‘Tech Deployment at Nigerian Ports, Borders Still Insufficient’

Sunday Okobi

The Managing Director of Truck Transit Park Limited (TTP), Jamal Onwubuariri, has said that the infrastructure and technology deployment at Nigerian ports and border posts are still not sufficient for the volume of cargoes that comes into the country.

Onwubuariri stated this while speaking at the 2025 Transport Summit organised by the Transport Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN) on the theme: ‘Driving the Transport Logistics Value Chains for Economic Growth,’ held in Lagos weekend.

In his goodwill message, the TTP boss revealed that: “In July, I took a 6000km road trip from Nigeria to Liberia to enable me see what our road transport infrastructure is like, the challenges as well as the opportunities.

“We have infrastructure gaps; our roads, both in Nigeria and across the West African region, are not sufficient for the volume of road traffic. The second challenge is that our ports  in terms of their infrastructure and technology deployment is not sufficient for the volume of cargoes that comes into this region.”

 Onwubuariri also stated that apart from challenges of road and port infrastructure, delays at the borders is another issue.

“I saw Nigerian drivers who are driving from Sokoto, taking cargo to either Tema Port or Abidjan port; it could be tomatoes or yams or onions, and they spend two to three weeks on the roads to deliver these cargoes and return.

“What this means is that they don’t spend quality time with their families, they don’t have rest areas where they can stop and sleep in the night.

“In terms of opportunities, technology companies like us can assist the government at borders posts and at ports to put in place technological solutions that would enhance movement of goods and people,” he said.

  “We need to invest more in infrastructure and our government alone cannot take it;  there are lots of money floating around, both informally and formally ,that private companies can invest in infrastructures, rest stops and even technology to drive trade and investments,” he added.