By Godwin Oritse

The Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) has declared its support for the renewal of the contract of Truck Transit Park Limited (TTP), operators of the eto electronic call-up system, citing the need to sustain effective traffic management.

AMATO’s leadership also responded to calls for a return to the old manual call-up system—championed by beneficiaries of the former Apapa–Tin Can gridlock economy—who are urging the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) not to renew the TTP contract.

In a letter to the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), signed by its Secretary General, Mr. Bala Mohammed, the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) warned that such calls are detrimental to the national economic interest and pose a direct threat to the progress achieved in port access management.

Part of the letter reads:”Our attention has been drawn to a recent letter authored by promoters of the old manual call-up regime and beneficiaries of the notorious Apapa–Tincan gridlock economy, urging the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) not to renew the TTP contract.

” We consider such correspondence self-serving, detrimental to national economic interest, and a direct threat to the progress recorded in port access management.
“Before the introduction of the eto system, the Apapa and Tincan logistics corridors were the epicenter of traffic anarchy. Truckers paid as much as ₦350,000 just to access the ports, often spending weeks or even months on the queue to make a single trip. Our drivers were dying behind the steering wheels due to exhaustion and the chaotic environment.

“Apapa became a ghost town, with businesses collapsing under the weight of the gridlock. The ports suffered extreme congestion and unacceptable cargo dwell time compared to any port globally.
“The access roads became refuse dumps and open areas for bathing and defecation due to truckers trapped endlessly in traffic. This shameful situation enriched a few powerful actors who thrived on chaos.
“Since the management of NPA introduced the eto electronic call-up system operated by TTP, all these challenges have practically evaporated.
“We access Apapa and Tin-can ports within a few days at affordable rates. Traffic gridlock has disappeared. Businesses in Apapa are springing back to life. Truck turnaround time has drastically improved. Cargo dwelling time has reduced significantly. Drivers no longer sleep on bridges and roads.
“We book call-up slots conveniently from our homes or offices. The eto system is a game changer—a watershed innovation that has enhanced ease of doing business, improved trade facilitation, and ensured efficient cargo evacuation.
“The only “offense” of the eto system is that it has rendered jobless and irrelevant the vested interests who profited massively from the gridlock economy. These groups, sworn enemies of automation, are desperate to drag the system back to the shameful era of manual call-up so they can return to the roads to extort and dominate truckers.
“Their letters of blackmail against TTP are not in the interest of the maritime sector or the Nigerian economy; they are merely an attempt to restore disorder for personal gain.
The group also said that Eti call up system has enhanced terminal operational efficiency in reducing congestion and eliminate extortion and multiple checkpoints that induce man made traffic and impede vehicular movement to the ports.