Key points
- SIFAX Group Chairman Dr. Taiwo Afolabi has called on the Federal Government to rehabilitate and expand Nigeria’s eastern ports.
- The industrial appeal aims to decentralize maritime traffic, stimulate regional economic activity, and relieve heavy congestion at Lagos ports.
- The proposal was delivered in Lagos during a strategic hosting of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima.
- Maritime experts warn that prolonged infrastructure neglect at eastern ports has significantly reduced Nigeria’s overall trade competitiveness.
- The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has pledged to formally review the expansion request to improve nationwide port efficiency.
Main Story
The Chairman of SIFAX Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, has urged the Federal Government to prioritize the immediate rehabilitation, expansion, and modernization of Nigeria’s eastern seaports.
Making the call during a strategic courtesy visit by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima, at the SIFAX corporate headquarters in Lagos, Afolabi explained that the country’s maritime sector requires an urgent decentralization of cargo traffic. He noted that while annual shipping and port activities continue to scale up consistently, the two primary ports in Lagos have been left to bear nearly all the structural and logistical pressure, triggering severe traffic bottleneck challenges.
According to a corporate statement released by the Head of Public Relations at SIFAX, Mr. Muyiwa Akande, years of infrastructural neglect have severely undermined the operational capacity of the eastern maritime gateways.
This imbalance has not only stymied economic growth within adjoining regional trade corridors but has also negatively impacted Nigeria’s overall port efficiency and international trade competitiveness. The logistics executive maintained that a comprehensive modernization drive extended to the eastern ports would unlock latent economic opportunities and create a more balanced, efficient maritime supply chain across the federation.
In his response, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council boss, Dr. Ukeyima, commended the SIFAX Group leadership for its consistent private-sector contributions to the nation’s logistics and ports industry. He welcomed the recommendation for eastern port upgrades, acknowledging the strategic necessity of improving terminal operations outside the Lagos commercial hub. Moving forward, the regulatory chief pledged that the council would carefully review the infrastructural requests to facilitate policy frameworks that support a more resilient, highly competitive national maritime network.
The Issues
- Overcoming deep-seated cargo distribution imbalances that force the vast majority of shipping lines to utilize Lagos terminals exclusively.
- Upgrading aged maritime infrastructure and clearing navigational channels at eastern ports to safely accommodate modern, high-capacity vessels.
- Aligning federal regulatory policies with private-sector logistics operators to systematically reduce the cost of doing business across coastal trade zones.
What’s Being Said
- Highlighting the urgent need to balance nationwide maritime traffic and relieve the intense logistics strain on the coastal capital, the Chairman of SIFAX Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, stated: “My appeal is simple: extend port modernisation to eastern ports. Port activities keep rising yearly, but Lagos ports bear almost all the pressure.”
What’s Next
- The Nigerian Shippers’ Council will initiate data-driven assessments to evaluate the immediate infrastructure and dredging needs of specific eastern ports.
- SIFAX Group and other private terminal operators may adjust their regional investment portfolios to support potential state-backed port modernization plans.
- Maritime advocacy groups will continue to engage federal transport ministries to ensure adequate capital allocations for regional port upgrades are captured in upcoming fiscal cycles.
Bottom Line
SIFAX Group Chairman Dr. Taiwo Afolabi has appealed to the Federal Government to expand and modernize Nigeria’s eastern ports to ease the severe cargo pressure on Lagos terminals, drawing a commitment from Nigerian Shippers’ Council boss Dr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima to review the infrastructure upgrade request.
