Market News

By Anozie Egole

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, on Monday, paid an unscheduled visit to the Lagos ports access road, determined to swiftly respond to stakeholders’ feedback on the traffic situation along Apapa and Tincan Island Port complexes.

This was contained in a statement on Tuesday by the NPA.

Speaking during the visit, Dantsoho stated that such unscheduled visits, which will be frequent, were motivated by the continuous improvement paradigm.

“Although I have tasked the port managers to urgently resolve the areas of concern raised by the trucking and freight forwarding community, I will continuously follow up directly to ensure compliance and measurable results,” Dantsoho said.

The NPA boss added that traffic management efficiency is a deliverable that the agency will take very seriously.

“Which is why, beyond optimising the electronic call-up, we are working assiduously towards multimodal means of evacuation through barges and the rail lines,” he said.

According to him, the NPA will work with Nigeria Customs Service to relocate the scanner sited on the rail line link in Apapa to facilitate seamless evacuation.

Dantsoho explained that the port access road is an international corridor, stressing that the agency has a zero tolerance for traffic clogs that cause congestion.

He emphasised that NPA is poised to increasingly hold themselves and everyone to account.

“The automated access gates must work; we must shorten the standard operating procedures to align with the necessity for quick transaction turnaround to remain competitive first with our peers in the region and internationally,” he said.

The NPA Chief Executive was received by the Chairman of Flour Mills Group, Mr. John Coumantaros, with discussions focused on process improvement and increased investment in infrastructure and equipment necessary for Nigerian ports to have a greater share of the market.

Coumantaros commended the investor-friendliness of President Bola Tinubu.

Responding, Dantsoho said, “Let me seize this opportunity to commend the Honourable Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for securing FEC approval for the commencement of actual works for the reconstruction of Tincan Island and rehabilitation of challenged aspects of Apapa Port Complexes.”

Dantsoho further opined that these positive developments, which coincide with the Federal Government’s approval of the National Single Window project, signpost Nigeria’s readiness to berth large cargo carriers commensurate with the size of Nigeria’s population.