By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 3 (Radarr Africa) – Persistent congestion around the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos threatens the gains from rising cargo volumes and customs revenue, according to port stakeholders quoted by BusinessDay on Tuesday.
Cargo throughput across Nigerian ports rose 24.8 per cent to 129.3 million metric tonnes in 2025, the newspaper reported. Apapa and Tin Can together generated about N4.6 trillion in customs revenue in the year, made up of N2.9 trillion from Apapa and N1.7 trillion from Tin Can, according to Las Alli-Shobande, chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Freight Forwarders and Trade Group.
The two ports handle more than 70 per cent of Nigeria’s seaborne trade, said LCCI president Leye Kupoluyi, as reported by BusinessDay.
The Nigerian Ports Authority’s managing director, Abubakar Dantsoho, said the Apapa access road was designed for about 2,400 trucks a day but now carries more than 7,000. Ikenna Nwosu, deputy chairman of the LCCI group, said export cargo sometimes misses scheduled vessels and that loaded cargo can take almost 24 hours to leave the ports. He also warned that the volume of vehicles inside port premises could complicate emergency evacuation under the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code.
Dantsoho pointed to progress on global rankings. In the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index 2025, released in June 2026, Tin Can Island ranked 10th and Apapa 12th among the world’s most improved ports, he said.
The Nigerian Ports Authority has introduced the Eto electronic truck call-up system, according to the report. It also launched the National Single Window and a beta version of the Port Community System in 2026.
The truck owners say the call-up system has its own problems. The Association of Maritime Truck Owners, whose president is Remi Ogungbemi, was represented by its national secretary-general, Mohammed Sani. BusinessDay reported that the association cited alleged irregularities in the call-up system, including queue jumping and ticket racketeering. It proposed a manifest-based process using electronic tags and warned that releasing trucks without considering terminal capacity would only shift congestion to access roads and bridges.
The LCCI called for a coordinated port corridor management system with measurable indicators such as cargo dwell time, vessel waiting time and truck turnaround time. “What is not measured cannot be managed,” Kupoluyi said. He listed five priorities: coordination and accountability, truck traffic management, terminal productivity, digitalisation and access infrastructure. The chamber also backed greater use of rail and barge transport.
NPERA, represented by Yusuf Bayangwa on behalf of Akutah Pius Ukeyima, listed the main constraints as traffic congestion, inefficient truck scheduling, cargo examination delays and poorly integrated information systems. BusinessDay reported that the group said no single agency could resolve congestion alone.
Dantsoho said port reform remains a work in progress. He argued that reliable digital systems should come before the expansion of artificial intelligence applications, and he called for cybersecurity to be built into infrastructure projects from the design stage, the report said.
The differences between the groups are visible in what each wants fixed first. Truck owners want a manifest-based call-up with electronic tags, the LCCI wants performance indicators and alternative modes such as rail and barges, and the port employers want better coordination across agencies and integrated information systems. The NPA, for its part, points to the Eto system, the National Single Window and the Port Community System as the tools it has put in place so far.
The BusinessDay report was written by Abubakar Ibrahim and carried in its Maritime section.
