Heartbroken Nigerian Laments Over ‘The Evil That Resides At Apapa Port’
Amidst the current issues surrounding the present gridlock at port community of Apapa, Lagos State, a Nigerian has lamented how the gridlock cost a business N90 million loss.
In a series of tweet via his twitter handle, one Kolade (@kpumpin) described the situation as a kind of evil in Nigeria.
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In his narration, Kolade said his friends whose names he did not reveal, had received an order for Nigerian agricultural produce from Europe. They identified farms all over Nigeria and retained experts to certify the produce and paid.
They however ran into loss after the produce spent about six months before arriving destination.
According to him, the delay was due to the gridlock at the Apapa amongst other reasons such as the general inefficiency and lackadaisical attitude of the hundreds of port officials.
He said “there are several kinds of evil in Nigeria. I will address the one that currently resides at the Apapa Port. I was at a meeting last night with 2 young and agile Nigerians in the business of timber & agric produce export. They got a credit line, and started off with zeal.
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“They employed staff, acquired industry capacity and got orders for Nigerian agric produce from Europe. The orders came with specifications as to quality and all… They identified farms all over Nigeria and retained experts to certify the produce. Paid, and off the produce went.
“First to their warehouse in Shagamu, and then loaded into containers for export through Apapa Port. The story of the countless extortion by several govt agencies along the way is for another day! The journey from Sagamu to the Holding Terminal in Apapa took 15 days.
“With the backlog caused by the delay at the port together the general inefficiency and lackadaisical attitude of the hundreds of port officials, my guys containers were loaded into a vessel after 12 weeks of departure from Sagamu! Add that to 3 weeks sail time to Portsmouth.
“By the time the containers landed at its destination Port, the chemical component of the produce had changed. Everything was immediately impounded by the Produce Quality Control inspectors, and recommended for immediate destruction! The company lost N90m!
“An order which ought to have been delivered in 6 to 8 weeks, went on for almost 6 months… Now they are unable to repay their creditors! Thanks to inefficiency in Nigeria, and the complete breakdown of Apapa! The younger one mentioned that he relocates to Canada next week.”
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