In a bid to increase Nigeria’s exports, the Lagos airport’s cargo terminal is being transformed, with nearly 90 per cent of the registration phase completed.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria is spearheading this reform, which could enable the nation to increase its share in the global cargo work market.
The Global Market Insight had put the size of air cargo worldwide at $185bn, with Nigeria sharing a meagre portion of this market owing to various reasons.
The Head of the Cargo Department in FAAN at the Murtala Muhammad Airport, John Ogbe, explained that at the centre of the initiative is a plan to digitalise and control access to the cargo terminal, as well as confront the obvious bottleneck processes for exportation via the air means of transportation, particularly in an outward direction.
FAAN had commenced the clearing of the cargo village at the airport with significant advancement toward the actualisation of its dream cargo village.
Ogbe said very soon, every individual requiring entry would be registered and undergo biometric capture, creating a centralised database.
“This biometric access will determine who enters and exits, starting right from the main gate,” he said.
He added that the system aims to bring order and efficiency, “Trucks will only be allowed into the facility if they present verified cargo documents or an airway bill. Without these, entry is denied. It’s not just about control.”
The official emphasised that “it’s about streamlining trade facilitation. Right now, perishable goods often sit for one to three weeks before they’re shipped, sometimes they rot before they even leave.”
According to him, this disarray has long stifled Nigeria’s export potential.
But with the newly structured system, FAAN believes proper exports can finally take root.
“This is bigger than logistics. It’s about repositioning the country. The federal government wants to shift from oil dependence to non-oil exports. If we get this right, Nigeria can start earning real foreign exchange.
“Currently, Nigeria’s trade balance tells a troubling story. The import warehouse is so jam-packed, you won’t even find space to walk. The country imports everything, even toothpicks and, shockingly, sand. I have seen someone bring in sand to build his house. Even meat is flown at night from South Africa,” the FAAN official said.
Meanwhile, cargo experts believe that FAAN’s move is not in the interest of trade but an attempt to take control of the village.
The Deputy President of Air and Logistics, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Dr Segun Musa, dismissed the claim that the attempt to clear the aviation village was for economic benefit; rather, he said it was for FAAN’s benefit.
Musa recalled that the government had ceded the aviation terminal to the union at a time when the village was uninhabitable.
He accused FAAN of attempting to explore a disagreement between one of the existing associations at the cargo village to evict all the workers within the village.
He said, “For us, FAAN is only trying to play on the intelligence of Nigerians. The cargo village was not just granted, we requested and negotiated for it. And it took the intervention of the Federal Government for that place to be granted to us, and at that time, it was an environment that wasn’t habitable. We did a lot of work and spent hundreds of millions to make it what it is today.
“The reason they are trying to come out with this kind of action is because a particular association has an internal crisis, and that cargo village has about five associations. How do you want to evacuate everybody just because of one association? There is the possibility that some people are trying to take that place in exchange for money from FAAN. It is just about money, they just wanted to explore the little rancour to send us out of that place. That is not about development but the urge for money.”
