13th July, 2012
Vehicular and container traffic at the Nigerian ports increased by 9.4 per cent in May, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said.
A statement signed by the Authority’s General Manager, Public Affairs, Chief Micheal Kayode Ajayi, stated that container throughput stood at 83,044 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), a 9.4 per cent increase over the 75,875 TEUs recorded during the corresponding period in 2011.
Empty container throughput stood at 56,923 TEUs, to indicate a rise of 13.5 per cent over the same month in 2011, which was 50,169 TEU.
Also, vehicular traffic during the month under review stood at 23,445 units in 2012, a growth of 0.6 per cent over 23,305 units in May 2011.
The statement quoted the NPA Managing Director, Mr. Omar Suleiman, an Engineer, as saying that, through the tremendous support of the Federal Government, the NPA was able to embark on massive infrastructural development, resulting in increased container traffic.
“The effort will be intensified as we vigorously pursue our vision to make Nigerian ports the hub of the West and Central African region,” the statement said.
Minister of Transport, Mr. Idris Umar and the NPA Managing Director had said that cargo throughput at the nation’s ports increased by over 90 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
The duo disclosed this at the just concluded 35th Annual Council Meeting and 11th Roundtable Conference of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) in Lagos few days ago saying Federal Government decision to had concessioned the ports in 2005 was a step in the right direction for the country’s economy.
Umar said the port reform which culminated in concession of port terminals has transformed the country’s maritime sector has a hub of port destination for West and Central African countries.
The Minister of Transport, who was represented at the event by the Director of Maritime Service, Federal Ministry of Transport, Alhaji Suleiman Nagogo, supported the NPA evaluation of the port that cargo throughput at the gateways increased by over 90 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
—Esther Komolafe