Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mr. Mohammed Bello Koko has said that the Apapa gridlock did not only caused revenue to both government and private businesses, it also brought reputational damage to the country.
Speaking in Lagos when he received the leadership of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, ANLCA, at the Headquarters of the NPA, Bello Koko also said that Presidential/ Ministerial Performance Bond the NPA signed also motivated the management to get rid of the traffic to allow for a free flow of trade.
He explained that the development has led to increased export trade adding NPA will sustain the free low of traffic on the port access road.
He said: “Breaking the jinx of the age long traffic gridlock that was causing huge revenue losses and reputational damage to our dear country Nigeria was a product of our relentless commitment to doing what is right by entering into open-minded collaborations with the Lagos State Government and relevant stakeholders”.
“We are committed to fulfilling the priorities as enunciated in the Presidential/ Ministerial Performance Bond which we signed and to sustain the sanity on the Port access which has resulted in the unprecedented increase in export numbers, we have developed a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for cargo evacuation which we would be implementing with renewed vigour going forward to sustain the growth in exports necessary to achieve the national trade surplus required to grow the domestic economy”.
Commending the NPA boss on bringing sanity to the port corridor, President of the ANLCA, Mr. Emenike Nwokeji said that uncommon initiatives that resulted in the clearance of the port access has imporved the ease of doing business at the Lagos ports.
Nwokeji said: “The uncommon initiatives that cleared the decade-long traffic gridlock that had menaced the Apapa/Tincan Ports access roads and undermined ease of doing business in Nigeria.”
