Aloga Ogbogo is the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and also the President of West African Road Transport Union (WARTU). In this interview with Anozie Egole, he speaks extensively on how to address the issue of Apapa traffic gridlock and other issues.
“There is a multiplicity of security agencies around the checkpoints but again we will avoid confrontations and that is why we are doing what we are doing”
“I am aware that there is a CEMA that says, if any truck is arrested with contraband goods, they (Customs) should release the truck because the owner of the truck is ignorant of what is in the container”
What is your take on the recent memo by some truckers saying that Customs have started auctioning trucks that were impounded for allegedly carrying seized goods?
Well, in the first instance, Customs are not supposed to be auctioning those trucks. Because there is what we call Customs Excise and Management Act(CEMA) and there is a clause there that says, if a truck is arrested with a contraband , the goods can be seized and the trucks be allowed to go, I think it is in CEMA 23 or there about . So I think that needs to be investigated properly, it is also possible that some of those trucks maybe trucks or vehicles that didn’t pay customs duty. So I think there is a need to investigate that allegation properly. I am aware that there is a CEMA that says if any truck is arrested with contraband goods, they (Customs) should release the truck because the owner of the truck is ignorant of what is in the container.
If you are a trucker and you have been hired to carry a container, you are not privy to the content of that container; you don’t know what is in the container, so there is no way to ascertain that there will be contraband. In the first place, if the cargo was not cleared, how did it leave the ports? Then if it exited the ports and there are other customs checkpoints along the road, so how was it able to beat those checkpoints before it was arrested? So I think there is more to it that meets the eye, I think those allegations need to be investigated properly. Like I said, I am also aware that there is a CEMA either 23 or 64 that says if a vehicle is arrested with contraband, or a container that has escaped payment of customs duty, you arrest the container, take it and release the truck because the owner of the truck is only a means of conveyance.
What is your association doing to ensure that these trucks are not auctioned?
For us, we will always defend and protect the interest of our members and it is in line with what I have told you, we will be acting in that direction. Customs do not have the right to sell those trucks. Two things are involved- one is for the owner of the truck to show up and the other is for the customs to refuse the release of the truck. But in our capacity as an umbrella association of all commercial vehicles owners, we will be prepared to defend the interest of our members.
What is your take on the truck call-up system recently introduced by the NPA; do you think it is effective?
I am aware before we talk of the call-up system, there has to be marshaling points for the trucks, which is where the trucks will stay before you prepare the call up system. So I am aware that they are trying to make arrangements with private park owners. So if they are into that agreement and they agree that this is a recognized place where trucks should be, then they can organize call-up system. But for now with what is happening, it didn’t seem as any call-up system because, where are these trucks, secondly where are these trucks getting to Apapa from. So it is whole bundle of confusion going on there.
What are your strategies towards tackling these constant complaints by truckers of extortions from government agencies and touts?
As a responsible association, we believe in dialogue, we also believe in negotiation and interventions. And we have also been having interface with some of these security agencies as the issues arise. And you know that there is a multiplicity of security agencies around the checkpoints, but again we will avoid confrontations and that is why we are doing what we are doing. And it has to with intervention, interface, negotiation and dialogue and that is our strategy and it will continue.
How do you think the Apapa traffic gridlock can be addressed?
You see, if you are talking of Apapa gridlock; when you are looking at an issue you try to look at the agents causing the issue, what are the agents causing the gridlock? In Apapa alone we have close to 63 tank farms and each of these tank farms has the capacity to load between 200-300 trucks in a day. We also have Flour Mill, Dangote and then we also have a lot of banks and commercial agencies there and yet this Apapa does not have a truck terminal here, a standard truck terminal. Let’s take for example if each of these 63 tank farms operates at 60 capacity and we have 200 trucks multiplied by maybe 32 of the tank farms. Again the DPR is supposed to be approving these tank farms, they go ahead to approve the construction of a tank farm that does not have a truck holding bay. And when people were saying that the gridlock is occasioned by the construction of the Apapa road, I was telling them that it goes beyond that, even if you finish the construction of the road the gridlock will continue. Because of the tank farms we have about 63 of them in Apapa and on the original master plan of the NPA, Apapa Wharf there is supposed to be a truck holding bay, what happened to the holding bays that were in the Apapa master plan. So these issues go beyond the way people are thinking and we need to look at it beyond that way. The tank farms there are so many and we have other companies and privates firms there and some of these tanks farms do things that I don’t understand. For instance if a tank farm has a product for 200 trucks and 250 trucks will pay and the first 200 trucks will collect the products and the remaining 50 trucks will be laying fallow there.
Why are all these trucks coming here?
In Nigeria, we have about 20 depots in the country but they are vandalized and 80% of the petroleum products that are distributed in this country come through the Lagos ports. Federal government said they cannot provide for pipeline, who should provide the security? If these pipelines are functional these trucks do not need to come to Lagos to load. And then we have to think of other means of transportation like the railway, you put the rail line so that some of these products can be moved through that means. The barges can also be used so the government should look at these issues critically and then proffer solutions.
Are you blaming DPR for allocating tank farms without ensuring that there are holding bays?
I am not passing any blames, people should do the needful, if I am blaming DPR what of the government that is supposed to provide the rail system, what of the pipelines that are supposed to be good, but are being vandalized. Petroleum products are supposed to be pumped to all the 21 depots in this country so that trucks can go and load there. People should do the needful.
Do you think that tank farms should be relocated out of Apapa?
What I am saying is that petroleum products should be made available to all the depots scattered all over the country, government should do the needful by repairing all the vandalized pipelines. I am aware that we consume close to 55.4million litres of petroleum products every day in this country and 80% of it is coming from Apapa. Government should repair the pipeline so that they can pass through the pipeline.
What do you have to say on the issue of shipping companies using trucks as holding bays?
The government needs to reconcile so many things, 60% of the gridlock is caused by container trucks. Shipping companies are supposed to have a container marshalling area where they can keep their containers and move them at night or better still prepare a movement roster, but shipping companies are running away from cost. Going beyond that, there are other issues that are causing the gridlock; most of these terminal operators do not have sufficient cargo handling equipment. Terminal operators that are supposed to have container cargo equipment that move cargoes, but they don’t have sufficient cargo equipment and it slows down the process. There are so many overtime cargoes down there in the ports. So the terminal operators have their own take on it, they should have sufficient cargo handling equipment. All these cause issues in the sector and there is a need to review that concessional agreement so that the shipping companies and terminal operators will start doing the needful.
The overtime cargoes are as a result of the cargoes not moving out of the ports, the ports should not be a warehouse for cargoes. A lot of factors are responsible and these trucks cannot move because of gridlock and you know these containers are moved with trucks. So there is a need for introduction of multi-model means of transportation. Railways have to be introduced and the government should be thinking of repairing pipelines so that these products can be circulated instead of coming to the ports.
Discussion about this post