…halts N2.5trn loss at port
The Truck Transist Park (TTP) is making a new move to collaborate with ECOWAS and support regional governments in West Africa by deploying technology that would make seamless intra-African trade a reality.
This is after the company has successfully scheduled over 3 million truck trips to the port through Ètò since its inception in 2021.
The company’s Managing Director, Jamaica Onwubuariri, noted on Wednesday that this had led to a drastic reduction in gridlock, improved truck and cargo turnaround time in the port, saying it has blocked N2.5 trillion annual loss and a 450 per cent surge in cargo cost.
Safety lapses, bad roads and substandard trucks; racketeering and middlemen distorting pricing and processes; human interference in what should be seamless, technology-driven operations.”
He noted that there had been improved throughput for manufacturers’ trucks struggling to access the port from 40 to over 400 trucks daily as traffic stretched from Apapa to the Maryland axis and to the Cele axis of the Apapa Oshodi Express road.
With the ongoing partnerships with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), terminal operators, security agencies, unions, and associations to sustain progress, he explained that there had been continuous upgrades to the Ètò platform, closing loopholes, tightening controls, and enhancing user experience.
The managing director said: “This is not just about technology; it is about restoring confidence in the possibility that our ports can be efficient and compete favourably with others in the region.
“Recently, I had the privilege of embarking on a strategic trip across the ECOWAS subregion. What I experienced was both sobering and inspiring.
From Lagos to Ouagadougou, Abidjan, Monrovia, and other West African routes, the story is similar: heavy reliance on trucking, coupled with bottlenecks at borders, tolls, and highway corridors.
“The traffic management platform TTP has built in Nigeria is not just a national solution. Ètò is a model that would be scaled regionally.
“Imagine if every ECOWAS country operated a harmonised port truck scheduling, rest stop, and electronic tolling system that supports the multiple currencies used in the region, how much faster goods would move, how much cheaper trade would become, and how much closer we would be to realising the promise of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
According to him, the company’s focus was threefold: deepening efficiency at Nigerian ports through continuous technology and infrastructure upgrades, smarter data use and stronger enforcement collaboration.
Onwubuariri stressed: “The maritime and logistics industry was the backbone of commerce in Nigeria. Unless you grow your own food, drill your own borehole or manufacture your own generator, 90 per cent of the items we need daily would need to be delivered to us from somewhere else. In our case, in this country, most of these materials are imported.
“Every single day, about 2,000 trucks move through our Lagos ports and industrial corridors to pick up and drop off consumer and export cargo. But for over a decade leading up to 2021, this critical artery of trade has been clogged by problems we all know too well: Perennial congestion on the access roads; inefficient cargo evacuation.
Onwubuariri noted that the inefficiencies came at a heavy price as they increase turnaround time for trucks and cargo, inflate logistic costs, and ultimately hike the prices consumers pay for essential goods.
The managing director stressed that it was against this backdrop that the company introduced the Ètò electronic call-up system in 2021.
He explained: “When the then Governor-Elect, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, called in March 2019 to ask about how our company can solve the Apapa traffic situation, it was difficult to see into the future transformation that this initiative would go on to have on Nigeria’s port efficiency, maritime operations improvement and quality of life for Apapa and Tincan residential and commercial stakeholders.
The decisiveness of the Lagos State Government and the vision of the Nigerian Ports Authority management have been invaluable.
“I am proud to say that Ètò has changed the narrative. Port roads, once infamous for unending gridlock, are now more orderly and predictable. Access to the ports is no longer based on who you know or how rugged your boys are, but on a pre-set, transparent, technology-enabled process.”