.

The association urged the NPA to ignore calls discouraging the contract renewal and instead consolidate gains made under the ETO system.

Among its recommendations, AMATO urged the NPA to consider integrating e-tag technology into the ETO platform for deeper automation and seamless access control; Adopting the Truck Manifest Scheduler System to regulate the flow of trucks from pregates to terminals and prevent spillovers onto port corridors; Improving terminal efficiency, which the group said still contributes to congestion and slow truck movements; and Eliminating extortion checkpoints, which continue to induce artificial traffic despite the success of the ETO system.

 “We appreciate the NPA Management for introducing and sustaining the ETO electronic call-up system. It has restored sanity, transparency and dignity to port logistics operations,” Bala added.

Stakeholders say the stakes are high. The Apapa–Tin Can corridor handles over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s seaborne trade, and experts warn that any reversal to manual processes risks destabilising the supply chain at a time when the country is working to improve competitiveness and reduce logistics costs.

Analysts note that the pre-ETO era contributed to Nigeria’s record-high cargo dwell time, high demurrage charges and several billions lost annually to gridlock-driven delays.

With global supply chain efficiency now a competitive metric, they argue that reverting to manual call-up would put Nigerian ports at a disadvantage compared to regional rivals in Cotonou, Lome and Tema.

AMATO insists that the real battle in port logistics is between automation and entrenched interests, not between truckers and regulators. For the association, the ETO system represents a new order in which technology, not chaos, drives port access.

 “We urge NPA to sustain and strengthen ETO. The maritime industry cannot afford a return to the era of extortion, congestion and disorder,” Bala said.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has reaffirmed that its greatest asset lies not only in infrastructure and technology but in its people, who drive the nation’s maritime growth.

Its Managing Director, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, stated this yesterday, during the maiden edition of the National Mentoring Day celebration held at the Authority’s headquarters in Lagos.

Represented by the Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Vivian Richard-Edet, Dr. Dantsoho said the event marked a significant milestone in the Authority’s commitment to nurturing future leaders, promoting knowledge transfer, and entrenching a culture of continuous learning and professional growth.

“This occasion marks an important milestone in our commitment to nurturing future leaders, promoting knowledge transfer, and institutionalising a culture of continuous learning and professional development,” he said.

He added that while NPA continues to invest in world-class infrastructure and advanced port technology, its most valuable strength remains its workforce.

“As an organisation at the heart of Nigeria’s maritime economy, we recognise that our true strength lies not only in infrastructure and technology but, more importantly, in our people,” he emphasised.

Dantsoho also applauded the contributions of young professionals serving under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the NPA, describing them as the next generation of innovators and change agents who will shape the future of the maritime industry and Nigeria’s economy at large.

Read Also: NPA shops for investors in Japan

 “The young professionals serving here under the NYSC are not just temporary participants; you represent the next wave of innovators, administrators, and change agents who will shape the future of the maritime sector and, by extension, our national economy,” he said.

Established in 2014 and inaugurated in London in 2016, National Mentoring Day is celebrated globally on October 27 each year. The observance encourages individuals and organisations to participate in mentoring, ensuring equal opportunities for people to realise their potential.

The initiative aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10), which seeks to reduce inequalities by promoting inclusion and breaking down barriers through mentorship.

The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, has assured foreign investors that Nigerian sea ports are viable and safe for investment opportunities.

Dantsoho spoke yesterday in Japan, on the sideline of the World Port Conference holding in Kobe.

The NPA boss, apart from meeting world-class  investors on port development to boost the nation’s economy and seeking partnerships to enhance NPA’s infrastructure and equipment renewal across Nigerian ports,  he reiterated the Federal Government’s readiness to cooperate and welcome investments for the development and management of infrastructure in its port system.

The theme of the event is: “Reinvention and Prosperity in Turbulent Times and brings together port executives, policymakers and industry leaders from over 89 countries to tackle pressing maritime sector challenges.”

Read Also: UBEC targets 1m girls for empowerment, education

Dantsoho said the government was working to digitise and automate all port processes to reduce human and physical interface to the barest minimum

It was learnt that key discussions on energy transition, decarbonisation, digitalisation, and resilience align with the NPA’s commitment to port automation and its recent MoU with APMT terminal, Apapa, to electrify container freight to reduce the carbon emissions footprint.

Dantsoho is scheduled to tour Kobe’s port facilities, gaining insights into seismic-resilient infrastructure and smart logistics, which are directly applicable to NPA’s ongoing port modernisation programme across the country.

NPA has been actively seeking to attract private investment by emphasising ongoing reforms, a commitment to developing the nation’s maritime sector, and the vast investment potential of Nigeria’s eastern ports, which include opportunities in infrastructure, equipment, technology, and human capital development.

Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho has said that the centrality of Abuja coupled with its rich agro-allied potential is germane to strengthening NPA’s commitment to supporting the Federal Government’s efforts to continuously grow non-oil revenue by connecting local value producers in the non-oil value chain to identified international clusters of demand for their goods.

According to him, the position of Abuja as the centre of the country is strategic to the NPA’s renewed trade facilitation focus that places a high premium on port-hinterland connectivity, which Abuja’s centrality accentuates, presents a seamless linkage with the comparative advantages inherent in all regions of the federation that can be harnessed to sustain growth in the volume and value of Nigeria’s exports.

  He said NPA, as Nigeria’s foremost trade facilitation platform, is always proud to be associated with the noble cause the Abuja International Trade Fair represents, especially seeing that trade remains the most veritable tool for actualizing most of Nigeria’s economic aspirations.

 He used the opportunity of the “NPA Special Day” to invite the entire trading and investing public to explore the tailor-made simplified export processes and other vistas of opportunity present at the Nigerian Ports Authority.”

  According to him:“as some of us are aware, in our bid to contribute to the strengthening of the domestic economy through the promotion of balance of trade we established the Export Process Terminal (EPTs) to simplify the hitherto burdensome process of exporting Nigerian goods.”

Read Also: Wema Bank completes N150b rights issue

 Dantsoho explained that the EPTs were conceptualised to serve as a one-stop-shop for cargo consolidation, stuffing, documentation, packaging, certification and onward shipment through electronic call-up to the Ports in quick turnaround time thus eliminating the duplications and bureaucratic overlaps that previously rendered Nigerian exports uncompetitive in the international marketplace.

    He said to facilitate the port-hinterland connectivity and create pathways for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to play in the export value chain; the EPTs have been structured to have a seamless handshake with the Domestic Export Warehouses (DEWs) in synergy with the Nigerian Exports Promotion Council (NEPC) as well as the Inland Dry Ports.

    “To align with the economic stabilization resolve of the Federal Government and the theme of the year’s fair ‘Sustainability: Consumption, Incentives and Taxation’ we are unifying our various operational channels into a singular transaction gateway known as the Ports Community System (PCS) which lays the groundwork for the implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) which sustainably eliminates all forms of opacity and attendant delays associated with undue human interference,” he stated.

    Dantsoho added that the NSW is the global best practice for delivering the greatest value with the greatest ease by connecting all stakeholders in the trade value chain for seamless interaction at the push of a button, saying NPA has put measures in place to link value creators in the remotest part of the hinterland with the farthest clusters of demand anywhere on the globe.

    He assured the stakeholder that the doors of NPA are always open for partnerships even beyond the trade fair, urging them to visit the NPA’s fully interactive online real time website www.nigerianports.gov.ng to access our growth offerings.