Mr. Ismail Aniemu, the Editor-in-chief of the JournalNG publication.
Story by Dili Utomi.
It was a period of stock taking, reflections, apportioning of blames and suggestions as to what the problems in the Maritime sector are and the considered solutions to the multifarious nature of these problems that have bedeviled the operations within the sector as the first edition of the Port Industry Town Hall Meeting took place at the main auditorium of the Rockview Hotel, Apapa. The meeting was organised by the JournalNG Magazine and the theme of the meeting was “Towards A Hitch Free Port Operation In Nigeria”.
The occasion witnessed paper presentations by various industry players who though generally agreed on the inherent potentials within the sector also recognised the hurdles needed to be crossed in order that we might achieve the set objectives and meet the required targets.
Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike, the president of ANLCA and the chairman of the occasion.
In the welcome address by the Editor-in-chief of JournalNG news magazine, Mr. Ismail Aniemu, he stated that the meeting was inspired by the need to bring stakeholders together to rub minds and seek solutions to the many problems inherent in doing business around the port areas. He noted that the Lagos Ports could be the hub for business in the sub-region, but that the multifarious nature of the problems has made the Ports not to realise their full potentials, thus the need to constantly come together to talk about it.
The meeting was generally kick-started with the opening speech by the chairman of the occasion, Hon. Iju Tony Nwabunike, the president of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) who suggested that we put solid legal framework in place and regularly revise them, employ technology in our operations and adopt honest attitude in carrying out our duties in order that the set objectives may be achieved.
The representative of the CGC, DC Kikelomo Adeola presenting her speech at the occasion.
The Controller General of Customs who was represented by a deputy controller, Kikelomo Adeola who spoke on matters concerning the Collection of Revenue accruing from all dutiable imports/accounting for same, Suppression of Smuggling, Facilitation of Legitimate Trade and The Enforcement of the Fiscal and Monetary Policies of the Federal Government in line with the extant provisions as she reflected on the available Technology as well as giving insight on the emergence of those technologies and their impacts on Customs Operations. She gave a historical background on the subject, defined terminologies and gave the examples of the various advancements and collaborative efforts made by the Nigeria Customs Service while noting that as new challenges and tools of working emerge the NCS will always be at the forefront of innovation to tackle those challenges as exemplified by the introduction of the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR). Quoting DC Adeola, she concluded by saying that “The Nigeria Customs Service is not resting on her oars, but unrelentingly forging ahead to balance facilitation of trade with National security using modern technology and tools”.
Mr. Rotimi Raimi, of the ICNL making his contribution at the occasion.
The president general of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) who was represented by the deputy president general, Comrade Boniface Udoh and who spoke on the percepective of Labour on the Apapa traffic problems said that the main causes of the traffic gridlock were the fact that some shipping companies are in the act of keeping people’s trucks and empty containers away from the Ports as a means of attracting demurrage payment from them. He also listed the lack of holding bays as a major reason why the gridlock despite all the best efforts has largely remained, though he praised the introduction of the electronic call up system by the NPA which is on the verge of completely tackling the problems. He advised the government to consider the relocation of all the tank farms to Epe and Ikorodu in order to reduce the pressures on the access roads around the Ports area . He also advised that the alternative means of conveying cargoes be employed as the use of barges should be expanded.
Mr. Ope Babalola of the Webb Fontaine.
The director general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency Dr. Bashir Jamoh was represented by a deputy director at the agency, Dr. Momoh Alhassan who presented a paper titled “Impact of Blue Economy on Supply Chain in Nigeria”. He noted that we are only currently focused on the exploration and exploitation of our oil reserve without paying attention to the untapped enormous potentials of the blue economy as presented by the oceans. Dr. Alhassan said that the blue economy is valued at $1.5 trillion per annum and that 90% of world trade by volume is carried through the seas and oceans as he also stated that about 350 million jobs worldwide are linked to fisheries. Dr. Alhassan noted that with 853 km of coastline, 8,573km of Inland waterways, 12nm of territorial waters and 84,000sqm of EEZ (as Maritime Frontage) with 6 seaports, 21 terminals, more than 10 jetties and over 200 million people that Nigeria has all it takes through the blue economy to develope. He noted that the key elements of blue economy which includes Port development, shipping, ship building, fisheries and aquaculture, dockyards/shipyards, dredging, offshore oil and gas exploration and biotechnology should be developed to provide jobs and increase revenue.
Mr. Tankie Coullibally of the Benin Webb Fontaine.
The managing director of the Webb Fontaine Opeyemi Babalola stated that the discussion on this forum is critical as a way of profering solutions to some of the problems. His presentation was eventually demonstrated by Mr. Tankia Coulibally who is the manager of the Benin Republic branch office of the company. His PowerPoint presentation served as means of indicating what a close to an ideal Port Operation will look like, Mr Coullibally made a graphic presentation of how the Operations at the Cotonou Port is carried out to buttress the points.
A group photograph at the occasion.
The representative of the Managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Ayodele Shobande, AGM operations made his own presentation. In it he noted that the primary service of the NPA is cargo handling, but that job interface and cargo dwell time require that the means and efficiency of conveyance of cargoes in and out of the ports have necessitated their involvement in traffic matters in and around the corridors. He noted that some of our ports are quite old and need upgrading and suggested that the era of using the ports area as truck parks and cargo holding bays are in the past.
The general manager of the Kaduna branch of the Inland Container Nigeria Limited, ICNL, Mr. Rotimi Raimi said that his company has been in operation for over 40 years providing the function of an Inland dry dock for cargo storage and clearance. He noted that the Apapa gridlock has greatly negatively impacted on business as cargoes cannot be easily evacuated from the ports to the places where they are needed, he advocates a multimodal means of cargo evacuation.
The President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA) and Maritime guru, Mr. Lucky Amiwero speaking on the occasion admonished that the government should make the focus of the NCS to be trade facilitation rather than revenue generation as he said that this will create the needed jobs and ultimately increasing the revenue base of government. He advocates the need for the customs to change the modus oparandi to reflect modern trends in Customs management as this will help reach the set objectives and engender the usually mouthed ease of doing business.
At the end of the deliberation, certain recommendations were made and these include that the Nigerian Ports are in dire need of an economic regulator backed by law, the meeting called for urgent re-presentation of the Nigerian Transport Commission bill for consideration. That the quality of technology in use in Nigeria, that is efficient intelligence is observed as being inadequate as the country was advised to take a cue from Benin Republic’s Webb Fontaine where all port related transactions are carried out through a single window. The multiple Customs checks are avoidable duplications as these are identified as impediments to trade as alerts, double examination and detentions stunt business growth. The need for the NPA to collaborate with others to install CCTV cameras along the port corridors in order to monitor all the activities leading into and exiting from the ports. The Shipping companies’ arbitrary charges were identified as obstacles to trade leading to high cost of doing busines. That an enabling environment for the industry people to succeed should be created especially in the area of bill of lading and the reduction in the NPA charges. Finally, that tank farms are burdens to the port access roads, this then creates the need for them to be relocated.
It was an inclusive meeting were most of the people in the auditorium were given the chance to air their views and to make suggestions as participants lauded the organisers for the meeting.
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