Jama Onwubuariri is the Managing Director of Truck Transit Park (TTP) Limited, the operator of the Ètò Electronic Call-Up System and Vehicle Scheduling as well as the Traffic Management System (VSTMS). In an interview with ADAKU ONYENUCHEYA, Onwubuariri explains how technology adoption improved Lagos ports’ ranking and outlines measures to eliminate the bottlenecks that continue to slow turnaround times in the logistics space.

The World Bank’s 2025 Container Port Performance Index ranked Tin Can Island Port 10th and Lagos Port (Apapa) 12th among the world’s most improved container ports in the past five years. Yet, Apapa conjures images of endless traffic and gridlock. Can an international ranking reshape this perception?
It changes it, but not overnight. Narratives are stubborn things; they outlive the conditions that created them. Apapa earned its reputation honestly. The gridlock was real, the suffering was real, and for a long time, every promise of reform produced very little that people could actually feel. So, I understand the scepticism.

But this recognition is different. The World Bank doesn’t rank ports to make governments feel good. The CPPI is built on actual vessel call data: real ships, real turnaround times, five years of observation across global shipping networks. When an institution of that credibility puts Tin Can at number 10 and Apapa at number 12 for port improvement globally, that is not a press release. It is a dataset, and datasets are harder to argue with than anecdotes.

Nigeria’s story is changing in the places that matter most, in the boardrooms where decisions about cargo routing are made. That, over time, is what changes the narrative on the ground. But I would add that the World Bank ranking is not the destination. It is evidence that disciplined reform, supported by technology, produces measurable results. Our responsibility is to sustain those gains until public perception catches up with reality.

Nigeria outperformed France, India, China, the United States and Brazil on the improvement rankings, yet both ports still recorded negative absolute scores, indicating turnaround times remain below the global average. How do you reconcile these two realities?

Improvement and competitiveness are two different measures, and both are important.

France, India, China, the United States and Brazil have invested in port infrastructure and logistics ecosystems for decades. For Nigeria to improve faster than those countries over five years, considering where we started, is a significant achievement. If an athlete moves from tenth place to fifth, that is remarkable progress, but it does not mean the race has been won.

The absolute score of -26 for both ports, against the global benchmark of zero, shows there is still work to do. Vessel turnaround times remain slower than the global average, and factors beyond truck scheduling contribute to that. Ètò has comprehensively addressed truck scheduling, but infrastructure, enforcement, regulation and approval processes also require sustained and systematic attention.

It would be dishonest to overstate our achievements. At the same time, it would also be unfair to dismiss the progress simply because the journey is not yet complete. Thousands of people contributed to these improvements, and their efforts deserve recognition.

What did the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports look like before the ‘Ètò’ system was introduced in 2021, and how different is the situation today?
Before ‘Ètò’, there was no organised system. Trucks arrived whenever they wanted, or whenever they could gain access, because entry was not scheduled—it was negotiated.

Truck queues stretched from the port gates through Apapa, past Maryland and all the way to the Cele Expressway. Vehicles remained parked on public highways for two or even three weeks. Communities were paralysed, while some terminals processed fewer than 50 trucks daily.

Beneath all of this was a large informal economy built around disorder. Many people had a direct financial interest in ensuring the system remained exactly as it was.

The cost was enormous. Cargo logistics costs were as much as 450 per cent higher than they should have been, while inefficiencies were costing Nigeria’s maritime economy an estimated N2.5 trillion yearly.

Today, terminals evacuate an average of more than 400 trucks daily. Port access and cargo evacuation now take two days or less, while logistics costs have fallen by an estimated 65 per cent.

Since the system was introduced, we have processed more than 3.5 million truck movements and maintained 100 per cent uptime over 64 consecutive months of operation. That represents substantial progress. At the same time, I never lose sight of where we started because it reminds us that there is still work ahead.

What made ‘Ètò’ succeed in a complex environment like Apapa, where previous interventions failed?
The first factor was partnership. We did not come into Apapa as a private company trying to impose a solution on a public system. From the beginning, we worked in partnership with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA). That gave the project regulatory backing, enforcement authority and institutional legitimacy.

The second factor was enforcement. Previous interventions often had sound ideas but lacked either the political will or the mechanisms to withstand resistance. Resistance always comes. People whose livelihoods depended on the old system pushed back strongly. There were times when the pressure to create exceptions and allow old practices to return was immense. We held our ground.

Not perfectly, and certainly not without challenges, but consistently enough to prevent the system from collapsing during difficult periods.

The third factor, which is often overlooked, is that we designed the solution specifically for the Nigerian environment instead of importing a model built for Rotterdam or Singapore and expecting it to work here.

The Ètò platform was built to accommodate infrastructure gaps, connectivity challenges, varying levels of digital literacy among truck operators and a logistics ecosystem with many informal participants.

We also continued to improve the system. More than 200 technology enhancements have been introduced since launch. The platform in operation today has evolved through continuous learning and practical operational experience.

