The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Truck Transit Parks Limited (TTP) said the electronic call-up system infrastructure deployed at Lagos ports has reduced haulage cost by 65 per cent, even as truck turnaround time has decreased from three weeks to just two to three days.
Speaking at the All Nigerian Maritime Journalists Retreat held in Lagos, themed ‘Maximising Emerging Technologies for Sustainable Import and Export Trade’, the Managing Director of TTP, Jama Onwubuariri, said the deployment of technology-driven traffic management solutions through ‘Eto’ has seen a drop in haulage costs from as high as N1.4 million to between N350,000 and N500,000.
Onwubuariri pointed out that the deployment of the ‘Eto’ platform marked a major shift in port access management, significantly reducing congestion, improving cargo movement and enhancing the overall operational efficiency along Lagos port access roads.
He recalled that before the reforms took effect in 2021, traffic in Apapa deteriorated to the extent that commuters abandoned their vehicles to take motorcycles and boats to reach their workplaces.
The gridlock, he said, stretched from Apapa to Surulere and Mile 2, obstructing emergency services, disrupting businesses and paralysing economic activities within the port environment.
Onwubuariri said the situation has since improved considerably, with most Apapa access roads now experiencing free traffic flow, while Tin Can Island has also recorded better access, although queues still occur among tankers not yet onboarded on the electronic call-up system.
He said the system has also undergone over 170 feature updates and has been integrated with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Nigerian Export Proceeds (NXP) portal, ensuring the exporters complete regulatory requirements before booking access to the ports.
Despite the progress, Onwubuariri identified key challenges, including truck plate number duplication, the use of fake or cloned plates, non-compliance with Terminal Delivery Orders (TDOs), terminal inefficiencies, drivers stalling on roads, and extortion by security officials, creating artificial bottlenecks.
To address the gaps, TTP has proposed measures such as the deployment of an E-tag digital identity system for trucks, linking bookings to standardised interchange transaction numbers tied to VEP or TDO, improved terminal infrastructure, stronger consequence management, 24-hour return service charges, firm directives to curb extortion and regular performance monitoring.
The Managing Director of NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, had disclosed that the agency recently undertook a comprehensive review of the e-call up framework to address emerging loopholes and strengthen system integrity.
One of the outcomes of the review, he said, was the redesign and security enhancement of ‘Eto’ tickets, which are now directly tied to the Terminal Delivery Order (TDO) and Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP), ensuring end-to-end traceability and eliminating fraudulent duplication or resale of tickets.
