The Federal Government has launched the Nigerian Shippers’ Council’s Enterprise Content Management System to digitise document handling in the maritime sector. The Marine and Blue Economy Ministry says it will improve transparency and reduce bottlenecks.
NAFDAC has reiterated warnings against the importation of prohibited food items, stressing that offenders will face enforcement actions. The agency says the restrictions are tied to public-health safeguards and compliance with national food-safety standards. The warning fits into a broader posture of tightening border and market surveillance as regulators confront rising health risks linked to substandard and non-compliant consumables. (Source: The Punch, Dec 6, 2025.)
Commercial operations at the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos Free Zone (LFZ) will begin in the first quarter of 2023, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, Tolaram Group, the frontline investor handling the project gave the assurance on Friday.
The Governor and members of the State’s cabinet are currently on a two-day working tour of the three free trade zones established in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos.
The port, which is being constructed by China Habour Engineering firm, is occupying 90 hectares in the entire 830 hectares of land carved out for the Lagos Free Zone, created in 2012 to enhance economic position of Lagos as manufacturing and logistics hub in West Africa.
The first phase of the seaport project, which is being financed by $629 million facility from China Development Bank (CDB), is at 48 per cent completion.
After going through the project master plan, Sanwo-Olu said his administration remained committed to delivering project, stressing that the deep seaport and other investments happening in the corridor had the potential to increase the State’s GDP in multiple folds.
He said: “Given the report I got and what I have seen here, I can say that Lagos Free Zone has made tremendous improvement. We have seen the level of partnership Tolaram Group is bringing in terms of international investment and local brands on this corridor.
“I commend all stakeholders that are with us on this journey we have found ourselves. With the level of work we have seen, I’m truly excited. It is more gratifying that, we are taking up this assignment with all energies required and we all can see what we can achieve when we work together.
“Since we signed a loan agreement less than 18 months ago, we have demonstrated strong capability in bringing the project to reality. This is the first quarter of 2021 and we have seen the project in about 48 per cent completion. The investors have given us the commitment on first quarter of 2023 completion date. We will fulfill all our parts to make sure this date becomes reality.”
Sanwo-Olu, who noted that he had been part of the conversation for the development of the free zones as a Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in 2006, said his administration had recorded significant progress in bringing the projects to reality.
The Governor said the priority accorded to the construction of complementary infrastructure projects along the corridor was a demonstration of his Government’s fulfillment of its pledge to Lagos residents. He promised the State would work with the timeline to ensure all projects mapped out in the zones are deliver.
Sanwo-Olu said the size of the deep seaport will allow 18,000 TEU capacity vessels, which are four times bigger than the ones berthing at Apapa seaports, thereby scaling down the cost of container transportation from any part of the world.
He said: “The interesting part is that, our youths and young women will be the beneficiaries of this project. The project managers have engaged large number of our citizens in the construction parts of the work; all personnel are not expatriates. All the technical work and technology deployed have local component to it.
“For us a Government, this is the strongest point we have made with the project. I am fully convinced that the delivery of this project will transform commercial architecture of West Africa and bring about quick turnaround time in maritime sector.”
When it is completed, the deep seaport is expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa.
Chief Executive Officer of Lagos Free Zone, Mr. Dinesh Rathi, said Tolaram Group, a Singaporean coy, initiated a $2 billion investment in the Lagos Free Zone, out of which the investor committed $950 million to developing manufacturing hub in the zone.
When the deep seaport is completed, Rathi said the maritime project was expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents, and would serve as alternative in an effort to decongest the Federal Government-owned seaports in Apapa.
Chairman of Lagos Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Biodun Dabiri, hailed the State Government for its commitment towards changing face of commerce in Africa, stressing that all statutory permits, licenses and endorsement for the Lekki port project were already secured.
“There is strong guarantee that the port will be delivered before time, going by the inflow of capital investment and technical services,” Dabiri said.
The Governor and his entourage also visited Africa’s second largest manufacturing plant of Kellogg Tolaram, manufacturer of cornflakes, which is built in Lagos Free Zone. The Governor toured the processing unit of the firm and inspected the production chain.
Also joining the Government’s team in the tour are the Chief Executive Officer of Lekki Freeport LFZ, Mr Du Ruogang, and Head of Marketing for LFZ, Ms. Chinju Udora, among others.
