The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Stakeholders seek intervention fund from Buhari

    Late last year, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the disbursement of Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to boost the maritime industry. OLUWAKEMI DAUDA examines policies that will shape the sector this year, benchmarking it on stakeholders’ expectations.

     

     

    Addressing stakeholders at the flag off of the Ibadan Inland Dry Port, Oyo State, last year, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, projected that the much-expected rail to link Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports would come on stream before the end of last year. This, the minister said, was part of efforts to reposition the sector.

    Although the government failed to accomplish the laudable objective, stakeholders in the sector, however, said what they want in addition to what the Federal Government promised them last year, is that the heads of government agencies in the sector should come up with a policy that will enable Nigerians to maximise the benefits of its oceans, seas and water this year.

     

    Use sea to boost economy

    The Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) Vice President, Dr Kayode Farinto, said the sector needs intervention fund to boost maritime trade.

    The government, he said, needs to come up with a better intervention fund like they have done in the aviation, manufacturing and agriculture sectors to take maritime out of the woods.

    “The President Buhari-led administration must emulate countries  like Britain, Rome, America, Australia, Canada, Turkey, Norway, Belgium, Greece, Singapore and India on how best to use the sea to boost the economy.

    “According to the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, over 80 per cent of shipping business that takes place in West Africa is done in Nigeria.

    That means that the country is very important on the continent sea ladder. Development of the maritime sector must, therefore, be of great interest to President Buhari and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to boost the economy.

    If we get intervention fund from the government and make it available to the people, millions of Nigerians would have gainful employment and that would solve a lot of problem the country is facing,” Farinto said.

     

    Buhari, NIMASA, CVFF disbursement

    Last year and almost 15 years after the creation of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), the Federal Government approved its disbursement to indigenous shipping operators.

    Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi disclosed the approval at a Stakeholders Appreciation Night organised by the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) in Lagos.

    Amaechi said the fund has hit $200 million. The accumulated fund represents a two per cent contribution by indigenous ship owners on every contract done in the maritime domain.

    The CVFF scheme was created in 2004. Since then, indigenous ship owners have been longing to benefit from the fund after several promises by the successive administrations.

    The fund was established under the Cabotage and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act 2003 to provide finance to operators to maintain their vessels or purchase new ones.

    According to the Act establishing the fund, the Minister of Transportation is empowered to establish guidelines for the disbursement of the fund to eligible operators.

    After receiving directives from  Buhari, Amaechi assured stakeholders that he would be meet  the heads of agencies under the ministry to know their plans for the fund.

    He added that there would also be another meeting with the agencies again this month to work out the mode of the disbursement of the fund in the year.

    Stakeholders, who spoke with The Nation on the CVFF scheme, urged Buhari to ensure that the funds were disbursed before the end of the first quarter of this year.

     

    Ports’ access roads

    The roads that lead to the seaports in Lagos, Warri, Onne, Port Harcourt, Calabar, and Sapele are still impassable.

    These ports’ access roads have not attracted the expected government’s attention. The Apapa/Oshodi Expressway leading to the Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos are is still in terrible situation, despite the fact that the road has been awarded to the  Dangote Group to fix part the road.

    The Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), President Mr Remi Ogungbemi, and other port users urged Buhari to give a presidential directive that will make the road to be fixed on time this year.

    “The bad roads have constituted nightmares to consignees, importers, exporters, freight forwarders and other port users who use the roads to evacuate their goods.

    The chaotic situation on the road is making port users spend hours daily to access or exit the terminals. The Federal Government must support the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in fixing the road this year.

    “Importers, truck owners and clearing agents have agreed to give  Buhari and his team the first two months of this year to fulfill part of his projected plans to fix the Apapa roads, reduce the congestion and its adverse effects on business activities at the ports before we can take the government serious on its plans to uplift the maritime industry this year,” Ogungbemi said

    Read Also:  Stakeholders make case for proper waste disposal

     

    NPA’s Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence Centre

    The Command & Control, Communication and Intelligence Centre of the NPA is seen as one of the giant strides taken by the authority to boost the government revenue.

    NPA, a maritime lawyer Mr Dipo Alaka, said must improve on the facility to boost efficiency at ports.

    “The facility is a very good facility because it serves as surveillance for NPA’s activities and for security agencies.

    While commending the authority for the launch of the provisional, final billing and customer portal module of Revenue Invoice Management System (RIMS) to improve its service delivery and reduce revenue leakage, we hope the management of the authority will ensure that the efficacy of the platform is improve upon and not compromised.

    “Ditto the development of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and establishment of  a dedicated terminal to handle exports aimed at diversifying the economy and improving earnings in line with the mandate of the Federal Government.

    The terminals include Ikorodu Lighter Terminal for Lagos, Shoreline logistics terminal for Calabar Port and Bua Ports.This year, all the terminals must be mandated by the NPA to establish dedicated desks that will handle all documentations on export, receipt of consignment and the loading of vessels to boost the Easy of Doing Business posture of the  administration,” Alaka said

     

    National single window policy

     An importer, Chief Davies Anthony urged the Managing Director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, the Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Hassan Bello and the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)  to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to develop the operational framework of establishing the National Single Window, Ports Community System and Scanning services to address the chaotic clearance of cargoes from the port.

    The collaboration, the motor vehicle importer said, must be used by the NPA this year in simplifying and harmonising formalities that impede trade.

