Worried by the reoccurring gridlock in the Apapa area, caused by the activities of container-carrying trucks and tankers, the Federal Government has given a timeline for the commencement of cargo evacuation by rail from the nation’s seaport in Apapa. This comes as the government is perfecting arrangements to conclude the ongoing Lagos Ibadan rail project by December 2019 or January 2020.
To ensure the completion of the project, the Federal Government has also approved $5.3 billion for the funding of the Ibadan-kano rail project, all geared towards decongesting Apapa.
Once movement of cargo by rail begins, the problem of Apapa gridlock would be resolved, as a reasonable percentage of the cargoes coming to the port would now be evacuated by rail rather than depending 100 percent on road.
Speaking during the third maritime stakeholders’ interactive forum held in Lagos on Thursday, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, minister of transportation, said that the ministry through the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) had imported about 200 wagons to move cargo by rail from Apapa port to Ibadan in the first instance.
“We will ensure that cargo is moved from Apapa to Ibadan by March 2020, even if we cannot take the cargo to Kano for now. We will complete the rail track to Kano to resolve the problem of Apapa gridlock,” he said.
Amaechi further assured the port industry stakeholders that the $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Seaport would also be connected by rail to ease cargo movement from the port to the hinterland and to avoid the repetition of the Apapa problem in Lekki axis.
To boost efficiency in port business, Amaechi said that the government was also perfecting plans to ensure that port processes were automated through the installation of Single Window Platform by the end of 2020.
According to him, the Federal Government gave the approval for the installation of Single Window Platform in 2016, but noted that Nigeria was the only country in the West African sub-region that was yet to use Single Window in its port operations.
Hassan Bello, executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), who said that shippers were beginning to consign their cargoes to Kaduna Inland Dry Port, stated that the port was facing serious challenges due to the poor state of rail tracks, which he said was limiting cargo movement from Apapa to Kaduna Port.
He said that about 250 containers were being consigned to Kaduna on a weekly basis, adding that the volume could be increased through the growing number of export consignments that leave Kaduna Port to Lagos.
Bello advised the transport ministry to concentrate on opening up of the nation’s economy through the completion of the outstanding rail projects. In addition to having Apapa and Lekki Ports being connected by rail, he advised the government to endeavour to link Jos and Funta Inland Ports by rail to decongest Lagos.
“The beauty of Dry Port is bringing shipping business close to the people and opening up of the economy. In Kaduna today, the Inland Port had brought several job opportunities for the people of Kaduna,” he said.
Also speaking, Hadiza Bala Usman, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said that cargoes like vehicles and rice are being diverted to ports in neigbouring countries in West Africa due to high tariff placed on them by the Federal Government.
