In the second part of this interview with the President of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Chief Oluremi Ogungbemi, he speaks about automation of trucking. He also reminisced about his life as a trucker.
Around 2019, you clamored for automation in the scheduling of trucks which possibly gave birth to TTP. Now that TTP has been around, for more than five years, do you think it has done well enough for them to be given the electronic Call Up at Lekki-Epe axis to handle?
The automation system has been one of my visions. This is because I know that the system we are operating or the environment under which we are operating requires automation. For example, some years back, let’s say about 15 years ago, if we are going to the bank, we are going to the bank to spend another half of the day; if not the whole day in the bank, because there is no automation system. But when once they started operating an automated system, people going to banks to go and queue, the queue started reducing. It’s because they have embarked on an automation. There is so much believe in automation. Yes, even before Eto, we had started campaigning for automation, I’m happy you remember that we started the campaign on the need for an automation to regulate the movement of trucks. Trucks cannot just be coming to the ports without being called to come. We need a system that will regulate it. We had our own idea of how we wanted to do it. But however, why management of the Nigerian Port Authority heard about it and called another person to take it up, I don’t know. All I know is that I embrace Eto when it was introduced. Since what it has to do is what I have been clamouring for, I have no choice than to agree with them. Since then, we have started working together. Coming back to truck terminal, I believe the port cannot operate without the truck. The truck must come from somewhere. Initially, the planners of the port that is the people that built the port, know the importance of truck terminals. They made provision for where those trucks would be parking. But for some reasons by the Nigerian Ports Authority, all those places we were using as truck terminals were taken away for other business activities. That was the beginning of the problem faced by truck owners. We were chased out of the places we were using in Apapa port. About 15 years ago, you can’t come to Apapa and find a single truck outside, because we had places that we are using them as truck terminal. The earlier the Nigerian Port Authority sees reason to create a place that will serve as a marshalling yard for trucks, the better. Scheduling trucks for a fee is not the solution. It is just a temporary solution because truck must come from somewhere. Imagine a truck that leaves any other state in Nigeria, coming to port to come and load, where will they park without making a place for such a truck to park? However, on our own, we are working and trying to see how we can even start making provision for that by ourselves. I know it’s going to be capital investment that we cannot push through without the support from the government. We are waiting to meet the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy because we have discovered a place that can accommodate about 5,000 trucks within Lagos. It’s about 3 kilometers to Apapa and Tin Can Ports. But we cannot achieve it alone. We need the support of the state. So, I’m using this opportunity to let you know that we are not resting. We are not relaxing. We are also working, but we can’t do it alone. Coming back to Lekki, it’s the responsibility of the government to decide whom to give the contract, either to TTP or to another. I cannot decide that. I am not in a position to decide whom they will give the automation system to and not to us.
Do you think you are adequately carried along by the government in policy making when it has to do with truckers and the ports?
Well, in some cases, we were carried along, but not in all cases. Sometimes, in such cases when we were invited, there are some ideas and solutions that we proffer. But in their own wisdom, they may take it and at times they may reject it. What I know is that it is the person that wears the shoes that knows how and where the shoe pinches. They carry us along, but not in all cases.
You’ve been a major voice in the trucking sector for decades; perhaps the oldest voice. Are you grooming a new generation of leaders? Is there a succession plan?
The transformation and the transferring of the authority are ongoing and within a few weeks, you will get to know more about it. You can even see one of them sitting here, our General Secretary. So, he is one of those who have been a strong voice. Very soon you will get the details. I’ve told them that enough is enough, that there is time for everything. But they said, “No Baba, we still need you”. This is because experience is the best teacher; according to them. I have been letting them know that if I am in government, I would have retired. However, the people are already on ground and they have started taking over.
What would you say is your biggest frustration over the years in dealing with authorities?
