‘Full Automation of the Ports is Our Goal’

Since coming into office four months ago as Acting Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello Koko, has been grappling with several challenges bedevilling ports management. In this interview with Bola Mohammed, he speaks on his vision for the ports and efforts to sanitise their operations

How are you tackling the challenges facing the ports authority?
I regard my appointment as a call to duty; my colleagues and I will be guided by the culture of inclusiveness and transparency in the administration of government policies in the port. Our goal is to bring relief to all port users and customers, so that working together with other agencies on the government side and the private sector, the Nigerian port system will truly become the preferred destination of cargo in sub-Saharan Africa. We will be engaging more with industry stakeholders, at all levels, to address the execution of some of our recent interventions, to further enhance our role as gateway to the Nigerian economy. The federal government, through the Nigerian Ports Authority on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, will continually put in the required investments and support the private sector to enthrone world class port services in Nigeria.

In line with the laudable economic reforms already rolled out by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, the Authority remains committed toincreased efficiency of port operations; reduction of operating costs; simplified and secured ports services; 24-hour operations in the ports; sustained automation of service delivery; and environment friendly port practices.

While we’re aware that the prevailing environment in the port could be much better, we equally appreciate that a lot has been done in the last five years to improve service level and efficiency in our ports. We will like to assure the Nigerian port community and our international partners that the Nigerian Ports Authority will continue to discharge its responsibilities and is committed to making Nigerian ports gateway to the African economy.

Obviously, one of the challenges is the gridlock in Apapa. How helpful has ETO been?
Truth be told, a large part of our existing port infrastructure is quite old, including the very busy ones in Lagos where the ‘youngest’ port terminal at Tin-Can Island Port is over 40 years old. The city has caught up with the ports; this has made any major expansion work very difficult. We are now pushing towards the development of new and bigger seaports or deep-sea ports capable of receiving ultra large container or bulk carriers.

Hopefully the first of these deep-sea ports, in Lekki, would become operational in another 18 months. However, aside the problem of ageing ports, the delivery and evacuation of cargoes has predominantly been by road haulage. So while cargo volumes increased exponentially, the port access roads were ignored. Over the years, in the absence of a functional freight rail system, these roads began to fail.

Access to the port is bedeviled by heavy vehicular congestion which is crippling business and social life in places like Apapa. This sorry situation is what the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has been working seriously to ameliorate.
Today, there is a remarkable improvement from what this administration inherited in 2015.

Under the guidance of our supervising ministry, other modes have been harnessed to complement movement of cargo by road. However, the bulk of the trade is still being carried by road, this informed the collaboration we had with Dangote and Flour Mills to rehabilitate the road to the Lagos Ports Complex, while the Tin-Can Island Port corridor is also being handled by Dangote in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Works.

On the ‘Eto’ system, having experimented with a manual truck scheduling arrangement for over a year, the authority introduced an electronic truck call-up system in February, to streamline truck movements and eliminate traffic congestion in and around the port area. The system was rolled-up in Lagos where our two busiest ports are situated. All trucks doing business at the port in Lagos would be required to park at approved truck parks until they are called up into the port through an app called Eto.

The Eto application is for the scheduling, entry and exit of cargo trucks into the port. Truck companies, terminal operators and freight agents are required to download the app, and then proceed to create an account to monitor the schedule and movement of their trucks.

After the early success, we noticed a push back by those who never wished the system to work for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians. But we are determined to take them head-on. My first public action after assuming office was to visit the Lilypond Terminal, to re-assess the quality of infrastructure and operational framework deployed by the system manager, Messrs. Truck Transit Parks Ltd. I have equally met with the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and members of the State Taskforce on ways to improve monitoring and enforcement of traffic rules along the port corridor. We have met with the leadership of the various trucking groups and other stakeholders. We are equally dealing with the complaints of extortion and indiscriminate parking along the port corridor. I am confident that all these efforts will in the shortest time resolve all the teething problems associated with the Eto system.

Would you put a cost to the gridlock?
Nigeria by virtue of its resources and population is no doubt the biggest trading country in Africa. This trade is facilitated primarily by the ports, be it the export of hydrocarbons or import of food, raw materials or industrial items. Every time we read reports or statistics of how much is lost due to the infamous Apapa gridlock or the fact that our ports outside of Lagos are not being well utilized. We know the impact is huge, be it revenue loss by government and corporate entities, high transit cost, low quality exports and other socio-environment costs. What I will like to emphasize is that we are determined to change the narrative. We are taking deliberate steps to address all the identified underlying deficiencies,fixing the port access roads, upgrading port infrastructure, increased automation, fighting corrupt practices and all forms of racketeering at the port. We’re very convinced that very soon these efforts will translate to improved efficiency and lower port costs.

How is your Operation Green initiative progressing?
As the custodian of seaports in Nigeria, part of our responsibility is to keep the port environment safe, secured and be aesthetically pleasing. Over the years, our people have turned the port area into a marketplace, where all manner of wares are bought and sold, the approaches to the port outside have become transit parks, all manner of wrongdoings including extortion and armed robbery. Just last week, street urchins or those you called “agberos” were up in arms over who should control the collection of illegal levies from truck drivers and so forth. We cannot allow the mess to continue, especially in this era of ISPS Code, whereby the ports and its surroundings are designated as security or restricted areas. The NPA in collaboration with the Lagos State government have deployed law enforcement operatives along with NPA security staff to bring an end to this ugly situation.

