The National Association of Stevedoring Operators has expressed its commitment to actively engage the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency to develop an industry-wide equipment upgrade roadmap that is calibrated to what Nigerian stevedoring operators can realistically achieve.
The group said that such an equipment upgrade model should be supported by access to appropriate financing frameworks, such as the Green Climate Fund pipeline that the Development Bank of Nigeria is now accessing.
According to a recent statement obtained by The PUNCH, the President of NASO, Bolaji Sunmola, made this call in Lagos at the 2026 Dockworkers’ Day organised by the Shipping Correspondents Association of Nigeria.
Sunmola explained that green practices must not become an unfunded mandate imposed on operators who lack the capital to comply.
“We must also be frank: the equipment our industry deploys—the cranes, the forklifts, the terminal tractors, and the cargo-handling machinery—contributes materially to the emissions footprint of port operations. NASO is committed to actively engaging with the NPA and NIMASA to develop an industry-wide equipment upgrade roadmap,” Sunmola said.
