Ibrahim Tanko, Co-ordinator, 100% Compliance Team.
Story by Dili Utomi.
The turbulence within the Maritime sector of the Nigerian economy is taking much more serious dimension each day as stakeholders after stakeholders are daily expressing disaffection over issues of facility, policy, operation and administration within the general environment of the Maritime sector.
The latest outrage is coming from the 100% compliance team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) led by the hardworking and tenacious Ibrahim Tanko. In a press conference organised by the Team at their headquarters in Apapa on Tuesday, the Team expressed their angst through a petition written to the Customs Area Controller of the Apapa Command on the physical situation of the Sifax 2 and Unity bonded terminals in the Okota and Amuwo Odofin areas.
Mr. Tanko fielding questions from press men.
The petition titled “Petition Against Flooded/Unequipped Sifax 2/Unity Bonded Terminal, Okota & Paache Close, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos Respectively” read in part ” You may not believe the high suffering of our members, other agents, port users and even the Customs officers serving in that (those) terminal(s).” The petition also complained about the flooded nature of the Sifax 2 terminal where some of the imported items are soaked in water and the lack of forklift at the Unity terminal . These anomalies according to the Team cause a lot of delays and the subsequent demurrages being paid to the shipping companies on daily basis.
A cross section of the new operations unit of the team.
Mr. Tanko said that in most cases the government accuse freight forwarders of not doing the right thing, but fail to fully appreciate their roles as the revenue generators for their agencies. He said that it is terrible to work in the kind of environment that these bonded terminals present to freight forwarders and so call on the government through the appropriate agencies to make the operators of these terminals to provide the needed conducive environment so that all government objectives in terms of revenue targets and trade facilitation can be met.
Mr. Tanko fourth from the right in a group photograph with newly inaugurated operations unit.
He urged the Nigeria Customs Service to close all bonded terminals that are not meeting up with the laid down requirements and also urged that those not observing the proper operational guidelines be sanctioned as he states that they are willing to withdraw their services from any bonded terminal not providing the right services.
More picture from the Press briefing.
The Team also used the occasion to inaugurate a new operations unit with Sylvester Sunday as the supervisor of the unit. Mr. Tanko therefore urged the newly inaugurated unit to work assiduously in order that the objectives of the 100% Team be realised, he went further to say that they will continue to train and retrain members in order to transfer their knowledge to others.
The 100% compliance Team also asked the CAC of the command that the ‘problematic’ terminals are located to ensure that the least standard in the operation of the terminals be observed and that in the absence of obedience to standard, punishments be metted out to offenders.
Mr. Tanko wished that we every Nigerian could imbibe the spirit of doing the right thing in order that our nation may make bigger and better progress as he urged the government agencies to do their job.
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