A report said empty containers accounted for about 80 per cent of traffic from Nigerian ports in 2023 just as cargo import and export continue to decline.

The Nigerian Ports Consultative Council (NPCC) 2023 Ports Performance Report presented last week in Lagos showed that container traffic during the period under review stood at 1,566,162 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), representing a decrease of 6.8 per cent from the 1,681,328 TEUs handled in 2022.

According to the report, import container traffic accounted for 55.85 per cent with 874,683 TEUs, while export container traffic stood at 684,586 TEUs or 43.71 per cent of total container traffic.

The report revealed that inward cargo throughput (excluding oil) stood at 70,475,671 metric tonnes as against 75,274,843 metric tonnes recorded in 2022, indicating a decline of 6.4 per cent.

In the report, inward cargo traffic was 46,378,186 metric tonnes, representing 65.8 per cent of cargo throughput in 2023, while outward cargo traffic was 24,097,485 metric tonnes, accounting for 34.2 per cent of total cargo traffic.

The report stated that a total of 132,296 units of vehicles were handled during the period, indicating a decrease of 32 per cent from 194,550 units in 2022.

The report also disclosed that a total of 3,778 ships berthed at all Nigerian ports in 2023 as against 3,957 that berthed in 2022, showing a decrease of 4.5 per cent.

The gross tonnage of ships completed was 122,873,684 as against 120,368,153 gross tonnage in 2022, showing an increase of 2.1 per cent.

According to the report, there was average turn-around time of vessels was four days compared with 5.2 days in 2022, which it said was made possible by the impact of the Lekki deep seaport that achieved an average turn-around time of a day.

Also, the berth occupancy rate stood at 32 per cent in the year under review as against the 36.6 per cent recorded in 2022.

The report blamed the continuous decline of cargo import and export on global economic lull, COVID-19 pandemic, anti-trade policies of the Nigerian government, human factor among other bottlenecks.

According to the report, the country’s seaports received over 14,000,000 TEUs in 2014, which nosedived to 1,566,162 TEUs in 2023.

The report also raised a question on how the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) continues to generate more revenue and exceed its targets in the face of an apparent decline in import and export.

It stated that 2024 holds out little hope for international trade in Nigeria, but advised that the federal government can assuage the stakeholders’ fears through deliberate fiscal policies aimed at reviving the country’s trade industry.

The report submitted by the Chairman, the Port Operations and Logistics Committee of NPCC, Captain Iheanacho Ebubeogu, to all agencies of government and stakeholders in the maritime industry, identified the need to redesign the perimeter limits of Apapa and Tincan Island Ports to ameliorate the operational problems encountered within the sector.

It dealt in detail with the issues relating to the railway crossing at the dockyard as well as the state of the roads leading to and out of Ijora and the need to fix them urgently for operational and safety reasons.

Ebubeogu drew the attention of the quarterly meeting to the impassable state of Mile 2-Apapa- Oshodi Expressway, which has been turned into private truck parks.

He also pointed at the Waste generated by commercial food sellers and as well as the damage to the metal sheet wires barricading the expressway.

Ebubeogu also emphasised the need for port planning, strategic port land planning, port master plan, port maritime logistics ring as well as port rehabilitation and modernisation.

He also pointed out the need for electoral, administrative and constitutional reform of the NPCC in line with global best practices, while emphasising the need for budgetary provisions to strengthen the council.

On his part, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, called for synergy between the NPCC and the maritime institutions to develop the port industry.

He said the council, being the strongest body of maritime stakeholders, was in the best position to move the industry to greater heights.