The National Association of Freight Forwarders and Air Consolidators (NAFFAC) has called for liberalisation of ports as a way forward for elimination of myriads of problems bedeviling the Nigerian port system.
Prince Bakare Adeyinka, National President of NAFFAC said the government should convert some of the terminals for export, while others should handle specific imports.
He added that they should also charge different levies on cargoes to facilitate competitiveness among the operators.
Prince Bakare noted that the designation of some ports to handle specific cargoes have yielded positive results in China, adding that government’s conversion of some of facilities to handle certain goods would address most challenges at the ports.
“If we want to decongest Apapa port for instance, then we must clamour for specialised port administration to tackle the bottleneck we are facing in Apapa.”
He also explained that port business can thrive when the ports are competitive; pointing out that specialisation of cargoes would make Tin Can Island port competes favourably with Apapa port.
According to him, the attention can be diverted to terminal where a particular cargo is handled.
Citing instances on how specialised terminals have aided trade facilitation, Bakare noted that: “China ports benefitted from specialised administration because what Shanghai port handles is quite different from what Guangzhou port is handling.
“All these ports have different cargoes that they accept separately, they have some ports in China that handles only finished products and with that in place, both ports in Lagos can compete.”
The NAFFAC Chieftain opined that activities at the ports will not be diverted to a particular terminal as focus on a particular kind of consignment will be decentralised.
He said APMT, Ports and Cargo Handling Services and Tin Can Island Container Terminal (TICT) are specialist in containerised consignments and should concentrate on only such cargoes.
Bakare also stressed the need for government to designate one of the terminals in Lagos for exportation of Nigerian produce, saying that this will expedite shipment of cargoes out of the shores of the country and cushion balance of trade.
He noted that conversion of specialised ports administration would address challenges faced in Nigeria ports.
