BEARS: Trapped Goods @Seaports

Some exhibitors at the just-concluded 2018 Lagos International Trade Fair have lamented their inability to evacuate their goods from the seaports in time to sell at the fair, due to the delays in clearing processes coupled with the lingering gridlock along Apapa Port access road.

One of them, Mr. Chris Igbokwe, told journalists that some of the generators and pumping machines he had planned to exhibit at the fair did not arrive Lagos before the end of the 10-day fair.

“The goods were sent since September. It takes about four to five weeks to get to Nigeria and you give yourself about 10 days to receive them. But as I speak to you, the goods are not out of the port,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Midas Touch, Mrs. Sarah Joseph, said she had targeted the trade fair to unveil some hair extensions she ordered from India, but the goods were still inside the port on the last day of the trade event.

The absence of functional scanners had slowed down efficiency, compromised revenue accruable to the government and caused massive bottlenecks to trade in the country.