The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has expressed the agency’s willingness to open up the eastern ports with N1 billion investments.
Usman revealed that the move would also decongest the western ports and also eliminate the chaotic traffic into Apapa.
The eastern ports include the seaports based in Warri, Onne, Calabar and Port Harcourt which, in the perception of operators, have been grossly underutilized and partly responsible for the seeming over-concentration of businesses in the Lagos Ports Complex (LPC) and Tin Can Island ports, both in Lagos.
Statistics shows that more than 70 percent of the cargo that comes into the two ports in Lagos, Apapa and TinCan are used within the Lagos and southwest axis. There are arguments that improving the capacity of the other ports would stimulate the economies of the areas and affect the cost of products and services positively.
This position, especially as it concerns the improvement of the living condition of residents in the port communities as well as creating job opportunities for youths in the areas, was what the Hadiza Bala Usman team met when it took over the affairs of the Nigerian Ports Authority in July 2016.
