Port haulage sector under siege as cabal tightens control amid corruption

The trucking sector of Nigeria’s maritime industry is now firmly controlled by an unidentified cabal, further deepening unethical practices within the trucking community.

Speaking to Vanguard on the development, Adeshina Ajibola, Head of the Technical Department of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners, AMATO, said that transparency and accountability are some of the major issues plaguing the sector, adding that most of the industry’s enemies are also within the system.

Ajibola also said that automating the entire trucking subsectors of the maritime industry will not only checkmate the growing influence of the cabal; it will also make every trucker fall in line.

He explained that an evacuation call-up costs N250,000 per truck, and a tracker with 45 trucks will rake in a total of N11,250,000 on a daily basis.

He said, “One of the problems I have with this is the inability to transparently and accountably link these top guns to the volume of jobs they have been consigned to move for a certain kind of client to give them such status as is the practice in some developed countries.

“This notwithstanding, if the suggested automation is put in place, there may be little or no need for this kind of arrangement as the efficiency of the system would ensure that all who have either been engaged on spot hire terms or contract would be able to reasonably predict when they would be scheduled to get into the port to pick the cargo they have been consigned to move for their clients.

“What these cartels are doing is that they don’t even need to deploy their trucks for those who have to make millions on a daily basis.

“Recently, I was told what a cartel makes, which is as follows: Evacuation call-up sold is 250,000. The number of trucks pushed into the port daily is 45. Cash made= N250,000 x 45 = N11,250,000.

“If he does this for 20 days in a month, he makes N11,250,000*20=N225,000,000.

Now, to make the above amount as a truck owner, assuming you have 45 trucks, you need to make a net profit of N5,000,000.

With the above, do you now understand why the vested interest is firmly rooted and resisting the call for full automation?

Sooner or later, the cartel would have enough money and clout to buy its way and silence almost everyone.

“I only pity the average trucker who is used as a pawn in the rat race of suffering and smiling. God and posterity would judge all on this matter.

“If this full automation is not birthed, no matter how they try to vary the SOP, the loopholes would be there for the taking.

I am not one of the lots that can be fooled. Yes, we could quickly improvise, but we must, in earnest, scale up the quasi-automatic we currently have to give everyone a level playing field.”

Similarly, the President of the Council of Maritime Unions and Associations (COMTUA), Mr. Yinka Aroyewun, stated that the call-up system managed by Truck Transit Parks Limited on behalf of the Nigerian Ports Authority operates without human interference, making it susceptible to manipulation and corruption.

Aroyewun also said that no truck owner should receive preferential treatment under any circumstances, adding that the call-up system has completely collapsed.

He said, “We do not need anybody to let us know that the call-up system has never worked and will not work. If you say something is a queueing system devoid of human interference, then there is no need to give preferential treatment to anybody under a y identity.

“We came about evacuation to satisfy some people and to make it easier for them to move their trucks to terminals on a preferential basis.

How did we come about military trucks? It is still the same preference. So, the call-up system has completely collapsed. The only thing they are doing now is to ensure that anybody who goes into the ports goes through them.

“They do on their terms to the extent that call-up ticket is now sold for between N250,000 and N300,000. I can tell you that it is free because it has been happening for the last month.

“That was why we said we would not be part of the proposed strike; the strike was targeted at the wrong body. The enforcement team of the Lagos State Government comes to arrest vehicles that are blocking the roads, working against the time belt and not having genuine call-up tickets.

“So if the enforcement team come and they are still seeing vehicles to arrest, it means the call-up system is not working, and we should rather address the call-up system.

“What happened to the garage where over 150 fake number plates were found? What is the outcome of the investigation? Who has sanctioned it? Nobody?

So the cabal has actually hijacked the system that was not working to enrich themselves further.”