How politics around port reforms hampers Nigeria’s economic growth

…As Gov Eno’s hope on Ibom Deep seaport hangs in the balance

Nigeria’s port system is a paradox of potential and paralysis. With six major seaports spread across its coastline, the country should be a maritime powerhouse in West Africa. Instead, political interests, policy neglect, and infrastructure decay have concentrated almost all trade in Lagos, creating chronic congestion, driving up costs, and weakening the nation’s competitiveness in global markets.

The weight of Lagos

Nigeria has six major seaports, the Lagos Port Complex (Apapa), Tin Can Island Port (TCIP), Onne Port, Rivers Port, Warri Port, and Calabar Port, alongside smaller and privately operated terminals. But in reality, the nation’s trade lifeline rests almost entirely on Lagos.

According to 2024 data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Apapa alone processed 91.86% of Nigeria’s exports and 63.37% of imports. Tin Can handled another modest share, while the remaining four ports collectively accounted for less than 5% of exports.

“No nation has built sustained economic growth this way,” Kelvin Emmanuel, an economic analyst, said in an interview. “How do you build an economy when the smallest state by landmass, with the highest per capita income and the highest population, has the only fully functioning seaport in Nigeria?”

For Simon Samson, Economics lecturer at Baze University Abuja and chief economist at ARKK Economics and Data Limited, the risks are systemic.

“Nigeria’s over-reliance on Lagos ports would lead to these ports being congested with higher logistics costs, hence exorbitant prices for Nigerians,” he said.

“Furthermore, Nigeria becomes susceptible to shocks in these ports and ultimately loss in business because many would opt for alternative ports in the region to avoid the long queues, delays, charges, and other problems associated with Apapa and Tin Can.”

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The Calabar conundrum

Consider Calabar Port, Nigeria’s first deep seaport and once a vibrant gateway to global trade. Today, it is a ghost facility. In 2024, its port manager, Olumati Festus, confirmed that not a single container vessel had docked there in 25 years. Shallow channels and crumbling access roads have driven shippers away, while federal investment has been minimal.

“You can’t expect operators to go there when their vessels can’t even enter,” a local logistics manager who does not want his name mentioned said. “It’s like having an airport where planes can’t land.”

Onne Port in Rivers State sits on strategic shipping lanes, yet it is largely restricted to oil and gas logistics. This federal designation sidelines its potential as a general cargo hub, an irony in a country desperate to diversify away from oil.

The Ibom Deep Seaport stalemate

Perhaps, the most telling case is the Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom. With the shortest distance to deep-sea routes of any Nigerian port, it should be a linchpin of the country’s maritime future. The project has full regulatory clearance from the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), but years have passed without federal greenlighting.

Political insiders suggest that Governor Umo Eno’s defection from the opposition PDP to the ruling APC was partly to secure Abuja’s backing for the port’s development, a reminder of how political alignments often determine infrastructure priorities.

“Why is the federal government not pushing Ibom Deep Seaport with the same urgency it gave to Lekki Deep Seaport?” Emmanuel queried.

On several occasions, Governor Eno had said that the Ibom deep seaport was a very important project that the Federal Government should not ignore.

“We are confident that Mr. President understands the importance of this project, and we look forward to working closely with the federal government to make it a reality.

“Ibom deep seaport has the deepest wharf that will bring in the ship and we can ship from that point.

“Again, Lagos is there. But you know Lagos is congested, that is no story. So, you need a deep seaport that will take care of the South-East, South-South, if you like, the Niger Delta region,” he said.

After his defection to the APC, he announced that it was time to reap the full benefit of joining the centre and that he was sure the President would do the right thing.

When politics trumps economics

For Samson, the underlying problem is political will. “Successive governments have failed at comprehensive port reforms despite the benefits because the priority for Nigeria has always been the revenue that can be gotten in the short run, despite that being suboptimal. Moreover, those benefiting from these suboptimal ports would stop at nothing to entrench these failures.”

Experts agree that the lack of decentralisation and modernisation is costing Nigeria billions in lost trade and investment.

“If you look at the numbers, Lagos ports are beyond their optimal capacity,” the logistics manager, earlier quoted, explained. “The congestion drives up the cost of goods, delays exports, and makes Nigeria less competitive compared to regional rivals.”

Globally, the contrast is glaring. The United States and China each operate dozens of commercial ports. Even smaller economies like the Netherlands and Singapore have transformed port systems into engines of growth. Nigeria, with over 200 million people, leans almost entirely on one city.

The economic cost

The Lagos-centric model has far-reaching consequences: Higher consumer prices due to delays and inflated logistics costs. Investment deterrence as manufacturers avoid areas without efficient ports and also regional inequality with coastal states like Cross River and Delta missing out on maritime-driven growth.

In 2022, the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) disclosed that over 65% of cargo arriving in Lagos ultimately ends up in Onitsha and Aba, yet these regions have no functional seaport. The cost disparity is staggering: importing a 40-foot container from Guangzhou to Lagos can be cheaper than trucking it from Lagos to Aba.

What reform could unlock

“Make all ports, sea, dry, and river, commercially viable by dredging those on water and fixing all the roads leading to them,” Samson urged the authorities. “Provide at other ports whatever makes people go to neighbouring countries’ ports. Deploy PPPs, privatisation, or commercialisation to accelerate the take-off of these ports. And run all ports transparently and strictly based on competence.”

If implemented, such reforms could create thousands of jobs, reduce congestion, cut trade costs, and boost Nigeria’s export competitiveness, especially in agriculture and manufacturing.

“The private sector is ready to invest,” the manager said, “but they need policy consistency, transparent regulation, and the assurance that projects won’t be stalled by political rivalries.”

For decades, port policy in Nigeria has been shaped less by economic logic and more by political calculation. The result is a lopsided, fragile system that strains Lagos, sidelines other regions, and stifles national growth.

Until the federal government treats port reform as an economic imperative, free from political bargaining, Nigeria will remain stuck in a maritime bottleneck of its own making.

The ships will keep queuing in Lagos. The roads will stay clogged. And the country’s dreams of becoming a global trade powerhouse will remain anchored offshore.