Do you think the ban on okada has affected cargo clearance at the port?

It has not because every freight forwarder does not go into the port by okada. We Nigerians are very resilient, people immediately found alternatives by using the ban of okada as an excuse not to get their job done. The ban has not significantly affected cargo clearance from the port because we must place this ban side by side to the reason why okada was ban. The issue of security really matters and cannot be compared with anything. If the Lagos government had allowed okada to continue to operate, the security challenge would have been unimaginable. Per-adventure if it has, I am sure it would clear out within a period of time.

Cargo clearance is on its own while the okada ban is also on its own. I would say that the ban has cause a lot of nuisance by the so called riders and security threat. If the government is going to look inward, the number of okada plying the road should be reduced and should be restricted from plying some certain route. The government should ensure that the okada riders are duly registered, their names and all information about them should be computerized so that when any calamity happens, then the government know the rider that committed the offence. I would say cargo clearance has to do with computerization and scanner. The bad road is what is affecting the clearance.

It is really affecting cargo clearance because there is poor access road to the port. Sometimes, one need to trek a long distance just to get into the port due to the okada ban and this makes importers lose their cargoes and their clients are been delayed from getting their goods. The Lagos State government have to look into it because it is not helping the situation at the port. Rather, it delays cargoes in the port more than expected.

Yes, the ban has affected cargo clearance negatively at both the Apapa and Tin-Can Port. The ban is causing serious hardship on agents who have business in Apapa and Tin-Can axis because it has resorted to trekking long distances before getting to their offices. In the heat of gridlock, with vehicular movements painfully truncated, stakeholders and freight forwarders had come to rely on motorcycles. Many agents carry out substantial part of their ports’ operations by patronising commercial motorcycles, especially to enable them fast-track documentation on goods clearance to avoid incurring demurrage. Most people can testify to it that all the activities relating to getting cargo documents processed have been made easy due to the availability of commercial motorcycles. About 99 per cent of our job is done by transporting ourselves on motorcycles. If we have any consignment to clear at the Tin-Can port or Kirikiri Lighter Terminal, one has to trek now or drive through the bad roads. I want to urge the government to reconsider the operations of motorcycles within the ports, to enable the clearing agents meet their deadlines.