•System records 3.38m truck movement
The management of Truck Transit Park (TTP) Limited said it invested about N4.2 billion in developing and deploying the electronic call-up system (Eto) from 2021 to date.
The company said it has also scheduled 3.38 million truck movements into the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports within the 57 months of operation.
Chief Executive Officer of TTP, Jama Onwubuariri, stated this yesterday, at a thought leadership roundtable on port logistics held in Lagos, themed, ‘From Gridlock to Growth: Re-imagining Ports Logistics in Nigeria’.
Giving a breakdown of the investment, Onwubuariri said deploying the e-tag system, issued to truckers at no cost, alone costs the company about N200 million.
Speaking on operational challenges, Onwubuariri blamed the porous nature of vehicle number plate registration in the country for facilitating illegal duplication of plate numbers by some truckers at the ports.
“We don’t have a single authority responsible for producing number plates. Drivers also seem able to use another person’s plate number, duplicate theirs or even produce fictitious plates and use them to register their vehicles or trucks on Eto,” he said.
To address this, he explained that the company has developed an electronic tagging system that assigns each truck a unique digital identity that cannot be altered.
He described the identity as tamper-proof, adding: “Once the tag is placed on a truck, removing it damages the identity, and the truck will no longer be able to operate on the system.”
Although the e-tag system was developed in 2023, Onwubuariri said TTP is still awaiting regulatory approval for deployment.
He emphasised that once deployed, trucks will no longer be able to alter their digital identities by switching or falsifying plate numbers.
The TTP boss also revealed that the company has developed the Eto Interchange Transaction Number for terminal operators.
Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi, represented by the Director of Transport Operations, Olasunkanmi Ojowuro, said Nigeria is at a critical juncture where innovative ideas and collaboration can transform port logistics from persistent gridlock to economic opportunity.
Osiyemi identified congestion, inefficiency and the absence of integrated systems as major obstacles preventing Nigerian ports from reaching their full potential.
He noted that with the right partnerships, technology investments and commitment to reforms, the ports could become thriving commercial hubs that support economic development and ensure seamless movement of goods nationwide.
He urged stakeholders to work together to develop strategies that address current challenges, strengthen capacity and drive sustainable growth at the ports.
Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC), Bolaji Sunmola, represented by the Vice Chairperson, Jean-Chaizor Anishere, said the ports remain the backbone of Nigeria’s trade and economic development.
He said, however, their efficiency depends not only on infrastructure but on how effectively regulatory institutions coordinate.
Sunmola lamented that too many agencies operate in silos, with processes still largely manual, resulting in high cargo dwell time and multiple layers of checks that delay movement and raise operational costs.
He noted that such inefficiencies ripple across the economy, increasing production costs, discouraging investment and weakening Nigeria’s global competitiveness.
Sunmola stressed the need to deepen multimodal transport integration, stating that such a system would make cargo processes faster, more transparent and less vulnerable to human interference.
