Dom Onyeka (Freight Forwarder, Apapa port)
Dom Onyeka (Freight Forwarder, Apapa port)
You will recall that not too long ago, we downed our tools for two weeks, this had a lot of effect on the economy of the nation and government revenue dropped, ships could not berth at our ports and the terminals were shut down, the strike action had multiple effects and caused a lot of problems. Today if we decide to react to the present problems and decide to block the APMT gate again it would have the same effect, we are matured men and we don't want to behave like touts that will just decide to close down the ports at any given opportunity, the best way to solve the problem is negotiation and that was why some of us took the matter to the shippers council, some have equally gone to court in order not to sabotage the economy that is already poor, we don't have to worsen it.
Olumide Fakanlu (Apapa Chapter Chair, ANLCA)
Before Shippers Council became the economic regulator, we have been complaining to them, but it seems APMT is showing more power than them, and when the Shippers Council became the commercial regulator of the port, APMT still continue to act as if they are bigger than Nigeria or they are above the law. Normally we would have reported this system failure to the Shippers Council when it started, but what we were thinking was that they were already in court with the terminal operators; so coming to our aid might be difficult for them, we know what went wrong during our industrial action the last time, people thought that it was the Shippers Council that sent us to do it, so it is not that we don't trust the Council to solve this problem, we are all humans but when somebody is trying to prove too stubborn, you have to pattern another way, we have given instruction to our lawyers and we are going to court. The service at APMT has not improved, it is just average if you are talking about international standard, you cannot give them a pass mark.
Fred Ajuzie (Chairman, NAGAFF Apapa port)
It is not that we have refused to talk or take action against APMT, but I am consulting with the headquarters on this issue, it is not that as Chairman of Apapa, I cannot take a decision, I know that the headquarters will support me, remember that the last time we took action against the APMT for two weeks, it had a lot of effect on our economy, so what we in NAGAFF are doing now is that we are gathering information, very soon you will see the action we want to take on the system failures at APMT.
Sir Osita Chukwu Patrick (Coordinator SNFFIEC)
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council will address the problem soon. If they believe they can come to this country and cause chaos, then I will say there time is almost up. They will surely pay for all they have caused Nigerians. Apart from the server breakdown, this is a terminal that do not even have equipment for containers to leave the port. Very soon the issue bothering on APMT will be addressed by the council as an economic regulator.
Ade King (Apapa ANLCA)
For how long are we going to suffer in the hands of APMT. This is not the first or third time such things will be happening at that terminal. Day to day the problem keeps piling up. We are only waiting for our leaders to give directives. Personally this issue has been on for the past four weeks without solution and two minutes delay in clearing of goods from port will affect somebody somewhere for another two or three days.
Prince Olu Ologbese (Stakeholder)
Government should be held responsible for the situation at APMT, but the truth is-the government is no where near us. It is not only the servers that were grounded; the scanning machines have various degrees of malfunctioning as well. APMT is highly influenced by the PDP government that is why the government has failed to penalise them. Political patronage has resulted to what we are faced with at APMT and with the situation on ground now; in this transition period who will you report the problem to because everybody is working in pain. If this server failure persists, we all should be ready for port congestion.
Anselm Njemanze (Lilypond, Apapa )
APMT cannot be untouchable because they are foreigners. They cannot be untouchable in a strange land and it is only mismanagement that is making them look as if they don't know what they are doing, couple with the fact that we all are speaking in discordant voices again. As we speak, if ANLCA is about to fight a just course, NAGAFF will oppose it and I think it’s not too good for us all. I believe if we are coherent, noting stops us from closing down the APMT because they are the cause of their own problem. If we agree to close down the terminal they will be forced to re adjust.
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