Apapa Port Complex also known as the Lagos Port Complex is Nigeria's largest and busiest port complex. The complex consist of a number of facilities including Apapa quays, Third Apapa Wharf Extension, Apapa Dockyard, Apapa Petroleum Wharf, Bulk Vegetable Oil Wharf,
Ijora Wharf, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal, and Lily pond inland container terminal.
Financed and built by the
colonial government of Nigeria, It became the nation's busiest port for exporting agricultural produce from the provinces of Western and Northern Nigeria in the late 1920s. Administration was transferred to the Nigerian government upon the granting of self-government and In 2005, the complex was divided into terminals and
contracted out to private operators with NPA acting as the landlord and regulator.
History
A major factor that led to the creation of
Apapa Port Complex was the completion of the
Western railway with Lagos as the main terminus, thereafter, a need arose for a facility to load and discharge goods in either direction of Western Nigeria and the
Northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ra ...
provinces.
But at the time, much of the natural
harbours
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
within
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
were not conducive for ships due to the presence of a natural
sandbar
In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body o ...
and heavy tides, this barrier sometimes caused goods to Lagos to be diverted to the calmer entrance of
Forcados. In 1906, a large capital expenditure was budgeted for the
dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
of Lagos harbor and the construction of two stone
moles Moles can refer to:
*Moles de Xert, a mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Valencian Community, Spain
*The Moles (Australian band)
*The Moles, alter ego of Scottish band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
People
*Abraham Moles, French engineer ...
to facilitate access to ocean going vessels, in 1913, the engineering works were completed and ocean going shipping vessels had access to the Lagos harbour. In 1919, a 180-foot wharf was extended to Apapa, a location that had been decided will be the terminus for the Western railway. In 1926, following the completion of four berths totaling 1,800 ft in length, Apapa began to dominate the other
wharves
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
at
Iddo and
Lagos Island
Lagos Island (''Ìsàlẹ̀ Èkó'') is the principal and central local government area (LGA) in Lagos, it was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a pop ...
otherwise as Customs wharf in the shipment of export goods.
Between 1928 and 1929, it handled 201,307 tonnes of exports goods,
and between 1937 and 1938, Apapa wharf handled about 370,000 tonnes of cargo, in 1953, it handled close to 700,000 tonnes.
After the end of World War II, additional engineering works led to the
reclamation
Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back".
It may refer to:
* Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds
* Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...
of land for ground facilities such as passenger terminals, cargo sheds and custom facilities.
During this period, control of the port complex was diffused, the Marine department was in charge of maintaining passage, storage and berthing of ships, private shipping firms performed
lightering Lightering (also called lighterage) is the process of transferring cargo between vessels of different sizes, usually between a barge (lighter) and a bulker or oil tanker. Lightering is undertaken to reduce a vessel's draft so it can enter port facil ...
services while the railway corporation also performed port operations at its terminus.
The rise of movement of goods by road put a strain on the existing road infrastructure and a new outlet was constructed to link Apapa through
Mushin to Ibadan and further up-north.
Beginning in 1956, the newly formed NPA began to expand the number of berths within the complex, adding an additional six berthing space. This extension of the wharf was completed in 1961. A second extension was completed during the first national development plan between 1962 and 1968. The increased space caused the port to further lead in cargo handling and by the end of 1966, it handled a cargo load of 1.9 million tonnes. After the second extension, the land area of the wharf was about 100 hectares with the ability to handle twenty loading or discharging vessels at a time. A third extension along the
Badagry
Badagry (traditionally Gbagli) also spelled Badagri, is a coastal town and Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is quite close to the city of Lagos, and located on the north bank of Porto Novo Creek, an inland waterway that con ...
creek was completed in 1979. The authorities created facilities for loading and discharging bulk cement and grains.
Today
The
Nigerian Ports Authority owned and administered operations in Lagos Port Complex from 1956 until it was concessioned in 2005. During this period most of the services within the port were performed by NPA with the exception of stevedoring and manufacturing. In 2005, the complex was divided into multiple terminals and sold to private operators to manage for a set number of years.
Traffic
When the deep water
berths of Apapa
quays
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...
was completed in 1926, it was envisioned that a large amount of traffic would be by rail.
However, as the port grew and trucks became the preferred means of transporting goods to and from the port, traffic gridlock caused by trucks parking on the roadside became a regular occurrence.
[(December 2, 2018 Sunday). Apapa: Travails of a former Government Reserved Area. Nigerian Tribune. Retrieved from Nexis ]
References
{{reflist
Water transport infrastructure in Lagos