The General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara has clarified that the Eto call up system as currently in operation at Lagos ports is not essentially to address gridlock as believed in some quarters.
It will be recalled that stakeholders under the aegis of Coalition of Eastern Maritime stakeholders, in an emergency meeting held in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, insisted that the system, as far as they it is concerned, was borne out of the desire to decongest Lagos ports.
The coalition made up of leaders of the associations such ANLCA, NAGAFF, APFFLON, National Council of Managing Directors of Customs Licensed Agents, Transport Units of Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Importers Association, AREFFN among others, believed that such a system didn’t get the desired objectives, as Lagos ports, according to available information, are still battling with congestion.
However, in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos recently, Onyemekara explained that the Eto call up system was essentially to automate the ports in order to make them more efficient and seamless, which according to him, was the way to go all over the world.
His words, “Eto system is not essentially to address gridlock, it’s essentially to automate a system. Automation is not about gridlock, it’s about making it more efficient and seamless, not because there’s gridlock. That’s the way to go all over the world.
“So, if we are automating our processes, to the extent that we want to automate our delivery or discharge processes, that’s the way to go. So, it has nothing to do with gridlock, no, not at all.”
Informing that One port would soon kickstart the Eto call up system, the NPA spokesman said, “We have said it severally and there’s no how we can set up this thing without having a stakeholders’ engagement because we need their buy-in. So, that’s part of what we have been doing as an organization. We try to engage the stakeholders, let them know this is for their own benefit and that is the truth. Automation is for everybody’s benefit.
“So, if you are a genuine trade facilitator, you will embrace it with all your hands because it makes things easier for you.”
Speaking on the alleged inability of the Eto call up managers, the Truck Transit Parks to maintain the tempo in recent times, he said, “In all fairness to them, they have been the ones handling the issue of gridlock and the more they strengthen their processes, the better for them. They are also in business, so, they cannot lose their guard rather the expectations are getting higher for them. Maybe when they started, the expectations were high, there’s a greater level of demand on them to improve on their efficiency and performance. So, they should up their game, that’s all.
“Yes, they should up their game, they should not lose their guard because if they lose their guard, they will lose their business.”
On the pockets of complains from stakeholders against the operations of the company and the perceived racketeering around the Eto call up tickets, Onyemekara posited that “It is those who are enjoying those pockets of extortion that are the ones that are still looking for means to subvert the processes that are being streamlined in this thing. They are the ones fighting automation because automation keeps them away. If you don’t have anything face to face to do, how are you going to find any business to do with all this extortion?
“Three days ago, it was in the media that we carried out a three day security clearance on that port corridor. Like I said, it’s a continuous process. If we are not responsive to our responsibilities, we have been having complaints of gross extortions, people stealing. If you look around, there are many shanties along the lines, those shanties are housing some of those guys. That’s why we undertook a three day security clearance by the Nigerian Ports Authority, the MD gave that directive so that wherever those people are hiding, and then causing this nuisance, the moment we dislodge them they will know that the government is up and alive to its responsibility.
“That’s why I said that we need to be constructive in whatever we want to do. If you have any because we have had that issue, extortion here and there, pockets of shanties which should not be, hence we took steps immediately to clear the whole place and we made it very difficult, of course, they spent money to raise up those shanties, if we destroy it, do you know how much it will cost them to raise it back?
Photo: Mr. Ikechukwu Onyemekara, General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, NPA.
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