Ètò system has managed to reduce the decade-long traffic congestion and truck turnaround time at the Lagos port corridor, as well as cut haulage costs. Despite this progress, the Managing Director of Trucks Transit Parks (TTP), Jama Onwubuariri, in an interview with ADAKU ONYENUCHEYA, spoke on how poor terminal processes, road network infrastructure, documentation, cargo release and inter-agency coordination remain bottlenecks.

The Trucks Transit Parks (TTP) claimed that the Ètò system has reduced cargo transportation costs to and from Lagos ports by over 65 per cent. How exactly have these savings been achieved, and to what extent are they being reflected in the final cost of goods to Nigerian consumers?

The savings come primarily from eliminating the inefficiencies associated with prolonged truck waiting and unpredictable port access. By reducing turnaround times, improving truck utilisation, and cutting informal costs and unnecessary journeys, haulage costs have fallen substantially. In 2025, costs on some movements reportedly fell from as high as about N1.4 million to roughly N350,000–N500,000.

We cannot say every naira saved in logistics automatically translates into a lower retail price because consumer prices have many other drivers. But efficient logistics reduces high supply chain costs and improves the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses.

Ètò has been credited with helping to tackle the longstanding truck congestion around the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports corridor. What were the biggest obstacles to its implementation?

The central problem was not simply the number of trucks on the roads, but the absence of a predictable, transparent and coordinated system for managing access to the ports.

Before Ètò, truck movement around the port corridors was largely fragmented, with long queues, significant human interference and uncertainty for transporters and cargo owners. Our objective was to move from a manual environment to a technology-enabled, first-come, first-served system in which truck movements could be planned, scheduled, and monitored.

The biggest obstacle was resistance to change. Truckers feared being excluded from port access, while others were reluctant to relinquish long-standing influence over the process. There was also scepticism about whether technology could be reliably enforced and deliver the promised results.

The system has processed over 3.38 million port and non-port-bound truck movements in 64 months. What does this figure say about the scale of the logistics challenge around Nigeria’s ports, and how has the system changed the way truck traffic is managed?

The figure demonstrates the scale and complexity of the logistics ecosystem. Millions of truck movements represent millions of potential points of congestion, delay and operational failure if they are not properly coordinated.

Ètò has shifted the approach from simply asking, ‘How do we clear the traffic?’ to ‘How do we plan and optimise the movement of every truck?’ Through structured scheduling, access control, visibility and data, stakeholders can make decisions based on actual movements rather than assumptions.

The impact has continued to grow, with TTP having processed more than 3.8 million movements over 64 months, and the average port-access and evacuation turnaround has been reduced to less than two days.

TTP reported that Ètò reduced truck turnaround time from two to three weeks to about three to four days. What were the key interventions responsible for this dramatic improvement, and what further reduction is technically possible?

The improvement came from several interventions working together – digital scheduling, controlled access, terminal integration, electronic verification, better coordination of truck parks and pregates, real-time visibility and reduced human intervention.

Previously, trucks could spend days or weeks waiting because there was no reliable mechanism for coordinating when they should proceed to the port. Ètò introduced that predictability, moving turnaround from weeks to days and subsequently, to less than two days in some operations.

Further improvement is technically possible, but it cannot come from Ètò alone. It requires improvements in terminal operations, cargo documentation, port infrastructure, road conditions, and cargo release processes. Our ambition is to make the unnecessary waiting time approach zero.

Despite the progress made with Ètò, port access roads and truck congestion remain major concerns for importers, exporters, manufacturers and freight forwarders. What are the remaining bottlenecks outside TTP’s control that the government must urgently address?

The first is infrastructure. Technology cannot substitute for inadequate or poorly maintained roads. Port access roads, bridges, drainage and traffic corridors must be treated as critical economic infrastructure.

We also need greater coordination among government agencies and private-sector stakeholders involved in cargo clearance. Delays in documentation, terminal processes, Customs procedures or cargo release affect the entire supply chain.

Consistent enforcement is equally important, alongside investment in terminal capacity, truck holding facilities, road networks and alternative access routes. Ètò provides the digital layer, bringing structure, visibility, scheduling and control to truck movement, but the wider physical ecosystem must be capable of supporting that efficiency.

There have been concerns in the past over transparency, preferential access and the allocation of truck slots under electronic call-up systems. How does Ètò guarantee all these?

Fairness, transparency and equal access are fundamental to Ètò. Access is determined by defined standard operating procedures and verifiable data, not personal connections, influence or the ability to manipulate the process.

Booking, batching and scheduling are system-driven and automated, creating an auditable transaction trail and reducing opportunities for arbitrary allocation, preferential treatment and unnecessary human interference.

