Despite assurances from the Lagos State Government that the $2.59 billion Badagry Deep Sea Port will be completed by 2025, recent findings by Shipping Position Daily have revealed that the development of the port has been stalled, with no construction equipment present at the proposed site. This has raised concerns among local residents and stakeholders about the project’s future and the credibility of the completion timeline.
The Federal Government, in August 2022 approved the sum of $2.59bn for the development of the Badagry Deep Seaport project under a Private Public Partnership. The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who received the approval, noted that it is expected to have 2,470 metre quay length container terminal, 560 metre quay length break bulk terminal, 360 metre quay length and minimum of 18 metre depth.
According to Sanwo-Olu, the project will generate 250,000 direct jobs, enhance Government revenue and operate under a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) concession agreement.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that in July 2023, the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, revealed that the state had obtained approval for the building of a port in Badagry to decongest Apapa and Tin Can. ports The governor expressed the hope that with the collaboration of investors, the Badagry port should be delivered in two years (2025).
Sanwo-Olu disclosed this while receiving the acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, and a delegation of the NCS who paid him a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Marina. The governor, who expressed delight that operations had gradually begun at the Lekki Deep Seaport after its inauguration, stressed that the state government had resolved to build more ports in the state.
“We have been taking a more proactive position to see how we can build more new ports. I need to also inform you that there is also an approval for a Badagry port. The whole idea is to build strategic infrastructure for our citizens. Lekki is on the eastern part, and Badagry is on the western part; so that we can decongest Apapa and Tin Can, which have already stretched their capacities to the limit of what is necessary.” Sanwo-Olu said.
According to Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC); the concessionaire of the Badagry Deep Sea Port, Badagry Port Development Limited (BPDL) in September 2014 signed a MoU with other sponsors namely, APM Terminals, Oando PLC and Orlean Invest West African Limited.
However, concerns are growing among residents regarding the stalled development of the Badagry Deep Seaport at the proposed site around the Gberefu area of Badagry.
A visit to the port site last by our correspondent week revealed that the proposed entrance of the port, located immediately after the Gbaji Bridge checkpoint remains an overgrown expanse of land with no construction equipment in sight.
Reports gathered from residents indicate that the port developers initially arrived at the site early in 2024, with heavy machinery to clear the proposed entrance. However, the project was abandoned before the rainy season commenced, leaving the area untouched since.
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval letter by the Federal Ministry of Environment signed by the then Ag. Director, Environmental Assessment Department, K. B Odusanya and dated December, 2013 which was obtained from ICRC’s website by our correspondent, noted that “adequate compensation plan shall be put in place for project host communities and other stakeholders that are to be affected by the proposed projects”.
However, residents at the Yovoyan area of the port site noted that they have been engaged in multiple meetings with the government and developers concerning land acquisition and compensation. It has been confirmed that inhabitants from Gberefu to Yovoyan and Sakpo had previously been served eviction notices to facilitate the port’s development.
During the visit, settlers in Sakpo, predominantly Ghanaians, who migrated to Nigeria for business, expressed their frustrations over the lack of progress. One long-term resident, a weaver of traditional textiles, reported having lived in Sakpo for over two decades, she has not witnessed any significant developments related to the Badagry deep seaport.
The resident mentioned that a construction base was erected directly opposite Sultan Beach at Sakpo for contractors. However, this site is now deserted, with no equipment remaining.
Further inquiries led to the house of the Baale of Gayingbo Sea Beach, but he was not available. However, a local settler who simply identified himself as Avoseh, informed Shipping Position Daily that there has been no noticeable development since around 2017, when port developers initially came to chart roads and install electric poles at the site.
“We have not seen anything since the first time they came to construct the road and mount electric poles. We thought they would start the development, but nothing has been done since then. We have been having several meetings with them saying they will settle us, so that we can leave this place for the development of the port” Avoseh said.
Seme Chapter Chairman of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Mr. Onyekachi Ojinma voiced his strong doubts about the project’s legitimacy, adding that the development of the port is just a mirage.
Ojinma questioned the feasibility of establishing a new port in Badagry when existing ports in Lekki, Apapa, and Tin Can are still underutilized. He lamented that the projection of the Badagry Deep Sea port was political, suggesting that the project’s announcement was a strategic move to garner votes for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“There is nothing like Badagry Seaport; they are just using that to deceive the people. The developers just came around to settle, and after some time, they went back with all their equipment. The Badagry Sea Port is just a mirage.
“How do you think they will do a seaport in Badagry when we have Lekki and we have Apapa and Tin Can ports that are still lacking containers? Which container will come to Badagry?
On his part, a freight forwarder at Seme border and Board of Trustees Secretary of the Association of Registered Freight Forwarders Nigeria (AREFFN) Mr. Innocent Elum, also shared his concerns about the project’s feasibility describing how there was a flurry of activity earlier in the year, however, this momentum quickly disappeared, according to him.
Elum further pointed out that after the Governor’s assurances, the momentum of the work generally declined without any equipment left on site and the work came to a standstill.
“That project is one in a million. When I did an inquiry myself, I realized it is not a project of tomorrow or the next day. It is not a project you will expect in the next five or ten years. There was actually a caterpillar working there earlier this year. There were people at the site clearing the bush. But you cannot find anybody there again. After the Governor’s claims, the caterpillar working there left and the momentum of the work went down. It is not a project we should expect in five to ten years’ time,” Elum concluded.
