The Cargo Tariff Adjustment introduced by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has triggered intense debate across the air cargo value chain. However, beneath the emotive reactions and public pressure lies a long-delayed structural correction. The revised cargo tariff, implemented on February 2, followed nearly two decades of stagnation despite steep inflation, currency depreciation, and escalating operational costs. Therefore, the Cargo Tariff Adjustment represents a fiscal, legal, and infrastructural necessity rather than an arbitrary imposition.
While some Lagos-based agent unions have framed the decision as punitive, a closer examination of the evidence shows otherwise. In reality, the Cargo Tariff Adjustment aligns airport charges with present economic conditions and international best practice. It also underpins FAAN’s statutory obligation to deliver safe, secure, and efficient cargo operations across Nigeria’s airports.
An 18-Year Tariff Freeze Meets Economic Reality
The central fact driving the Cargo Tariff Adjustment is simple and indisputable. Since 2008, FAAN maintained a cargo port charge of ₦7 per kilogram for the use of national airport infrastructure. During this period, Nigeria experienced cumulative inflation exceeding 280 percent, while the naira depreciated by more than 1,000 percent against the dollar. Consequently, the cost of imported screening systems, security scanners, power equipment, and safety infrastructure rose exponentially.
When inflation is applied conservatively, a ₦7 charge in 2008 should translate to approximately ₦27 today merely to maintain value. Therefore, the revised international cargo charge of ₦20 per kilogram remains below the inflation-adjusted benchmark. The Cargo Tariff Adjustment, contrary to exaggerated claims, is not excessive but restrained. It reflects economic arithmetic rather than administrative aggression.
Why the Cargo Tariff Adjustment Is a Legal Obligation
FAAN operates under statutory requirements that mandate cost-related charges for services rendered. Aviation infrastructure is capital intensive, safety critical, and highly regulated. Therefore, failure to periodically review tariffs exposes the system to deterioration and non-compliance risks. The Cargo Tariff Adjustment ensures that charges correspond reasonably to the cost of providing secure, regulated, and internationally compliant cargo services.
Moreover, regulatory audits and international aviation oversight bodies expect airport charges to reflect economic realities. Maintaining an artificially suppressed tariff undermines sustainability and compromises long-term service delivery. In this context, the Cargo Tariff Adjustment is not discretionary. It is an institutional obligation tied directly to FAAN’s mandate.
Operational Disruption and the Consequences of Resistance
On the first day of implementation, resistance to the Cargo Tariff Adjustment escalated beyond rhetoric. A disruptive faction attempted to obstruct compliant agents from conducting lawful cargo operations at a major terminal. This action, aimed at fellow operators rather than the Authority, threatened safety and order within a sensitive aviation environment. Therefore, FAAN security, supported by the Nigerian Customs Service, intervened swiftly to restore calm and operational continuity.
Such actions highlight the danger of misinformation-fuelled resistance. Aviation cargo terminals are controlled security zones, and deliberate disruption exposes all stakeholders to regulatory and safety consequences. The Cargo Tariff Adjustment was lawfully approved and formally communicated. Attempts to intimidate compliant operators undermine collective industry credibility and invite enforcement action.
Correcting Misinformation Surrounding Tariff Cancellation Claims
In addition to physical disruption, misleading claims circulated suggesting that FAAN had suspended or cancelled the Cargo Tariff Adjustment. However, no such administrative or legal reversal occurred. Tariff approvals follow defined regulatory processes and cannot be undone through press statements or union declarations. Therefore, compliant agents were correctly advised to continue operations under the revised tariff framework.
The persistence of these false narratives reflects deeper internal divisions within agent associations rather than genuine policy disagreement. In fact, multiple factions previously acknowledged the necessity of a tariff review. The disagreement, therefore, centres on representation and recognition rather than the Cargo Tariff Adjustment itself.
