The ports have also suffered from the restriction of 41 items from accessing the official foreign exchange window by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Signals that Nigeria was on a journey to recession came early in 2016 when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that the country recorded a decline of N793.5bn in the first quarter merchandise trade to close at N2.72trillion from N3.51trillion in the fourth quarter of 2015, the first time in the last seven years.
The bureau attributed the decline in the first quarter activity to a sharp drop in both import and export trades.
Data at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) showed that 341 vessels entered Nigeria in September 2016, the lowest in nine months and a fall from 400 recorded in August 2016.
Cargo throughput also dropped from 6.3 million metric tonnes in January 2016 to 5.6 million in September, which is also the lowest in the year.
The statistics also showed that a total of 3,347 ocean-going vessels have called at Nigeria’s shores so far in 2016, estimated at about 100,152,274 metric tons.
The breakdown showed that the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, received 318 vessels in the third quarter as against 301 in the second quarter.
Tin Can Island Ports received 406 vessels in the third quarter, against 368 in the last quarter; Rivers Ports, 80 ships against 84 in the previous quarter; Onne received 152 vessels against 163; Calabar Port, 51 against 52; while Delta Port received 132 against 109.
Experts have blamed the drop in cargo volume and huge loss of revenue by port and terminal operators on the import – substitution policies of the federal government which have discouraged import of many products.
National President, National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Mr. Lucky Amiwero, said the current hike in import duty on vehicles in 2014/2015 from 10 per cent to 35 per cent with an additional surcharge of 35 per cent, bringing the total tariff to 70 per cent, has negatively impacted operations at the port and led to massive revenue and job loss.
He said the arbitrary import duty hike led to the diversion of vessels carrying vehicles to the ports of neighbouring West African countries, thereby boosting operations in those ports – especially the Port of Cotonou – at the expense of Nigerian ports.
The development has also negatively affected the operations of dockworkers, licensed customs agents, freight forwarders, truckers and others.
According to him, the reduction of activities by 70 per cent in the operation of terminal operators who pay the federal government based on cargo, through earnings and shipping companies, has drastically affected their activities.
At present, Nigerian ports have lost about 80 per cent of their vehicle cargo as a result of this hike, which has done more harm than good to the economy.
It has promoted smuggling and led to huge loss of government and private sector revenue to the advantage of the ports of neighbouring countries.
