It is not often that a billion-dollar announcement lands like a sea breeze. Yet in Lagos last week, the air around Apapa and Tin Can Island felt charged with promise and a rare note of optimism from Nigeria’s waterfront, where gridlock and decay have long defined the skyline.
The federal government has approved $1 billion (N1.4 trillion) to modernise the two Lagos ports, the country’s busiest gateways. The project was awarded to ITB Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, and aims to replace chaos with capacity. For once, it seems, Nigeria’s trade arteries may get the unclogging they’ve begged for.
Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola announced the approval at a logistics conference in Lagos, describing the plan as the cornerstone of a paperless, technology-driven future. The goal: shorter vessel turnaround times, less corruption, and an end to the Dickensian delays that have long frustrated shippers and traders.
The Chagoury name is hardly new to Nigeria’s infrastructure story. Gilbert Chagoury, the Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire behind ITB, has spent half a century building the country’s concrete dreams, from Eko Atlantic City, the futuristic enclave rising from reclaimed land, to the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. His latest venture repositions him, once again, as Lagos’s unofficial builder-in-chief.
This port upgrade dovetails with Nigeria’s larger maritime revival. Lekki Deep Sea Port, now operational, is pulling in vessels too large for Apapa to handle. Together, these projects could make Lagos the region’s trade capital, drawing cargo from ports in Benin, Togo, and Ghana.
If all goes well, Nigeria could reclaim its long-lost title as West Africa’s logistics leader.
Still, the sea remembers. Port reform has sunk before under the weight of bureaucracy and bad roads. The real test will come when the dredgers leave and the customs officers stay. For now, a billion dollars signals intent and, possibly, the first ripple of renewal.
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