Maritime
Truckers Want Seamless Cargo Evacuation At Lekki Port
Barely weeks to the commissioning of the Lekki Deep Seaport, members of Amalgamation of Maritime Truck Owners Association of Nigeria (AMTOAN) have urged management of Lekki Deep Seaport to ensure a coordinated approach to truck movement at the port.
Coordinator of the association , Mr Remi Ogungbemi, who stated this during a visit to the Port, weekend, noted that such approach would prevent gridlock.
He said a coordinated approach to trucking will ensure seamless cargo evacuation when commercial operation begins next month.
Ogungbemi, however, noted that cargo evacuation from the Lekki port would still be a challenge due to the bad roads leading to the port city.
He urged the Lagos State Government to ensure that the roads were expanded to avert the traffic challenges similar to the one being experienced at Apapa and Tin Can ports.
“The purpose of our visit is to get ourselves familiar with the facilities, especially where it has to do with movement of trucks in and out of the port.
“We also want to know the provisions made for trucks that are coming to the port”, he said.
Ogungbemi described the Lekki seaport project as a game changer for the Nigerian economy.
“What we saw here is the first of its kind. We don’t have such infrastructures in any of our ports. We have not seen such before in Nigeria. It is, indeed, a game changer,” he said.
Also speaking, a trucker, Mr Ridwan Bello, said there was need to have adequate truck parks around the port’s corridor that would match the volume handled at the port.
Bello said due to heavy traffic flow in the Lekki-Epe axis occasioned by poor access roads, truckers might consider night movement of trucks before the completion of the road.
He urged the State Government to create a dedicated lane for trucks upon completion of the road to reduce gridlock in the axis.
“Our basic concern is the access road and truck park facility. If you look at the Ajah to Lekki road, it is in a bad shape. So you can imagine the chaos when trucks start coming to the port.
“This is why we are proposing night movement for our trucks. From Eleko to Epe”,
“There is a dedicated lane for trucks, so we are also suggesting that there should be a dedicated lane for trucks from Lekki to Ajah”, he said.
Earlier, Chief Operating Officer, Lekki Port, Mr Laurence Smith, and Head of Regulatory and Procurement, Mr Daniel Odibe, who received the team, assured the visitors that the challenges of gridlock experienced at the Apapa ports would not be the case at the Lekki Port.
They assured that the operations at the port would be streamlined and fully automated.
Odibe said to ensure smooth evacuation of cargo, the management of the Lekki Port had put in place a truck parking area with a capacity for 250 trucks.
“The trucks will be required to park at the truck parking area until they are called up into the port through a booking system.
“With the road network going east of Lagos, we have newly constructed six lane roads leading to Epe all the way to Shagamu.
By: Chinedu Wosu
Maritime
Illegal Migration: NIS, NIWA Move To Strengthen Partnership
Following the spate of illegal migration into the country by migrants, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) have concluded plans to strengthen their partnership to curb illegal migration through the Lagos State waterways.
The plan to deepen partnership was discussed when the new Comptroller of Immigration Service in charge of Lagos Seaports and Marine Command, CIS Joseph Dada, visited the NIWA, Lagos Area Manager, Mrs Sarat Braimah in Lagos.
Speaking at the visit, Dada said the service would fare better in achieving its mandate with a strategic partnership with the waterways regulator.
“We have some challenges on the waterways, even though we do patrols. Collaborating with NIWA will guarantee stronger waterway operations.
“We are not saying people shouldn’t migrate or ‘japa’ from Nigeria. Migration is part of life and people have a right to seek greener pastures.
“However, they must do it the right way. They have to get their passports, visas and travel through the appropriate channels”, he said.
Dada lamented that several Nigerian ladies are victims of human trafficking for prostitution usually disguised as job offers for care workers abroad.
Also Speaking, Managing Director, NIWA, Mrs Sarat Braimah, welcomed the idea of strategic collaboration with the NIS, stressing that both agencies are working for the common good of Nigeria and its citizens.
“We expect this collaboration to prohibit illegal migration. Migration is part of life and as you observed earlier, it fosters tourism, culture and development.
“Nonetheless, we will assist the NIS in achieving their objective, which is that people shouldn’t migrate illegally.
“A lot of passengers board ferries from Marina jetty to Badagry and Port Novo. We don’t know their final destination or verify their identity; but we’re open to NIS partnership to carry out migration checks”, she said.
She noted that NIWA could train immigration officials on how to go onboard vessels safely, and also provide boats, lifejackets, among other equipment, when the Immigration make such requests.
Maritime
NPA To Generate N629bn Revenue In 2024 -MD
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says the authority will generate N629.89 billion in 2024.
NPA is also seeking for N200 billion loan from Afrexim Bank for ports development.
Managing Director, NPA, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, stated this while defending the 2024 budget before the House of Representatives Committee on Ports and Harbours in Abuja.
He said the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF) was also listed as one of the financial institutions from which to source the loan.
Koko said the total projected expenditure was N464.32 billion, while the operating expenses were projected at N212.03 billion and the capital expenditure stood at N252.29 billion.
“Part of the main trust of the 2024 budget is the urgent need to rehabilitate, reconstruct and moderate the dilapidated port infrastructure facilities”, he stated.
The Managing Director said defects in the facilities were hampering efficiency and productivity in the ports, saying that the defects include the quay walls and the replacement of old gravity walls.
According to him, another is need for rehabilitation of Escravos breakwaters.
“This is aimed at improving port efficiency and increasing cargo traffic through investment funding from the financiers, UKEF and Afrexim”, he said.
Earlier, Chairman of the committee, Nnolin Nnaji, said the agency is very dear to the country, hence the need for the committee to visit some of the facilities outside Lagos.
“We need to see those things you are telling us. The House of Representatives is very serious about budget defence, while they do screening on the other side, budget defence is here”, he said.
He commended the Managing Director for the budget presentation, saying that he believed in the subsequent budget
“We accept this budget, and we will move further with it”, he assured.
The lawmaker also said the drainage channels were full of wreckages and expressed concern over lack of information on wreckage removal.
Nnaji noted that as long as the NPA avoided the wreckage, it will keep occurring because of the abandoned ships facilities.
Maritime
COWA Distributes Food Items To Members In Abuja
In a bid to cushion the hardship and hunger faced by ordinary Nigerians, the Customs Officer’s’ Wives Association (COWA) has distributed food items to its members in Karu Customs Barracks, Abuja.
National President, COWA, Mrs. Kikelomo Adeniyi, who flagged off the exercise, said the distribution of the food items was part of COWA’s plans to ease life for its members.
“This is not the first time COWA is conducting this initiative of distributing food items to the members and non-members of the association, and we decided to distribute these items considering the season of Ramadan.
“Everything we are doing now is for you. Please register so we can make provision for all of you. This will help us keep proper data of everyone and we will continue doing this subsequently to alleviate the situation”, Adeniyi said.
She further said food items were also being distributed to COWA members across all Customs formations in the country.
Some of the food items distributed include rice, spaghetti, noodles and cooking oil.
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