Lilypond still remains a command on its own with its controller and other senior officers in place working but the name has now changed from Lilypond Container Terminal to Tin Can 2 Terminal. I think it is a good change because is going to bring us business and solve the problem of the place lying fallow while Tin Can Island is congested. As an agent, if you have anything at Tin Can Terminal second gate, for example if you book for an examination they give like two to three days because of space to drop containers. You know terminal people have a limited time and they can’t drop more than 200 containers a day. So based on this, the creating of Tin Can 2 is very good because that will help to ease the congestion and it is a welcome development.
Lawrence Uba
It is a step in the right direction considering the fact that Lilypond has been idle for so many years now. There has not been any activity going on there. The Customs officers, agents and freight forwarders working at the command are there idle. Now that they have re-designated the place to Tin Can Island 2, the modalities for actualizing this particular mode involves the stemming of a dedicated vessel to the terminal at all times so that there will be work there for people to do that will involve the Customs officers, freight forwarders and agents.
Fred Akokhia
Lilypond has always been a command on its own for a long time and over time we noticed there are no activities going on there; they are more or less stagnant. They rely on other ports to feed them with containers. Apapa was the terminal that used to feed them with containers but over time there have been disagreement for a long time which made them redundant. When the CG was newly appointed and when he was doing his familiarization, he was told that Lilypond Command was doing nothing and they do borrow money from other commands to service their equipment. In other words, the terminal is not generating enough income even to pay the staffs that work there. So this merger is a welcome development, at least to give life to the command, to start taking care of the staff welfare and generating revenue for the government.
Stanley Ezenga
I see it as a rebranding and it is also a welcome development in my own opinion. Lilypond is a Customs command of many years passage; it has a history of vibrancy and a good revenue-collecting track record and trade facilitation. Over time it has become redundant due to the fact that there are no containers to send to that command and the fact that there was no activity, it was being maintained by the federal government. The Customs officers, freight forwarders and other officers are there doing nothing and they are paid salaries, trained and retrained and every other maintenance was coming from Nigeria Customs Service and agents have being very concerned about this. For this new development, it is now called Tin Can 2 with the full status of the Customs command with Area Custom Controller of its own and other management of Customs accepting that vessels will be sent to Tin Can so that there can be container activities and revenue collection activities. It is a very good development that will help to decongest Tin Can.
Ken Iyoha
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