BEVERLY HILLS, May 16, (THEWILL) – Corruption, collusion and confusion – rolled together – produce the frustration that reigns among users of Nigeria’s foremost seaports in Lagos — Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports. It is no news that the hydra-headed gridlock has gripped the ports, projecting the country to the world as a place where leadership has gone on vacation. What many people may not know is that the anomaly is being treated as a national priority that has come to stay because the wrongdoings perpetrated in the area are tacitly backed by the authorities because their officials are actively involved.
THEWILL recently visited the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports. Those places constitute another ‘arm’ of government with the powers to make their own ‘laws’ and enforce them in the most aggressive and brutal manner possible. It is like an ‘arm’ of government set up to kill the economy through an insidious conspiracy that runs through the system. It operates in an environment of organised wrongdoings distinguished by its lack of sanity.
From morning to night, week to week, illegal ‘business’ ventures flourish in the ports and their immediate environment. Such ‘business’ ventures are facilitated by officials of government agencies whose actions are killing the economy. They wear no masks and their uniforms carry their name tags.
The Killer Team
Among the organised teams of economy killers are officials of the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Nigeria Police, the Army and the Navy. By conventional wisdom these are security agencies whose traditional role is to ensure orderliness, especially in the aspect of traffic flow. But the reverse is the case. They are agents of extortion, intimidation and corruption. Truck drivers and their associations play complementary roles in the periphery.
THEWILL learnt that the gridlock created by trucks and articulated vehicles, sometimes stretching from Apapa to nearby Oshodi (on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway) and spanning a distance of about 12 kilometres, is an offshoot of organised corruption created by government agencies. It was obvious that these ‘killers of the economy’ have hijacked the ports’ operations for extortion and other corrupt activities. They are bold, wild, brutal and red-eyed. They are there to make money in uniform.
Consequently, a process designed to be seamless has turned out to be a nightmare. The same teams that should be clearing the road for importers, motorists and other road users deliberately create road blocks within short distances. That way, they obstruct the free flow of traffic in order to extort those doing their legitimate business. A licensed clearing agent, who preferred to be called ‘Modern Chairman’, told THEWILL that the security agents and officials of the NPA devised a system called ‘Fast Track’ at the ports.
THEWILL findings showed that FT is a system which grants a truck driver/owner a speedy call-up and permission to enter the ports, ahead of those on a queue for several days or weeks.
The truck or goods owner pays a bribe through the clearing agent who knows the route and receivers of the payment, Modern Chairman said. “With this, you are given a special pass that is recognised by the security agents to allow the truck driver to pass through the ports’ multiple gates.” The payment ranges between N250,000 and N350,000 for a 20-foot container; and N400,000 and above for a 40-foot container.
Then there are multiple roadblocks from the ports beyond Mile-2, depending on the route of exit. “This is where you meet the Customs checkpoint after the goods have been cleared by Customs at the wharf. If you are not lucky, your goods may be seized for a minor reason or the truck is towed to Customs office at Ikeja”, THEWILL learnt.
The deplorable state of Apapa Wharf road, which made the movement of vehicles impossible, resulted in the flood of commercial motor-cycles, popularly called ‘okada,’ in the area. Notwithstanding the practically impenetrable gridlock, which has grounded businesses and movements in the area, the economy killers mount several roadblocks to extort operators of the commercial motorcycles who create alternative exit routes. “They charge between N2,000 and N3,000 to grant us access at the checkpoint,” an okada rider, who introduced himself as Adamu, told THEWILL.
According to Adamu, the money is recovered from the passenger because it is usually agreed at the beginning of the journey. “There is no other way of moving to or out of the port. If somebody is in a hurry and knows he has an urgent business to execute, he will willingly pay the money. That is the Nigeria we find ourselves,” he lamented when sharing his experience recently.
The Rot Deepens
Last year, a presidential task force was dispatched to rid Apapa of the gridlock. Like every other thing in the area, the task force became a pain in the neck of the users. THEWILL learnt that they embarked on the worst form of extortion that made what had been happening at the port seem like child’s play. According to those who spoke to THEWILL, the existing team of economy killers increased their ‘fee’ by additional N50,000 or N100,000 “for the task force”. The task force has since been disbanded.
