Abstract: The marketing of port facilities in Nigerian Ports PLC is bedeviled with bureaucratic bottlenecks as against the philosophy of the marketing concept. Information gathered from the study revealed that lack of adequate plants and equipment for cargo handling poses serious problems to port users.
As a result, Nigerian Ports PLC cannot provide satisfactory services to its customers. The overall level of service efficiency is very low compared to what is expected of the ports to offer in a commercialized enterprise. The study reviewed relevant literature's on marketing and management of port facilities applying the basic principles of marketing concepts and practices. The study examines the problems of marketing port facilities via-a-vis the commercialization effort. The analysis of data revealed that customers are deserting Nigerian ports to other neighboring West African ports because of their epileptic and inefficient plant and equipment.
Commercialization does not only entail changing to PLC but a re-orientation of the workforce and a new corporate image to attract patronage and hence profit. Responses from management, shippers, exporters and their accredited agents in the ports revealed that the main cause of service in efficiency of the ports is inadequate and unserviceable plants and equipment and lack of marketing culture. The Marketing Department need to rise above its posture of erasure of bills to incorporate the marketing concept. Finally, the following recommendations were made; provision of modern plants and equipment to facilitate quick turn round of ships; application of computer for documentation; advertising and promotion and training of marketing officers to inculcate in them the new corporate culture.............ORDER FOR COMPLETE PROJECT MATERIAL NOW!! .
