Mr. Aloga Ogbo is the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners. In this interview with Anozie Egole, he speaks on the challenges in the sector and the way forward.
“Whatever the security agencies are doing, it is the transporters that entice them to it”
“Some trucks spend nine days before they can access the port”
What is the spread of NARTO?
The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) is the umbrella body of all commercial vehicle owners within the country and West African sub region that are involved in movement of passengers, goods and haulage. NARTO by way of structure has presence in all the 36 states of the federation and is present in the six geopolitical zones. The objective is to defend and articulate the interest and views of transporters for the regulatory agencies.
One of the factors that we have observed that has been affecting NARTO members over time is the bad state of the roads which is affecting movement of trucks
I will prefer to look at the issue of the road problem from the perspective that not only the exit roads of the ports are bad, the state of the Nigerians roads to some extent is in a deplorable state, even though the government is making some frantic efforts to put the roads in order. But I think the port roads before now were in a worst situation. You will also view or see with me that Wharf road here has been partly constructed and the construction is ongoing towards the Tin Can axis. I mean that it is a step in the right direction. If previous governments made these efforts, I think the state of the roads would have improved. But going beyond that, I think there is still room for improvement; that is about the roads generally. But then it has affected the port road exit, a lot of factors are responsible for that, some are caused by transporters and the other on the part of the regulatory agencies. So to say the problems are along the corridors, I will not say the task team is 100% responsible for that, the transporters also have their own lapses. Because the giver and the taker (of bribe) are all offenders; sometimes they come from the desperate angle. Some of these trucks spend nine days before they can access the ports, as a result of the combine problem from both the transporters, regulatory agencies and the terminal operators. Sometimes you may want to access the ports and they will tell you, there is a system shut down and that is a problem. Sometime, there is an issue of cargo handling equipment; it is also important for us to say that these terminal operators need container stacking areas. There is also the problem on the part of terminals operators; some time when these trucks are loading they will stop accepting trucks and start loading vessels. So some of these problems are there on the part of the terminal operators, transporters and the security agencies.
In your own assessment, would you say that the task team has delivered on its mandate?
Yes, they have performed, but there is also room for improvement because among the task team members, there are over zealous ones; just like you have over-zealous transporters and law enforcement agencies. Nothing is perfect and nothing is completely a success. The problem is with the terminals and the shipping companies that have failed to stack their containers.
Do you pay bribe to some of the security agencies on the road before you will be allowed to access the ports?
You see, the problem is whatever that the security agencies are doing, it is the transporters that entice them to it. You are in a hurry, you want to cut corners and then you begin to entice people with money and they get used to the money and it becomes like a honey, if you want to withdraw it, they say no and they will start frustrating you deliberately, tie down your time and make you desperate. So in this case as I said earlier, both the giver and the taker are all offenders, but again if there is decency. If the trucks are inside the terminals, accessibility to the various terminals won’t be as hectic as it is now. Some of the truckers also do not have what to do and they will come and line up on the road.
So are you confirming that truckers pay bribe?
Yes, like I said; both the giver and the taker are responsible; if you collect or give, you are both liable. I would not be able to say how much they pay, because I am not on ground I am probably an administrator. But like I said it exist, but to what quantum, I won’t be able to say how much.
For some of these trucks that you said just line up when they don’t have anything to do, are there punishments by the association for the owners?
Yes, if you want to go to equity you will go with clean hands, the man who wants to arrest the trucks, how innocent is he?
What would you say is the relevance of COMTUA?
Are you aware that, just as we have government, there are still challenges, COMTUA is doing their best, but there are room for improvement considering the fact that it is just an association of truckers in the industry trying to speak with one voice. That is the essence of COMTUA and I am sure, we will get there, we are on our way to getting there.
What is your position on the relocation of tank farms out of Apapa?
It is not the relocation of tank farms that are the issues, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is to regulate the construction of tank farms and what the rule said is that before you approve a tank farm, it must have a truck holding bay. So how come the DPR is licensing all these tank farms without holding bays and even if you relocate them out here without a holding bay and regulating them, it will still be the same. So it is not an issue of relocating them, rather it is an issue of regulating them. The tank farm owners might not be going through the right channel, so the DPR is there to regulate them, it is not a one-off thing, it takes over a year to construct a tank farm.
What are doing about some of these trucks that don’t latch containers while conveying it?
I think the best way to go about this is at the loading point, you don’t load a truck that doesn’t have a hook, it is a safety measure. And I have gone a long way to suggest that there should preloading and post loading inspection. Before you load a truck, check the tyres, hook, lights amongst others, that is the only way they will listen because by the time you turn back the truck after spending so much time on the road, next time they will do the right thing. Then the NPA, why don’t they have a way bridge, they should have a way bridge to ensure that these things are in place.
Are there measures to checkmate the number of rickety trucks on the roads?
If you are talking about rickety trucks from the safety perspective, I have said that you inspect the trucks before loading and if you feel they are not fit, send them back, we are not opposed to that. But going beyond, that we have Bank of Commerce and Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the transport sector that is core to the economy, we have talked about the Transport Development Bank and nobody is saying anything. And the transport sector is the prime mover of the economy, so what stops us from having a Transport Development Bank?
There seems to be so many trucking associations, what is actually happening?
COMTUA is an amalgamation of all the trucking associations and beyond that, there I a freedom of association, you can’t deny people the right to join associations, the problem is from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). In one of the stakeholders meeting we had recently, I said that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) should begin to regulate the trucking associations. If you say you are a trucking association, who are your members, what structure do you have and what is your spread? Some of these trucking associations are faceless.
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