The decade, 1970 - 1980 witnessed rapid transformation in both political and economic terms, and the transmutations in spatial relationships which resulted from the transformations have revealed the inadequacies in Nigeria's seaport system. Because of the important role which seaports are thought to play in the development of the regions in which they are located, port development has been used as a planning tool, hence the link between port development programmes and National Development Plans, especially during the period 1962 - 1982. Although port development programmes during this period have been implemented on the basis of some official guidelines or principles, it is doubtful whether one can speak of a definite comprehensive national policy on seaport development. Of the four National Development Plans that attempted to tackle the problem of seaport development, only the third and the fourth, made specific references to ports and these focused on solving the endemic port congestion problem that faced the major Nigerian ports.