How Cargo Tariff Adjustment Revenue Is Being Deployed
The Cargo Tariff Adjustment directly funds visible, measurable improvements across Nigeria’s cargo ecosystem. Under the Directorate of Cargo Development and Services, FAAN has already implemented governance reforms through standard operating procedures and service-level agreements with airlines, ground handlers, and regulatory agencies. These frameworks required legal drafting, stakeholder engagement, and continuous oversight.
Infrastructure investment has also followed. A previously abandoned domestic cargo warehouse has been fully rehabilitated and returned to operational use, immediately increasing capacity for domestic air freight. In parallel, FAAN has deployed a biometric access documentation system covering private cargo stakeholders. This system integrates verification with the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, and the Nigerian Customs Service, thereby strengthening terminal security.
Furthermore, the design phase for a dedicated domestic cargo terminal at Abuja Airport has been completed, with construction scheduled for 2026. This project alone will transform cargo handling in the capital, where no purpose-built domestic cargo terminal currently exists. These developments demonstrate that the Cargo Tariff Adjustment is financing concrete progress rather than abstract promises.
Addressing Longstanding Access and Security Challenges
Chronic congestion around cargo terminals has long hampered efficiency. Therefore, FAAN has finalised plans for rehabilitating the Lagos cargo terminal access road, with implementation scheduled for 2026. In addition, a dedicated cargo security personnel framework has been developed to address access control and perimeter safety concerns consistently raised by operators.
Future investments tied to the Cargo Tariff Adjustment include the deployment of a digital Cargo Community System to streamline documentation, a truck call-up system to eliminate terminal gridlock, and enhanced perimeter security using modern scanning technologies. Each of these projects carries significant capital and recurrent costs. Sustainable funding through the tariff review makes their delivery possible.
Consultation, Engagement, and Internal Industry Divisions
Contrary to claims of exclusion, FAAN engaged extensively with stakeholders before implementing the Cargo Tariff Adjustment. Over six formal and informal consultations involved customs-licensed agents, airlines, terminal operators, ground handlers, and multiple agent bodies. However, internal fragmentation within agent associations complicated consensus building.
One major faction consistently supported the tariff review, recognising its necessity. The opposition emerged largely from internal leadership disputes rather than substantive objections to the Cargo Tariff Adjustment itself. FAAN engaged in good faith across these divisions, but national infrastructure policy cannot remain hostage to unresolved internal politics.
The Inconsistency of Opposition Arguments
Opposition to the Cargo Tariff Adjustment also reveals a contradiction. Over the same 18-year period, private terminal operators, ground handling companies, and freight agents reviewed their charges multiple times to reflect rising costs. Therefore, it raises a fundamental question. Would agents remain viable today if they were still charging clients based on 2008 rates?
Expecting the Federal Government alone to absorb two decades of inflation defies economic logic. The Cargo Tariff Adjustment merely places FAAN within the same commercial reality faced by every other participant in the cargo value chain.
Aligning Cargo Reform with National Economic Strategy
Nigeria’s aviation cargo strategy aligns with the Federal Government’s ambition to build a trillion-dollar economy. The Minister of Aviation established the cargo development directorate to drive export growth through air freight. This agenda, championed by the Managing Director and Chief Executive of FAAN, positions airports as export enablers rather than bottlenecks.
Without the Cargo Tariff Adjustment, these reforms risk stagnation. Infrastructure decay, security gaps, and congestion would ultimately cost the economy far more than the modest tariff increase. Therefore, the adjustment supports national competitiveness rather than undermines it.
Conclusion: Choosing Reform Over Regression
The Cargo Tariff Adjustment followed a clear timeline. It received formal approval in mid-2024, commenced implementation nationwide in October 2025, and was temporarily paused in Lagos to allow further dialogue at the request of agents. That goodwill gesture should not be misrepresented as weakness or indecision.
Ultimately, the choice is stark. Nigeria can continue funding documented cargo reforms that improve safety, efficiency, and export capacity, or it can surrender to distortion and intimidation that preserve an unsustainable status quo. The Cargo Tariff Adjustment is not about ₦20 per kilogram alone. It is about building resilient, world-class cargo infrastructure capable of supporting Nigeria’s economic future.
Concerned National Stakeholder
