With the completion and commissioning of the Apapa – Oshodi Expressway by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as one of the key road infrastructure to mark his first one year in office, the Lagos port corridor has now become what I called an ” Express Road to Business.”
Before the clearance and evacuation of obstructing objects from the Apapa port access road which ranges from vehicles, human characters, illegal trading activities and debris of refuse dumps , the Lagos port access road, especially the Mile 2- Tin Can Island Port corridor was not only a night mare, but it was a total hindrance to economic activities of any environment, not to talk of a port. But now all that is history.
Tin Can Island Port is the second largest port not only in Lagos State, but in Nigeria after the Apapa port . But the percularity of the Tin Can Island Port is that of its user friendly and multipose facilities for import and export activities.
With concessioning of the Nigerian ports in 2006, Tin Can port was divided into four terminals, namely: Tin Can Island Container Terminal ( TICT), Port and Cargo terminal ( SIFAX), Five Star Logistics Terminal and Josepdam Port Services. The good thing about these four port terminals is that all of them can handle Containerized cargoes, group imports, vehicles and general goods among others.
Statistics over time has shown that Tin Can Island Port has the highest traffic of persons on a daily basis doing business in the port. This is because of its user friendly and multipose facilities for international trade functions.
TIN CAN ISLAND CUSTOMS BUILDS NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH STAKEHOLDERS
At the beginning of the year 2024, the Customs Area Controller of the Tin Can Island Port, Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni has dedicated the year as ” the year of Stakeholders”. Nnadi while underscoring the enormous contributions of stakeholders and other port users as the key to Customs functions of revenue collection, anti-smuggling, trade facilitation, national security and implementation of government fiscal policies, also acknowledged them as partners in progress, especially the Clearing Agents ,who are licensed by the Customs.
In a recent stakeholders engagement by the Command, Comptroller Dera Nnadi has again reiterated his leadership commitment to make the Command a hub for Trade Facilitation and fast clearance of cargoes. Nnadi while commending the Lagos State Government, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Lagos State Police Command and the Comptroller General of Customs for their efforts in clearing the port access road, however called on importers and exporters and their agents to increase their patronage of the Tin Can Island Port, as it now has easy and free access and exit, which according to him can allow two to three trips to and fro the port by cargo trucks on a daily basis.
Another incentives Comptroller Dera Nnadi brought to the table for stakeholders benefits were 24hrs/ weekend port operations , Conflict resolution centres, information/ complaints box , training activities for stakeholders, sensitisation of stakeholders through various media platforms and continuous and regular engagement of stakeholders .
In all of this, Comptroller Dera Nnadi also vowed to make sure the Tin Can Island Port Command of the Customs remains a hub for Trade Facilitation and fast clearance of cargoes, as well as encourage compliance traders to maintain the status of this multipose port environment.
Again, this is to remind all port stakeholders and users that, the year 2024 is your year at the Tin Can Island Port, so do everything to guide and protect it for your own benefit and for Nigeria’s economic growth and development.
