The collapsing Lagos ports

RECENTLY,  there were reports that Nigeria might soon begin to grapple with cargo diversions to neighbouring West African ports as well as increase in freight rates, as the  Tin Can and Apapa quay aprons had collapsed. Reflecting the poor state of Nigerian ports in its Container Port Performance Index 2021, the World Bank ranked Lagos ports 358th out of the 370 ports assessed globally. The assessment on ports with a minimum of 20 valid port calls listed the two top-ranked container ports in the world as the King Abdullah Port (Saudi Arabia) and the Port of Salalah (Oman). It identified the consequences of poorly performing ports, namely scarcity, inflation, slower growth, unemployment and high international trading costs.

If the section of a port where vessels are loaded and unloaded has become decrepit, it is only natural for shipping companies to be scared of berthing at such a port. All over the world, quay aprons in deplorable conditions portend danger for incoming vessels. It is indeed unfortunate that in spite of the enormous revenues accruing to the country from them, the Apapa and Tin Can ports have been left to rot. In order for ports to have reached such a mind-boggling state of dilapidation, regulatory agencies must have failed woefully in their duties. If quay walls are  in a state of near collapse, then the question arises about the maintenance budget drawn up over the years. Surely, if countries on the coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, taking advantage of Nigeria’s lax approach to port maintenance, start developing their ports and attracting big ships that are ordinarily supposed to bring goods to Nigeria, Nigeria would have fully deserved such a fate.

The fact that ports which are most strategic for the Nigerian economy could be given a short shrift, as it were, confirms the fact that those in charge of the country’s affairs do not care for its wellbeing. Elsewhere in the world, the maintenance of economic infrastructure of such huge magnitude is never treated with levity and it is benumbing that the authorities have to be reminded of what they should have done naturally. In May, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko, revealed that five terminal operators were being monitored to ensure that they fulfilled their obligations as agreed under the port concession agreement. According to him, the affected terminal operators had been given conditions to meet before the renewal of their concession agreements could be guaranteed.

Addressing  maritime journalists in Lagos, Bello-Koko said that the introduction of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) Act meant that renewal of concession agreement for terminal operators was no longer done the way it used to be. He said: “Tin-Can Island Port is practically collapsing. We need to focus our budget towards the rehabilitation of those quay walls at the Tin-Can port. We have undertaken a holistic review of decaying infrastructures at our ports and have decided that it is very important that we rehabilitate Tin-Can and Apapa ports. For us to renew these concession agreements that have expired, about five of them, we need to have categorical commitment from the affected terminal operators on the development of these port terminals. If the terminal operators cannot give us such commitment, then we either give the terminals to someone else or go and borrow money to rehabilitate those ports.”

Going by his submission, the NPA boss certainly knows what to do to get the ports on track and, more importantly, make them globally competitive. There is, we believe, no reason to allow them to rot in the face of failure by concessionaires to fulfill their contractual obligations. They should be booted out and replaced with people who are ready to do business and protect Nigeria’s image. The ports need to be refurbished and upgraded to international standard. Diversion of cargoes will be bad for Nigeria.

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