By Stehen Ubanna
In spite of the fact that Comptroller Babatunde Olomu, Are Comptroller of the Apapa Command, who had positioned it to be recognized by Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, as the Best Command in Trade Facilitation, Ports, and Revenue Generation, in2024, may have embolden him to take another bold initiative to enhance logistics at the port through multimodal transport systems.
Given that the Command handles over 60% of the cargo imports into the country which he believes the trucks hired by the importers with their agents are not doing enough to reduce the traffic and congestion at the port to free more space to accommodate more imported cargoes coming into the country from the Asian countries of China India, Japan, South Korea the US, Brazil, and other parts of the world may have informed why the Customs Comptroller on the orders of the CGC, had moved speedily to fine-tune the logistics of evacuation cargoes from the Lagos port to further boost the Command’s monthly revenue collections by entering into a working agreement with Nigerian Railway, Corporation, NRC, under the close watch of Kayode Opeifa.
An elated Compt. Olomu, who many believes is acting out a script of the CGC, believes that once the Command could achieve a seamless trade process with improved logistics at the Apapa port, it would go a long way ‘to benefit the importers with their agents and other freight forwarders in their transactions at the port.
On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, Compt. Olomu had broken the news of engaging the services of the NRC, in the evacuation of cargoes from the Apapa port to their various designated destinations linked by the rail line both within and outside Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve center.
He may have gladdened the heart of the agents and other freight forwarders when he declared that the move was ‘’to improve logistics at the port through multimodal transport systems’’.
Hear Him: We have one objective in mind, to improve trade that will benefit stakeholders as we have a seamless trade process. He may have alluded to improving trade with the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
The Customs Comptroller, who could not hide his feelings had described the participation of scores of agents and freight forwarders at the Apapa meeting as a ‘’confidence booster that reinforces the shared goal of efficient cargo movement from the premier port’’.
Given the importance attached to the Apapa Customs Command meeting, may have informed why Opeifa, the NRC, CEO, had sent Akin Oshnawo, the agency Head of Operations to represent him.
The NRC, top official may have taken advantage of the ample opportunity provided by the meeting initiated by the Apapa Command to reiterate the agency’s outstanding cooperation with the service. He had said that the agency has always found a willing partner in the person of Compt.Olomu, and his officers and men which forms part of ‘’the Standard Operating Procedure, SOP.’’
The NRC, Head of Operations had said that the discussions between the agency, officials of the Apapa Command, and industry stakeholders at the Apapa port meeting aligns with the objectives and supports the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for transportation in Nigeria.
Compt. Olomu, who appears to have won the heart of the participants at the Apapa port, meeting where he had broken the news of engaging the services of the NRC, in the evacuation of Containers from the premier port to designated locations had declared that ‘’it will reduce the cost of imports and improve the overall efficiency of cargo distribution as well’’.
Osita Chukwu, National Coordinator, Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition, had disclosed that ‘’with what President Tinubu’s Administration has done since he came into office in May 29, 2023, it should not be limited to just to the south west geopolitical region but extended to other regions across the country to enhance trade facilitation.
The Customs Comptroller may have been encouraged to enter into a new working agreement with the NRC, because of the earlier deal on cargo haulage on the North American country of the United States, US, $1.5 billion, Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge rail, in Sept. 2023 from the Apapa port to the Inland Container port in Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo state, south west Nigeria. The involvement of NRC, in the Apapa Command cargo haulage was to reduce the burden of Containers on the roads as well as congestion at the Lagos port and access routes.
It would be recalled that until the Apapa Area Controller, who many believes is a pace setter, took the bold initiative to enhance the movement of cargo through the nation’s premier port, the NRC, had entered into a working relationship with APM Terminal, APMT, to evacuate cargoes by rail from the Apapa port to NRC, freight yard at Moniya, Oyo state.
There is no gain saying the fact that the Apapa port is the foremost transporter of Container freight in the West and Central African sub-regions and requires a major partner like the NRC, to enhance its cargo movement. Nigeria is surrounded by the Sahel region countries of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, which are landlocked countries, which traders may want to use Nigerian ports for their transit cargoes if the strained political relationship between the Nigerian Government and the Junta Leaders in the Sahel countries could be resolved.
The landlocked Sahel countries, traders at present are using the Tema port in Ghana and Morocco ports, to take delivery of their transit cargoes as the Sahel countries comprising of Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, have cut ties with Republic of Benin, which had provided such services to the countries in the past.
The Sahel countries could still use the Lagos ports to delivery of transit cargoes without much ados. The extension of the NRC, US, $1.8 billion, Kano-Maradi railway project, 400Km, standard gauge rail line to Republic of Niger, which Opeifa, the Managing Director of the NRC, had described as important because of its mobility could not be removed from the food supply chain as it was at the center of food security.
The Leadership of the African Union, AU, would want other African countries to take a cue from Nigeria, which is aggressively pursuing the Kano-Maradi rail line project and link up with the landlocked Sahel countries because there is potential in these countries.
Let us hope that the Sahel countries, which no longer take delivery of their transit cargoes from the Republic of Benin, because President Patrick Talon’s refusal to denounce colonial agreement with France by closing its military baseswould take advantage of the Apapa Command moves to enhance trade facilitation and optimize cargoes movement through the rail would patronize the Nigerian ports to take delivery of their transit cargoes.