The new dimension to the rot is that the access roads to the ports have become totally impassable. Goods are being freighted on barges through the Apapa Creek and canals down to Mile 2/Festack ‘ports’. This is an additional cost to the importer after battling with extortion by the economy killers. THEWILL learnt that in most cases, the shipping lines prescribe the barge to hire and also stipulate the fee. “When they recommend the barge to you, there is nothing you can do because they will not allow another barge to freight the goods,” Gab Udeh, a licenced clearing agent told THEWILL.
According to Udeh, the risk in freighting goods from the Wharf through the barges is very high. He disclosed that four containers he cleared for a client fell into the creek recently and he had to hire a specialised crane to recover the containers and load them on another barge. He said, “One of the containers has not been recovered till this day and I am battling it with my client. That is how the economy is dying. It is so terrible,” Udeh said.
Urban miscreants called ‘Area Boys’ who have their own ‘bills’, often hang around the Mile 2/Festac barge ‘ports.’ The importer will also pay for security of the ‘Canal port’. Udeh disclosed that it is now cheaper to import and ship goods from India or America than to move your cargo from the port to ‘Canal port’ or to park your truck on Point Road, Apapa, or Amuwo Odofin.
He said, “A client of mine spent about N500,000 to bring a container from China to Apapa Port and he spent over N1 million to ferry the same container from Apapa to Agbara in Ogun State.
“Congestion, bribery and storage costs add to problems for importers in Africa’s largest economy. The congestion at the port in Lagos has become so bad that it can cost more than $4,000 to truck a container 20 km to the Nigerian mainland these days, which is almost as much as it costs to ship one 12,000 nautical miles from China,” Financial Times said in its edition of December 28, 2020.
The questions bewildered Nigerians are asking are: Why is the Federal Government not interested in fixing the dilapidated Apapa Road? Why are there no efforts to develop the Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne and Calabar Ports? Why are the security agencies detailed to do a job that is injurious to the economy? Who ultimately bears the cost of extortions? Why are importers and transporters not protesting the extortions? Why is the Federal Government adamant about the rot in Apapa? Who is really in charge?
An equally worrisome thing is that the ports are cash cows for the government. Apapa is home to Nigeria’s two busiest seaports estimated to account for over 70 percent of export and import activities in the country. Its economy is estimated at N20 billion a day, yet there are no access roads to the ports. There is no evidence that the Federal Government is worried about the massive corruption going on in the ports, which is compounded by the vested interests of those who make bold moves in the direction that kills the economy.
The Nigeria Customs Service, Apapa Area Command, revealed that it realised and remitted to the Federal Government a total revenue of N518.046 billion for the year ended 2020. The amount indicates a 2.33 percent increase, when compared with the preceding figure of N423.6 billion made in 2019. It is not determined how much the Lagos State Government rakes in from the ports as revenue, but it has introduced a number of charges, such as Wharf Landing Fee and infrastructure taxes.
Enter Sanwo-Olu
During his election campaign as governorship candidate of Lagos under the All Progressives Congress in January 2019, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, pledged to clear the gridlock in Apapa in six months, saying he had identified a solution to the current gridlock across the state.
At the time, Sanwo-Olu spoke during a private-sector interactive forum organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce for the governorship candidates of the two leading political parties in the country, which also featured the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Jimi Agbaje.
“One of the things I would do within the first six months in office is to solve the Apapa gridlock I have identified traffic managers who would help us solve the gridlock across the state if elected governor and we would make street lights across the state also work,” he said.
Five months later, and two months after he was sworn-in as governor, Sanwo-Olu made denied that he ever promised to solve the Apapa gridlock crisis in 60 days.
While fielding questions from State House correspondents in Abuja, in June 2019, the governor had said, “The Apapa trailer issue is very serious. I’m going to take it very seriously. I believe that it is something that we are going to solve in the first 60 days of our government. Whatever is going to be required of us, we will take them out.
“A lot of politics is being played around there. But no, it cannot be the way we’ll continue to live. We cannot continue to give excuses.