How helpful has the Lagos State government’s committee on traffic management been in resolving the Apapa gridlock
Nigeria’s two busiest seaports, handling no less than 70 percent of the nation’s annual cargo throughput are located in Lagos State. Therefore, out of necessity and in the interest of our national economy, the NPA has over the years fostered a healthy and mutually rewarding relationship with the government and good people of the state. I have kept with that tradition since I assumed office in May. The NPA and LASG are collaborating in a lot of areas; the outcome is why Lagos is the biggest economy in West Africa. Some of our recent initiatives like the electronic call-up system for trucks are being implemented with the strong support provided by the LASG. Another example is the one I earlier mentioned – “Operation Green”- a joint effort to clear the port corridors of shanties and other unauthorized contraptions. We equally relate well with some of the state’s MDAs whose activities impact on port operations and carriage of goods in and out of the port. Recently, we met with the French Development Agency (AFD) along with officials of LAMATA to explore areas of port infrastructure financing, this is in line with our push to modernize and upgrade our port facilities to be of the highest global standards.

One of your objectives is to fight corruption at the port. How far have you gone with that?
Fighting corruption in Nigeria is no tea party but at NPA I can say without equivocation that we have confronted the challenge frontally. We were the first agency in the transport sector to embrace the open budget system to entrench transparency and accountability in our budgeting process. We have streamlined our organizational structure in a manner that promotes cost efficiency and rewards excellence. The congestion we have along the port corridor contributes to the perception of corruption at the port, this is why NPA is a vanguard in the implementation of the Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM) along with our sister agency, the Nigerian Shippers Council, ICPC and others. The NPPM’s objective is to put an end to illegal or non-receipted payments in the port. It will help to curb corruption, promote transparency, improve service delivery and create a business friendly environment at our ports and terminals.

What has been the effect of reduction of multiple agencies at the ports?
The NPA is the federal agency with the mandate to govern and manage ports and harbours in the country. The federal government had on more than one occasion directed some agencies to leave the port premises, to enhance trade facilitation. We understand that some of these agencies are unhappy and are making efforts to return. As an agency of government, we only implement policies or directives of the government, so whoever is permitted to operate within the port is welcomed by us.

The 2011 presidential directive, which is the subsisting directive for now, listed eight agencies that should have a physical presence at the port; others are to be invited on a case by case basis. What I think is more imperative, aside from the number of agencies allowed to have a presence in the port, is what we’re trying to institute in line with the Ease of Doing Business Policy of the current administration. We’re working to entrench a 24hrs service in the port and all agencies involved in the release of cargo will conduct joint examination and sign-off, so that unnecessary delays are eliminated.

Truck owners accused NPA officials of frustrating their business. How true is this?
The trucking companies and operators are our partners in progress, and we are grateful for their support in our quest to end the perennial traffic gridlock along the port corridor. As the landlord, our role with respect to trucking is to prevent unsafe trucks from accessing the port. With the roll out of Eto, any truck without a ticket would also not be allowed entry into the port.

In the area of enforcement and arrest of recalcitrant truck drivers, that job is being handled by law enforcement officials provided by the Lagos State government. So, at the moment, we don’t have the figures of traffic violators arrested or trucks impounded, I will advise you to approach the LASG for that information. On our part, we have re-introduced the Minimum Safety Standards (MSS) scheme for trucks, anchored on the Eto platform. From July, only trucks confirmed by the NPA to have met the MSS requirements and duly issued with an MSS certificate will continue to be active on the Eto platform. Any truck or vehicle not confirmed or certified will be denied access to initiate bookings on the Eto platform, until it has met all MSS requirements as stipulated by us.

So, what is the situation at truck parks?
We have truck transit terminals, at Lilypond, Ijora and opposite Tin-Can Island Port gate. We have also approved several trailer parks and holding bays where trucks can wait while processing their Eto ticket. We have approved jetty loading and landing points for ro-ro and container barge operations. This process is on-going.

What is your vision for the NPA in the next five years?
A renewed NPA with better automation, more marine equipment. An NPA with newer port facilities which I believe will be achieved. We believe that the new Lekki Deep-sea Port will come on stream by the second quarter of next year. The proponents of Badagry Sea Port are more serious and have seen the urgency to move forward. We have a 25-year port master plan which will soon be completed. The essence of it is to make the Nation take decisions on the best locations for ports. In five years, we are going to have an NPA with better facilities, more marine equipment, providing 24 hours service, a more robust infrastructure and less human interference. In the next five years we will be getting back some of the cargo traffic we have lost to other countries because of inefficiency. The Lekki deep sea will be able to take bigger vessels so this idea of mother vessels staying somewhere in Lome will stop because those big vessels can now come and birth in Nigeria.

Imagine if Badagry comes in, and that is just the first phase of Lekki I’m talking about. By the time they conclude it, we would have bigger vessels coming into the country. We are modernizing the ports; discussions have begun so we are left now with the issue of funding and business models and viable options to take. That means here in Tincan and Apapa, there will be improved ports in the next five years.