CAPTION:
PIX 1 L-R: C.E.O, Lagos Free Zone, Mr. Dinesh Rathi; Director, Lekki Port; Alhaji Bode Oyedele; Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman, Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Abiodun Dabiri; Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande; Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce & Industry, Mr. Oladele Ajayi and Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 2 L-R: Chief Technical Officer, Lekki Port, Mr. Steven Heukelom; Managing Director, Lekki Port, Mr. Du Ruogang; Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello; Chairman, Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Abiodun Dabiri and Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande, during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 3 L-R: Chairman, Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Abiodun Dabiri, Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Chief Technical Officer, Lekki Port, Mr. Steven Heukelom during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 4: Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, pointing to a place of interest on the Lekki Port architectural presentation board during his working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 5 L-R: Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce & Industry, Mr. Oladele Ajayi; Managing Director, Lekki Port, Mr. Du Ruogang, presents a pictorial frame of the Lekki Port to Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Chairman, Lekki Free Zone Development Company, Mr. Abiodun Dabiri and Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande, during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 6 R-L: Managing Director, Lekki Port, Mr. Du Ruogang; Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande; Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce & Industry, Mr. Oladele Ajayi; Commissioners for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako and others during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 7 R-L: Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Managing Director, Lekki Port, Mr. Du Ruogang and Chief Technical Officer, Lekki Port, Mr. Steven Heukelom during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 8 L-R: Deputy Managing Director, Lekki Free Zone Development Company (LFZDC), Mr. Emmanuel Balogun; Commissioner for Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs) Lola Akande; Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Managing Director of LFZDC, Mr. Huang Xigong; Executive Director, Finance & Administration, Mrs. Yemi Olusunya; Assistant General Manager, Stakeholders’ Management, Mr. Emmanuel Aguda and Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, during the Governor’s working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone at Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
PIX 9: Aerial view of the ongoing Lekki Port project inspected by Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu during his working visit to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, on Friday, March 19, 2021.
To reaffirm its status as the biggest cement producer in Africa, Dangote Cement has set the pace with the exportation of 27,800 metric tonnes of clinker to a neighbouring African country, Senegal.
With this historic maiden voyage from its Export Terminal located in Apapa Port, Lagos at the weekend, Dangote has gradually made Nigeria, which until recently was one of the world’s largest bulk importers of cement, first self-sufficient in cement production, and now an exporter of cement clinker to other countries.
The exportation of clinker from the Dangote Cement Export Terminal would also place Nigeria as one of the leading clinker exporters in the world. The company is expected to increase the quantity of clinker export to other African countries within the next few weeks.
It said this development would enable Dangote Cement take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and by so doing contribute to the improvement of intra-regional trade within the ECOWAS region.
Speaking during the departure of the ship conveying clinker from the Export Terminal at the weekend, Group Executive Director, Dangote Group, Alhaji Sada Ladan-Baki, said the increased exportation of clinker and cement to other African countries would not only place Dangote Cement among top clinker exporters in the world, but would also boost Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and reduce unemployment in the country.
“The beauty of what we have done is that we are going to be generating foreign exchange for the country in terms of dollars and Euros. For every batch of clinker we export, the money comes back to Nigeria. The amount we are talking about is not small.
“Presently, Dangote Cement should either be number one or number two exporter of cement in Africa and the revenue we have generated in the form of foreign exchange is running into millions. Today, we have formally launched the Dangote Cement Export Terminal. We are still going to do another major launch when the second ship is going out of the country,” he added.
Alhaji Ladan-Baki recalled that only a few years ago, Nigeria was one of the world’s largest bulk importers of cement, saying that “Dangote has gradually made Nigeria self-sufficient in cement production as well as an exporter of clinker to other countries.”
He disclosed that the company would also be launching its export terminal in Onne in the next few days, adding that the export terminal would enable the company export clinker, initially to its grinding facility in Cameroon and then to new grinding plants the company is building across West Africa.
Ladan-Baki explained that not only would this generate useful foreign currency for Dangote Cement to support other expansion projects outside Nigeria, it would also help to increase the output of the Nigerian plants, saying these would help to improve job creation and increase prosperity in Nigeria.
According to him, “This terminal will assist Dangote to actualise the full potential of the company’s investment in cement. You know as usual, when the rain comes, sales decline, but not clinker export. This feat by Dangote is going to generate a lot of jobs because the Export Terminal has already created jobs to many Nigerians.
“As at now, the numbers of employed Nigerians at the terminal have reached 100. We are targeting about 200 to 300 workers in Lagos Terminal alone.
