By Godwin Oritse
IN order to keep international trade unhindered, the Federal Government has been urged to prioritise access to COVID-19 vaccination for Nigerian seafarers and dockworkers.
Spokesman of the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria, STOAN, Dr. Bolaji Akinola, who made the call in a statement in Lagos said seafarers and port workers have been designated as essential workers by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA.
He said priority vaccination for these categories of maritime workers will ensure sustenance of the logistics chain
He further stated: “Seafarers and dockworkers are under-recognised, under-publicised and unsung economy heroes despite their significant contributions to keeping our nation afloat during the economic dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
EromoseleAbiodun writes that truckers’ rejection of the plan by the federal government to create a new taskforce for Apapa shows lack of trust
Following allegations of corruption and ineptitude by truckers, the federal government announced that a new team would be reconstituted to manage traffic on the port access road.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, disclosed this in Lagos during a meeting she held with stakeholders including officials of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), truck owners and representatives of shipping companies.
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Nigeria loses N20bn daily to the Apapa traffic, according to the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN).
The Lagos State Government has said it would take over the management of traffic in the Apapa Area of the state from the Presidential Task Force Team.
“Our plan is to bring about a cohesive system where all stakeholders would understand their roles and resolve challenges being encountered. Since last year, the Presidential Taskforce has been working on this issue,” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said during a fact-finding visit to Apapa, on Monday.
“Now, there is a process that is starting in which the State Government is taking over the task force.”
As Lome cargo destined for Nigeria is increasingly offloaded at smaller accessible ports in Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Congo-Brazzaville.
The congestion at the port in Lagos has become so bad that it can cost more than $4,000 to truck a container 20km to the Nigerian mainland these days, almost as much as it costs to ship one 12,000 nautical miles from China.
A long-running crisis at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, the main commercial entry points into Africa’s largest economy, has been exacerbated by the pandemic-induced economic slump and recent unrest in Nigeria’s commercial capital. Dozens of ships idle at sea, while hundreds of trucks sit in traffic for days or weeks waiting to enter and exit the port.
The gridlock at Lagos ports has deteriorated to a level that it can cost over $4,000 to truck a container 20 kilometres to the Nigerian mainland these days, nearly as much it costs shipping one 12,000 nautical miles from China, the Financial Times reported on Monday.
A perennial problem at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, both the principal commercial entry points into the Nigerian economy, has been made worse by the coronavirus-induced economic slowdown and the recent turbulence created by the #EndSARS anti-police brutality protests.
Shipping has become more cumbersome in Lagos with vessels idling in droves at sea, just as a great many trucks are stuck in traffic jams for days or weeks on end, waiting to enter and exit the port.