The sustained advocacy of Mohammed Bello Koko- led Management of the
the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the decongestion of the Ports to pave the way for efficient operations received a boost.
This is premised on the recent visit by the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Transportation Dr. Magdelene Ajani who led an inter-agency team comprising the NPA, Nigerian Customs (NCS), and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) on an assessment tour of overtime cargoes littering the Ports.
Following the inspection tour, held Friday and Saturday, an all-stakeholder Sensitization involving Shipping Lines, and the Association of Freight Forwarders and clearing agents was convened on Monday, June 26, 2023, and they unanimously agreed that all cargoes and containers that have overstayed their required time at the Ports should be auctioned “in-situ” (In their current locations) and removed immediately from the Ports.
To ensure transparency and inclusiveness, the modalities to govern the auction process are to be finalized by all stakeholders, after a similar sensitization meeting with stakeholders in the eastern ports of Warri, Rivers, Onne, and Calabar.
The Lagos and Tin Can Island Port Complexes and the Terminals including Ikorodu Lighter Terminal have over the years been occupied with 3,200 Units of overtime cars and about 3,295 units of overtime containers respectively, while the eastern ports have a combined total of 956 overtime containers.
The situation apart from constraining terminal spaces required for seamless cargo handling operations in the ports has contributed to the deterioration of port infrastructure which are designed as transit locations as opposed to holding dead weight tonnages for years which this age-long overtime cargo constitute.
It would be recalled that Mohammed Bello Koko, the Managing Director NPA had at several fora sought the cooperation of the NCS to ensure speedy removal of overtime cargo from the Ports and terminal yards to free up space and preserve the durability of the capital-intensive port infrastructure.