“But, apart from job creation opportunities, the exportation of clinker by Dangote will position the country to participate fully in the Africa Free Trade Liberalisation Agreement when it comes into being, so that Nigeria will be protected against foreign products. It will also help the country compete effectively with every country that are in the business of exportation of clinker. At Dangote Cement, we are going about it aggressively and we are seeing it as an opportunity.”
Alhaji Ladan-Baki said the company has also concluded plans to increase its clinker and cement export to other countries. “This vessel, being the maiden ship is exporting 27,800 metric tonnes to Senegal and this is just a tip of the ice-berg as to what we have in plan. What we have in plan is to send clinker from Nigeria to Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana. Cameroon as an example, takes about 82,000 metric tonnes every month. Our target is to export at least 4 million metric tonnes of clinker annually to various parts of Africa.
“That is our target that we hope to achieve within the next one to two years. This particular voyage is going to our sister company in Senegal. We have an integrated plant of 1.5 million tonnes and this one is expected to give the plant additional clinker that is required for the plant to sustain production. In the next one week or two, we are going to be shipping 82,000 metric tonnes to Cameroon in batches of about 25,000 to 29,000 metric tonnes per voyage,” he added.
The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) has commended Dangote Cement for leading the way for Nigeria to become one of the biggest cement and clinker exporter in the world.
Speaking on Dangote’s achievement, MAN Acting Director-General, Chuma Oruche, praised the wealthiest man in Africa, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for leading the way in the export of product from Nigeria to other countries.
According to him, this feat by Dangote Cement is capable of boosting Nigeria’s foreign earning and reduce unemployment in the country.
He said: “The export of clinker by Dangote Cement at the weekend will definitely be beneficial to Nigerian economy in terms of export earnings, job creation and wealth creation for families connected with these achievements.”
The Federal Government has been advised to decentralize Lagos ports in order to achieve efficiency in the sector and solve the perennial gridlock on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway, which continues to cripple economic activities and make life difficult for residents of the State.
The Chairman, Association of Corporate Governance Professionals, Sam Ohuabunwa made this call in a chat at his Maryland home in Lagos. He said that a long lasting solution to the hardship that is being experienced on the road by Lagos residents is to decentralize Lagos ports and get other ports in the South South and the recently inaugurated dry port in Kaduna functional.
Ohuabunwa decried the lack of will by government in bringing sanity back to the Apapa-Oshodi road. He said ‘everyone’ is forced to use the Apapa port because it is the only port that is allowed to function and service the entire nation.
“Nigeria has Port Harcourt port, Calabar port, Onne Port, Warri port; why are they not being put to use? Everyone is forced to come to Lagos port; it is the port with the best facility, why?” Ohuabunwa said.
The former CEO of Neimeth Pharmaceuticals PLC said that the use of the Lagos Port and the neglect of others in the east dates back to the Nigeria civil war, which started in 1967 and ended in 1970.
Ohuabunwa said: “It was like a policy, during the war, those eastern ports were shut understandably so that arms couldn’t go to Biafra. Since the war ended, we have maintained a form of discrimination against those ports. Some of them have become so shallow, government says it has no money and they are not willing to properly privatise the ports so that people with money can come and deepen the ports.
“I think that the issue is that government should decentralise port operations. If government says in the next six months nobody should open Apapa or Lagos ports, the place will change. Or remove some of those restrictions that are making it more difficult to do business in other ports.”
It is obvious that the traffic constraint as a result of activities in Lagos ports is not the only issue to worry about. The trickledown effect on infrastructures like road and especially some bridges in Lagos is of critical concern as Ohuabunwa stated.
He said: “It is just that everybody is coming to Lagos. Do you see the vehicles occupying the streets? Do you see where stationary trucks stay on bridges for months? You think that’s a normal thing? Bridges that are supposed to carry transient weight are carrying static weight and not only blocking traffic but also damaging those infrastructures. Wait until a few years and we shall see the impact of these static weights these flyovers are carrying. It is irresponsible governance; I have not seen anything like it.”
Traffic gridlock along the ports in Lagos, especially around Apapa and the indiscriminate packing of trucks on the highways, including bridges has become a menace that has defied government interventions. Last July, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had ordered a 72-hour operation to remove trucks parked indiscriminately and restore order in the area. But in less than three months, the wrath and perennial gridlock persist.
Some road users who spoke to The Guardian said the order didn’t go far because security and traffic management personnel in charge were inefficient and corrupt. They also noted that one critical underlying factor causing the menace – bad roads has not been fixed.
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