A seaport terminal in Lagos.

The Nigerian Ports Authority NPA, has commenced moves for the evacuation of overtime cargo from the various port terminals in order to decongest the port facilities.

This is in tandem with the sustained advocacy of the Mohammed Bello Koko- led management of the NPA for the decongestion of the ports to pave way for efficient operations.

This advocacy received a major boost on June 23, 2023, when the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Dr. Magdelene Ajani led an inter-agency team comprising the NPA, Nigeria Customs NCS and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council NSC on an assessment tour of overtime cargoes littering the seaports in Lagos.

The Lagos and Tin Can Island Port Complexes and the terminals therein 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.

This awkward situation in addition to constraining terminal spaces required for seamless cargo handling operations in the ports, has also contributed to the deterioration of port infrastructure which are designed as transit locations as opposed to holding dead weight tonnages for years which these age- long overtime cargoes constitute.

Following the inspection tour which held on Friday and Saturday, June 23rd and 24th respectively that an all-stakeholder sensitisation involving shipping lines, and associations of Freight Forwarders and clearing agents was convened on Monday, June 26, 2023, where it was unanimously agreed that all cargoes and containers that have overstayed their required time at the ports should be auctioned ‘n-situ’ (In their current locations) and removed immediately from the ports.

To ensure transparency and inclusiveness, the modalities to govern the auction process will be finalised by all stakeholders, after a similar sensitisation meeting with stakeholders in the eastern ports of Warri, Rivers, Onne and Calabar.

Recall that the Managing Director of NPA Mohammed Bello Koko, 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.