Well, the biggest I would say is the inability to make adequate provision for where trucks that are coming in the port will be parking. It is unfortunate that most of the blames are being laid at the doorsteps of the drivers of the trucks. As you all know, the port is a place where I can describe as where sugar is being poured. Anywhere sugar pours, that is where you will see many ants coming from different directions to eat the sugar. And what is the sugar that has poured in the port? It is the cargo, which is why they are coming to the port which is either as import or as export. What are the ants that are coming to eat the sugar? The ants are the trucks that are coming from different states in Nigeria. So, they do say that the person that owns a truck should know or make provision for where to park his truck. There is no truck owner that does not have a place to park his truck. But can somebody that owns a truck in Kano bring his truck park to Lagos? No. Just like eateries. We all know how eateries operate. Parking space is one of the conditions by which license can be given to any eatery. If the owner of the eatery is not concerned about where you are coming from without providing a parking space, how will he make it? It is not possible. So, that is what I meant by saying that the port cannot operate without the truck because the truck must come from somewhere.
If the Government were to ask for your top three recommendations in alleviating the challenges faced in trucking business, what will they be?
Number one is the provision of befitting and modern truck marshalling yard. Number two, we need government support on how all those rickety and dilapidated trucks can be scrapped and be replaced with new ones. In this present economic situation, it is extremely difficult for one to save money to buy standard trucks. We need government intervention. Thirdly, road is very important. If the road is not truck-worthy, there is no how the truck can be roadworthy. If you buy a truck that is worth about N50 or N60 million, if you put it on the kind of road we have now, within three months, it will be nothing to write home about. So the government has to do more in fixing the road to make sure that the roads are motorable. Also, the law enforcement agencies should not see themselves as cats that are waiting to catch a rat. They should be more corrective on the road than being punitive. If a rat sees a cat, whether the cat sees the rat or not, you will see how the rat will run helter-skelter. So that’s why it’s very important that the government change the orientation of the traffic enforcement agencies.
As there been any time you have felt like stepping back in this struggle and what has kept you going over the years?
Well, I’m looking for what would be the legacy that we leave behind. Legacy is very important. Some people sat down many years ago to see how this port could be built. If they can do that, I’m also thinking what people would be saying about me. What would I leave behind as a legacy? That’s why I’m particularly on this truck business. And also, arrangement is ongoing to have our own towing truck, so that we don’t wait for government officials that will come and tow the truck and slam a bill that even the truck cannot realize in six months. So, I want to see all this happening in my lifetime. I want to see a driver driving a very standard truck. I want to see a driver wearing a suit and tie where we have more professionals coming into trucking business. I want to see a driver that will not be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They (the drivers) are into drugs and alcohol because of the hostility of the environment where they work or find themselves. Imagine a situation where a truck leaves Lilypond and it takes him two or three days to enter the port. Is it normal? Which means a truck that left Lagos going to Kano or Abuja will get to Abuja before the truck that leaves Lilypond access the port. It’s not the best. They are human beings. They will not sleep or eat well. . Then, how will they expect them to behave well? So, the port authority should consider all these and see how we can change the mindset of the community and bring support to the trucking business.
What can you say has been your legacy over the years?
One of the legacies is where you are now (Secretariat). Securing this building is my personal idea. I came into this business about six decades ago, when I left school, I started from the scratch. I started as a motor boy. I was following trucks to move from Ghana to Nigeria, to the east, north, west and south. Gradually, I became a driver. I started driving, until I started having my own truck. The first truck I bought was a very new truck, right-hand drive. We didn’t have left-hand drive in Nigeria before. I remember when Tin Can was built. There was nothing like Tin Can before. We had a port at the Marina before. I operated as a trucker in the port at the Marina, where NPA is now. Trucks do queue from there up to Mushin. The government then took a decision that anything that come in to the port in the form of Tin or Can should be taken to Tin Can port. Then we had tin of tobacco, a tin of ice-cream, a tin of so many things. There was no container in Nigeria then. All these things were coming in packages or in tins. Then, as time goes on, we started thinking on how to make sure that the environment is conducive for all of us. Then there were no associations. When we want to have a meeting, we can just call ourselves and go under a trailer and sit down. When some people were no longer listening to me and my suggestions, I had to look for a place. There was a time I used container for my office at Nnewi building. At the time, I got a place in the port until the government came to ask me to leave the place for a development they were working on. I later moved to secure this place where we started inviting the Police, VIO, and Road Safety for a meeting and training of our members. I’m happy that today we have the place of peace. We are not done yet. We are still planning on how we can improve and have a structure that will be our own building.
