Congestion: NPA charges stakeholders on seeking immediate solution to menace
Congestion: NPA charges stakeholders on seeking immediate solution to menace
Segun Oladipupo
In a frantic effort to ameliorate the traffic congestion along the Lekki Port road, the management of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Lekki Free Port Terminal (LFT) on Wednesday, organized a stakeholders’ meeting to address the menace
The Port Manager, Lekki Lagos Free Zone, Emmanuel Anda in his opening remarks, urged all critical players I the sector to seek immediate solution to the problem.
Miffed by the unruly attitude of truck owners, the PM stated that the federal government would not condone any act militating against the progress of the port which he described as the pride of the nation.
According to him, The federal government cannot sit and watch any person or group tarnish the image of this country out of sheer selfishness and lack of consideration for the country, this port has a great reputation to protect, please”.
He added that “The Ports access roads are now congested and this is creating nightmares for road users. Trucks are being turned back, but eventually granted access after going to turn and sometimes they take one way road. We need to identity the problems and find solutions immediately
“There is probably no co-ordination between the discharge of cargoes from vessels and the granting of access to trucks into the Port, this is thereby causing to many trucks to be on the road. This is a spectacular Port that is different from what is experienced elsewhere in the country.
“We should not be only good from the inside, but also from the outside, we should not only see a working Port environment, but also the traffic situation must also match the internal efficiency of the Lekki port”. He shot at everyone listening.
“Our drivers must be treated like human beings, they deserve the benefit of doubt, they deserve human dignity, good working environment, social amenities like toilet facilities, good eating environment and medical facilities. It is totally unfair to turn back trucks first, second, third time and then let them on the fourth try. It should not be acceptable”. He continued.
“There are six truck parks around the Port area meant for all trucks using the ports to park. We need to enforce sanity and we are not uniformed people.
“The cost of providing accommodations for the uniformed people is over N400,000 monthly and we have acquired the accommodations and ready to go.
“Some of the trucks you see around have future dates booked for them to assess the ports, but you see them sticking around with their trucks just to look for businesses ,” he complained.
Speaking, the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) and Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) explained that lack of essential amenities like toilets, restaurant, security among others in the truck parks, make them unable to use the facilities.
Lekki Freeport Terminal (LFT) management maintained that out of about 810 trucks received daily, it cannot be said to be inefficient if it turns back about ten because of non valid DFID even as they added that they issue a return slip to the effect.
In its take, the Lekki Worldwide Investments Limited promises to acquire equipment for the enforcement of traffic rules, example is towing vans .
Technology should drive the traffic situation and while queing to use the Port, we should only file out on just one lane.
The terminal operator says that there is no congestion in the Port and that they make use of just about 47 percent of the Port’s capacity.
The terminal operators said, “The cargo and truck information must be available for the truck to be allowed into the Port area. 810 trucks are processed into the Port on daily basis and the percentage of trucks turned back is very negligible.”
Insisting on the right thing to be done, Anda said all discussions must tend towards finding lasting solutions to the gridlock to avoid a repeat of what happened in Apapa.
According to him, the call up system releases many trucks while the LFT cannot accept them all because of cargo discharge from vessels. He advised that there should be proper communication channels between the call-ups provider and the Port Operators, the two major entities concerned.
The Port Manager insists that untill a truck moves into a park, it should not and cannot be booked for Port entry in order for sanity to reign. The essence, he noted is a situation where the terminal tells you first, that this is the number of trucks that they need at a particular time before you issue out call-ups.
It was resolved at the meeting that the stakeholders would visit the various truck park on Wednesday, 7th October, 2026 to ascertain the state of the parks and provide necessary measures.
It was also agreed that truck union leaders should control the drivers to maintain sanity even as they submitted that the management of the terminal should improve on its technology to avoid turning trucks back
It was also resolved that trucks should emanate from approved parks. They were advised to avoid counting the lines.
