Senior Advocate of Nigeria and maritime expert, Olisa Agbakoba, has questioned ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the Apapa Port, arguing that Nigeria should instead maximize the potential of newer maritime infrastructure like the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
Agbakoba made the remarks during an interview from 1:07 on Sahara TV, where he assessed the country’s port development strategy and criticized what he described as misplaced priorities in the sector.
During the interview, he emphasized that the emergence of the Lekki Deep Sea Port has fundamentally changed Nigeria’s maritime landscape, making continued heavy investment in Apapa less necessary. “We have a deep sea port in Lekki. We don’t need Apapa. Apapa should be if at all an inland port. But they want to repair something that is dead,” Agbakoba stated.
He argued that Apapa, once Nigeria’s busiest port located in Lagos, has suffered years of congestion, infrastructural decay, and limited expansion capacity due to its urban location. According to him, converting it into an inland logistics hub would be a more practical use of the facility rather than attempting costly rehabilitation.
Agbakoba further noted that modern deep-sea ports like Lekki are better suited to accommodate larger vessels and improve efficiency in cargo handling, positioning Nigeria to compete more effectively in global maritime trade….Read_More…