Nigeria’s logistics costs remain among the highest despite recent improvements at the ports. Port efficiency is only one part of the supply chain, while activities beyond the port gates still appear inefficient. Where does TTP’s responsibility end, and who should address the remaining challenges?
I prefer not to frame it as ‘whose responsibility is it?’ because that often leads to blame rather than solutions.

TTP’s mandate covers the port corridor – truck scheduling, access control and the movement of trucks into the terminals. Within that scope, the transformation has been significant and measurable.

However, the logistics chain extends far beyond the port gates. Cargo clearance timelines, road infrastructure, the availability of inland container depots, document processing, financing for importers and exporters, and fleet roadworthiness are all outside TTP’s operational control. Yet each of these factors affects the overall cost of moving cargo in Nigeria.

Our experience with Ètò has given us a clear picture of where the bottlenecks exist beyond the port corridor because we have access to the data. We know where trucks experience delays outside the port environment, and we share that information with the relevant stakeholders.

The larger issue is that Nigeria needs a logistics reform agenda that treats the supply chain as one integrated system rather than a collection of separate problems managed by different agencies.

Without reforms across the entire logistics chain, improvements in port efficiency will continue to be undermined by inefficiencies elsewhere. Achieving lasting progress requires federal coordination, sustained political commitment and the recognition that logistics competitiveness is a national economic and security issue, not merely a concern for the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.

Port reform has often been derailed by politics, vested interests and poor implementation. Was there any point when you thought the technology-driven reform might fail?
Yes, there was more than one such moment. The early months were the most difficult. Whenever you replace an informal system that has shaped people’s livelihoods for years, you create immediate and organised resistance.

People who earned a living by controlling access to the ports, by being the individuals operators had to contact before their trucks could gain entry, suddenly found that the system was replaced by a digital platform.

There were attempts to sabotage the process. There was political pressure to grant exceptions to certain operators. At different times, the volume of complaints—some genuine and others orchestrated—made it seem as though the entire initiative might unravel.

I will not pretend those moments were easy. What sustained the reform was our partnership with the Nigerian Ports Authority and the commitment of successive NPA management teams to ensure the system worked. Equally important was the data, which consistently demonstrated measurable improvements, and our early decision not to sacrifice the long-term integrity of the system for short-term convenience. Whenever we were pressured to create exceptions, we asked ourselves one question: What exactly are we trying to build? An exception-based system would simply have recreated the old system with new technology.

What TTP did differently was to build for permanence rather than appearances. Our objective was to fundamentally change how the port corridor operates, and that required accepting that resistance would be inevitable and ensuring we could outlast it.

What should the Federal Government do to move Nigerian ports from the World Bank’s list of most improved ports to the list of top-performing ports?
The improvement list shows that reform works. The list of top-performing ports shows what sustained, system-wide reform looks like. The difference between the two is the difference between fixing one part of the system and transforming the entire logistics chain.

Ports that consistently rank at the top of the CPPI—Salalah, Fuzhou, Dalian and Tanger Med—operate within integrated ecosystems where infrastructure, regulation, customs processes, hinterland connectivity and digital systems work together seamlessly. No single component is allowed to lag behind while others advance.

Three things are essential. First, the Federal Government should treat logistics infrastructure as a critical national economic asset, on the same level as power and road infrastructure. It should not be viewed merely as a trade or maritime issue but as a national economic priority. The cost of logistics inefficiency is ultimately borne by businesses, consumers and exporters.

Second, the government should establish a strong institutional coordination mechanism that aligns the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Nigeria Customs Service and other relevant ministries and agencies around common performance targets. While the CPPI provides a useful international benchmark, Nigeria should develop its own performance indicators and measure progress regularly.

Its Too often, functioning systems are disrupted by regulatory changes, political transitions or the introduction of competing interests. Preserving successful reforms is what separates sustainable progress from the cycle of repeated reforms that has characterised infrastructure development in Nigeria.

What does the next five years hold for Nigeria’s ports and for TTP Limited, particularly as the renewal of the Ètò call-up system by the Nigerian Ports Authority is being considered?
The next five years will be critical for Nigeria’s ports. The World Bank recognition has given Nigeria a credible platform to attract more shipping lines, improve freight competitiveness and strengthen investor confidence. However, that progress cannot be taken for granted. It must be sustained through continuous improvement.

For TTP Limited, the focus over the next five years will be on deepening innovation and expanding our footprint.

We will continue to improve the existing port corridors. The next generation of the Ètò platform will incorporate predictive analytics, deeper integration with terminal operations and more advanced demand management capabilities.

Beyond Lagos, we also intend to deploy the experience and technology we have developed to other logistics corridors in Nigeria and across Africa.

On the renewal of the Ètò system by the Nigerian Ports Authority, we believe our performance provides a strong case for continuity.

Since the system was introduced, more than 3.5 million truck movements have been processed with 100 per cent system uptime. During the same period, Apapa and Tin Can Island ports earned recognition among the world’s 20 most improved container ports in the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index.

The evidence speaks for itself. The greatest risk to Nigeria’s ports, its trade competitiveness and the wider economy would be any disruption to a system that has delivered measurable improvements and earned international recognition. Continuity will be essential to consolidating those gains and building on the progress already achieved.