We have also deliberately designed the ecosystem to include independent transporters and smaller operators. A small transporter that meets the required standards should have the same opportunity to participate. Ultimately, access should be earned through compliance and verified requirements, not connections or influence.

Technology systems are increasingly targeted by cyberattacks and fraud. You mentioned the introduction of multi-factor authentication and booking-code randomisation. What other measures has TTP put in place to protect Ètò from cyber threats, manipulation and fraudulent bookings?

Cybersecurity is a core operational requirement for us. Beyond multi-factor authentication and booking-code randomisation, we use layered access controls, continuous monitoring, audit trails, validation mechanisms and transaction controls.

We also continuously review vulnerabilities and update security protocols as the threat landscape evolves. No single security mechanism is sufficient, so we use multiple layers of verification to make unauthorised access and manipulation significantly more difficult.

We are also strengthening vehicle and identity verification through technologies such as electronic tags, which can link a truck’s digital identity to its physical movement, reducing opportunities for impersonation, number-plate manipulation, and fraudulent bookings.

What is the rationale behind the integration of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Nigeria Export Proceeds (NXP) system into Ètò, and how can technology help improve export logistics as well as reduce cost and delays at the ports?

The rationale is simple: exports should have the same level of digital coordination as imports. Integrating the CBN’s NXP system into Ètò closes a gap that previously required exporters to manually verify documentation and track export proceeds, often after cargo had already reached the gate. With the integration, verification happens upfront as part of the same digital process that sequences the truck.

This is particularly important for Nigeria’s non-oil export drive. Technology allows data to move ahead of the cargo, so that by the time a truck arrives, the necessary information is already settled rather than becoming another source of delay.

Given the enormous volume of transactions and the critical nature of port operations, especially with the Ètò zero system downtime, how does TTP maintain system reliability and what contingency arrangements are in place if the platform experiences a major disruption?

Reliability is fundamental because Ètò supports a critical part of the port ecosystem. Our architecture, infrastructure monitoring, system redundancy, data protection and operational support processes are designed around high availability.

We continuously monitor the platform to identify potential issues early, with technology and operations teams working together to escalate and resolve incidents quickly.

Resilience is also about recovery. We have continuity and recovery mechanisms designed to ensure that, even in the event of a major technical or external disruption, critical operations can be restored quickly and stakeholders are not left without visibility or support. TTP currently reports 100 per cent Ètò uptime since 2021.

Nigeria is moving towards greater digitalisation of its ports, including the National Single Window and other port community systems. How should Ètò integrate with these emerging platforms to avoid duplication and create a seamless digital ecosystem for cargo movement?

The future should not be a collection of disconnected digital platforms. It should be an interoperable ecosystem where systems communicate, and stakeholders do not repeatedly provide the same information.

Ètò should complement, rather than compete with, national platforms such as the National Single Window. Our role is to provide the mobility layer – connecting cargo readiness, truck scheduling, access control, terminal operations and physical movement, while integrating with systems responsible for trade documentation, customs, payments and other regulatory processes.

Interoperability, common data standards and secure Application Programming Interface (API) are critical. When done properly, an importer or exporter should experience a single connected digital journey rather than multiple disconnected processes.

You have undertaken research visits to major ports and cities in Dubai, the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. What lessons did you bring back from those systems, and where has Nigeria made the most progress, and where is the country still lagging?

Each market demonstrated a different aspect of an efficient port ecosystem: Dubai showed the value of integrated planning; the U.S. demonstrated appointment-based systems and strong terminal integration; the U.K. showed how port community systems can reduce friction through shared data; and Germany demonstrated the potential of real-time sensor data and stakeholder-wide information sharing.

The common lesson is that successful ports are ecosystems in which infrastructure, policy, technology, people, and processes work together. Predictability is at the centre.

Nigeria has made significant progress in digitalising parts of the port ecosystem, particularly truck access through Ètò. Where we still lag is in the physical layer – road infrastructure, berth depth and dredging, power reliability and the number of separate agencies a truck or shipment must satisfy. These are areas that continued infrastructure investment and the National Single Window need to address.

Beyond employment, what is the wider economic impact of efficient truck management on manufacturers, shipping lines, freight forwarders, terminal operators and the Nigerian economy?

Efficient truck management has a multiplier effect across the economy. For manufacturers, it means more predictable access to raw materials and faster evacuation of finished goods. For shipping lines and terminal operators, it means better equipment utilisation and more predictable cargo flows. For freight forwarders and transporters, it means better asset utilisation and fewer unproductive hours of waiting.

It also enables businesses to plan inventory, warehousing and distribution more efficiently. At the macro level, efficient ports improve trade competitiveness while reducing losses from congestion, fuel wastage, vehicle downtime and unnecessary delays.

The real impact of Ètò therefore goes beyond the number of trucks processed; it is about improving the productivity of an entire economic corridor.