“Interestingly, some media houses have actually been counting down on me. They said that I mentioned during the campaign train that I was going to clear it in 60 days. I have mentioned it before, what I said was that in 60 days we would review what was done, but that does not take the fact that even if people give you a dateline, it’s because they want you to do well and they want you to be accountable for those datelines.”
In February 2021, Sawo-Olu applauded the Nigerian Ports Authority e-Call-Up system meant to terminate the Apapa gridlock. During a meeting with the former managing director of NPA, Ms, Hadiza Bala-Usman, he expressed optimism that the e-call-Up system would create a new wave of life in the environment.
He said, “This is the beginning of a better journey time for our citizens within the Apapa seaports and environment. This electronic system has a limited interface with security operatives and unions, which usually cause the gridlock problem. It will be a simple case of possessing electronic clearance. If you don’t have it, you don’t have any reason to be around the seaports.
“In enforcing the new regulations, we are deploying more than enough towing vehicles to impound erring trucks. The huge amount to be paid as fine for flouting the call-up system will be a deterrent for drivers not to repeat it. The stakeholders need to understand that we are serious about ridding Apapa of the menace that has brought pains to our citizens living and doing business along the corridor.”
Sanwo-Olu also said the state government would deploy 500 officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority to work collaboratively with the NPA and enforce the new call-up regulation, directing the state’s agency not to spare any effort in achieving free flow of traffic in Apapa.
Scores of Lagos residents and motorists got stranded for several hours at Oshodi-Apapa and Ijora-Apapa expressways following unconfirmed reports of the collapse of the electronic Call-up system machine.
Business as usual
The system reportedly collapsed a few days after installation, leading to congestion and chaos on Lagos roads. The situation, which resulted in a gridlock reportedly worsened as traffic law enforcement agents abandoned control to miscreants and officials of port unions. No official of the newly created Lagos State Special Traffic Management Enforcement Team could be seen at the gridlock points.
The traffic snarl, which started building up mid-morning, had worsened by noon, stretching from Ijesha to Berger Yard, along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, while the Ijora-Apapa to Area B inward Nigerian Ports Authority was also shut down due to the high influx of articulated vehicles.
Gov Sanwo-Olu blamed the sitation on those he called saboteurs who were intent on working against the system because of their personal interests.
While speaking with journalists during the commissioning of the newly reconfigured Lekki First, Second and Third Abraham Adesanya Roundabouts in March 2021, the governor warned that his government would deal with persons sabotaging its effort. He vowed to fight, name and shame saboteurs trying to frustrate the government’s effort to tackle the Apapa gridlock.
“I am facing the camera now and saying that we will not stop at anything to ensure that we will do everything possible to fight those people who are tryng to retract and take us back to where we are coming from on the gridlock in Apapa.
“We will name and shame them. We will mention their names, be it a corporate organisation, company, trade union, police officer or Lagos State Government official, be it a that will say that the solution that we have brought about will not work, they will go and answer to the citizens of Nigeria and Lagos.
“We will bring them to the public court for them to see that we are serious. We cannot condole the recklessness and carelessness that our citizens have gone through,” he said, adding that his administration gave a commitment that it would do everything possible to tackle the gridlock in Apapa.
The chairman, Apapa GRA Residents Association, Ayo Vaughan, was quoted as saying that the gridlock had rendered properties worthless. “You do not expect somebody to come and live in a house of N5 million per annum and right in front of his house, somebody is frying ‘akara’ or doing any other form of business. So, we have houses that are not rentable, not leasable nor even sellable”. According to him, up to 40 percent of all the houses in the GRA were empty as at late 2020.
A licensed Clearing agent and former spokesman, Association of Licensed Clearing Agents, Hon. Joe Nnamocha, told THEWILL, “Everybody is on his own. We are battling with the situation because the economy must be seen to be working somehow.”
Also a top official of the Lagos State Government, who is familiar with the challenge told THEWILL on the condition of anonymity that Governor Sanwo-Olu under-estimated the degree of vested interest in the corruption and extortion at the Lagos ports. According to him, there are organised killers of the economy and the authorities know them.
“The authorities know them; they did not drop from the sky. Some people indoors are benefiting from the rot and they will stop at nothing at pulling away anyone what would stand their way. Lagosians see gridlock, but inside are those feeding fat from the system,” he said.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
