From Advocacy to Agency: How CONMMEP’s Media Diplomacy Shaped Nigeria’s Port Economic Reforms

By Lod Onyeji 

LAGOS — In a modest boardroom in Lagos, a quiet institutional revolution is unfolding. The Nigerian Shippers’ Council, long known as the protector of shippers’ interests since its establishment in 1978, has been repealed and reconstituted as the Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Agency [NPERA] under the NPERA Act 2026.

It is not merely a rebranding. It is the culmination of a 20-year regulatory vacuum that began with the 2006 port concession — when government agencies became both player and referee — and was only temporarily patched in 2014 when the Shippers’ Council was named interim regulator.

For the Congress of Nigerian Maritime Media Practitioners [CONMMEP], a  body with some of the seasoned and esteemed Nigeria’s maritime journalists, the transition is not just news to report. It is a case study in how sustained media advocacy can drive institutional reform.

On September 15, 2026, when CONMMEP President Udo Onyeka led a delegation to NPERA headquarters, Director-General Dr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima unveiled what he called a “reform sprint” — a structured 30-60-90 day implementation roadmap, extending to 100 days, one year and beyond.

30-Day Target: Complete staff and asset audit, preserve existing contracts under Section 51 of the Act, and secure employment protections for legacy staff.

60-Day Target: Formal handover of Inland Dry Port [IDP] promotion functions to the Nigerian Ports Authority [NPA], as directed by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola. The move resolves a long-standing conflict of interest where the regulator was also a project promoter.

90-Day Target: Draft and gazette the first set of economic regulations covering tariffs, competition rules, and service standards — moving penalty regimes from the anachronistic N300-N500 under the repealed Cap N133 Act, to N500,000 – N20 million, designed for deterrence in an $8.1 billion port economy.

“The objective is not punishment but deterrence,” Ukeyima told CONMMEP. “Nigerians will judge us not by the law we have, but by whether it reduces the cost of a container moving from Apapa to Kano.”

That cost, according to empirical data consistently tracked by CONMMEP’s reporting, is precisely why reform was urgent. Nigerian ports handle over 85% of the nation’s external trade by volume. Yet the World Bank’s 2023 Container Port Performance Index ranked Nigeria’s major ports below 300th globally, with average cargo dwell time of 21 days compared to 3-4 days in Ghana and Benin. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates that port inefficiencies add 40% to the landing cost of imports.

CONMMEP’s influence is not abstract. Its advocacy model — combining investigative reporting, community engagement, and public-private dialogue — has produced measurable outcomes, now recognized by regulators themselves:

1. The Cost Containment Campaign [2022-2024]

Through its _Port Charges Watch_ series, CONMMEP documented over 47 cases of arbitrary surcharges by terminal operators and shipping lines. Its persistent reportage was cited in the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s 2023 intervention that led to a 23% reduction in terminal handling surcharges at Tin Can Port, saving Nigerian shippers an estimated N4.2 billion annually.

2. The National Single Window Push

CONMMEP’s collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigeria Customs Service on a 2024 investigative roundtable, “Why Nigeria Needs a Single Window,” provided empirical data showing that Nigeria had 9-14 government agencies physically intervening on cargo, versus 3-4 in global best practice. That advocacy is now reflected in NPERA’s core mandate to digitalize and minimize human contact — a priority Ukeyima identified as central to cost reduction.

3. Community-Based Port Security Advocacy

Working with port communities in Apapa, Tincan, and Onne, CONMMEP’s community engagement workshop in 2025 recorded a 31% decline in truck-related fatalities after its media campaign pressured the relevant agencies and organizations to enforce the electronic call-up. The program was co-sponsored by private logistics firms like BUA Ports & Terminals and SIFAX Group.

4. Non-Oil Export Facilitation

CONMMEP partnered with NEPC and MAN Export Group to spotlight the plight of non-oil exporters, whose containers spent an average of 18 days at export terminals due to duplication of inspection. Following CONMMEP’s 2025 policy brief, the Export Desk at Apapa was streamlined, contributing to a 19.6% growth in non-oil export value in Q1 2026, according to NBS data.

5. Institutional Accountability Journalism

Rather than serving as a public relations platform — a principle President Onyeka stressed during the NPERA visit — CONMMEP has institutionalized fact-checking of port data. Its quarterly _Port Performance Scorecard_, launched in 2023 with support from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria [MAN] Oron and NIWA, now provides the only independent media-led dataset on demurrage trends, port congestion index, and tariff compliance, regularly referenced by stakeholders.

For NPERA, CONMMEP offers three assets it cannot legislate: reach into the 12,000-strong freight forwarding community, credibility with port-adjacent communities who bear the environmental costs of port operations, and an archive of two decades of stakeholder grievances.

For CONMMEP, NPERA offers what maritime journalists have long demanded: access to credible, disaggregated data on tariffs, dwell times, and dispute resolution timelines — essential for reducing misinformation.

Ukeyima has committed to quarterly technical briefings and open data sharing. Onyeka, in turn, has committed to “scrutiny with context.”

The reform’s success will be measured not in statutes but in outcomes: Will cargo dwell time fall below 7 days by Q2 2027? Will the penalty uplift from N500 to N20 million actually deter infractions? Will the handover of Inland Dry Ports to NPA accelerate their completion rate — currently less than 30% functional after 15 years?

If history is a guide, the answers will be documented first not in government gazettes, but in the dispatches of the maritime press that helped push the law into existence.