     

    Making more large vessel berth in Eastern Ports

    Many decades after the Eastern Ports came into being, a big ship, berthed at the Eastern Port last year. Elated importers and clearing agents saw it as a good omen that must not end with last year.

    Many importers and clearing agents at the Eastern ports gave kudos to the management of NPA for achieving the landmark and specifically urged its Managing Director Ms Usman to sustain the tempo this year.

     

    Making ports competitive/concession agreement review

    One of the sad news that jolted many within and outside the country’s maritime industry last year was that the Apapa Port, Lagos State, was no longer West Africa’s leading and busiest container port.

    The sad report said the Lome Port in neighbouring Republic of Togo has taken over.

    But the good news is that the NSC has insisted that the 80 per cent of cargoes destined for West and Central Africa are discharged at the seaports because the ports are efficient and effective.

    According to Bello, the Ghana and Togo ports are not a threat to Nigerian seaports because of the efficiency of the seaports.

    The NCS’s boss believed that despite the feat achieved by the Ghana and Lome ports, the Nigerian seaports still remained preferred destinations for cargoes in the sub-region.

    He said: “Out of the cargoes that are meant for the West and Central Africa coming from around the world, 80 percent of the cargoes comes to Nigeria while other countries share the remaining 20 percent and distributed among themselves.

    So, how can they be a hub? Also, Nigerian ports are becoming efficient by the day and we are attracting cargoes from other neighboring ports.

    The moment we get our infrastructure right and get our connectivity right and tackle insecurity on the waterways, then that’s where we see the real hub.”

    Bello also stated that the actualisation of the Lekki deep seaport project would further consolidate the hub status. ‘‘We have the Lekki deep seaports with its huge capacity and when the Lekki port is completed and came fully on board, we will get bigger ships and send the smaller ones to other countries,’’ he said.

    The Federal Government, through its agencies, stakeholders said, must do everything possible to make the ports competitive and attractive for business this year.

    Farinto said: “One of the two approaches adopted by the NPA to achieving this is to have a competitive pricing and tariff regime. The agency has embarked on a study to determine the tariffs and pricing regimes across the region.

    “Also, the authority also set in motion last year, the machinery to review the concession agreements after the initial 10 years. We believe the effort is to reposition the ports by ensuring that critical issues around equipment deployment and infrastructure deployment are carried out by all parties, as entrenched in the agreement.’’

     

  • Haastrup makes case for women in maritime

    by Muyiwa Lucas

     

    The Chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), Princess Vicky Haastrup, has canvassed more women participation in the shipping sector to reduce the gender gap in the industry.

    Although she acknowledged that there has been improvement in the level of women participation in the sector as against what obtained a decade ago, she said there was still need for improvement, especially in seafaring and freight forwarding.

    Haastrup this known while being conferred an award as the Women International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria Personality of the Year.

    “For example, in freight forwarding sub-sector and seafaring, we don’t have too many women. So, we want to see more participation in that aspect. If we have more women, that part of the sector will be better modernised because people always have more confidence in women and the industry will be better for it.

    “Those of us who have been in the industry should encourage the younger women and support them within the area we operate. Some of them don’t have the financial capacity to operate. That is one of the ways we can encourage them.

    “I am happy with the level of participation because the awareness is there and people are getting sensitised about the importance of women participation in the sector. We are getting there, but we are not there yet,” she said.

    In her goodwill message, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, also urged more women to participate in the sector.

    Usman, who was represented by the General Manager, Managing Director’s office, Dr Chinwe Abama, said that pursuing gender balance would enable women get fair advancement that is commensurate with their qualifications and experience.

    Read Also: Oguta seaport complex rots

    Bala-Usman said women were not asking for equality in terms of power with men but that they were calling for equal opportunities as they are endowed with special qualities, adding that institutions with more women leaders have better performance and achieve higher economic growth.

    “When a woman is empowered, you are invariably empowering a whole generation that will benefit from the quality of leadership that is exceptional and unique to women.

    “Emphasis should be laid on innovation by enabling women discover themselves, build personal and corporate brands, identity that differentiate them in society, making them not only unique and authentic but visible to rise into the role of leadership and influential position,”Bala-Usman said.

    Earlier in her address, the President of WISTA Nigeria, Mary Hamman, urged women to come out of their shells.

    She said most aspects of shipping have been computerised, so they could stay in their homes and participate in the industry.

    Maritime lawyer, Emeka Akabogu, in his lead paper, noted that while there is gender gap in the industry, women who aspire to take up leadership positions must be willing to face the challenges that would come with equal opportunities with their male counterparts.

     

  • Expert warns against CVFF disbursement

    by Muyiwa Lucas

     

    Ahead of the planned disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to indigenous ship owners in the first quarter of 2020, a marine stakeholder, Emmanuel Ilori, an engineer, has advised the Federal Government not to disburse the Fund as being mooted.

    Rather, he wants the fund used to establish a maritime development bank.

    Ilori argued that the fund would not give the expected value if disbursed.

    “Disbursing the fund to individuals would barely purchase a reasonable number of vessels and then there would be the issue of who to consider in the sharing.

    CVFF is a good source of funding. But, how many vessels will $200 million buy? Who will benefit from that purchase? How are we going to use that $200 million to develop the maritime industry? It is capital intensive,” Ilori said.

    He said many areas of the sector that required funding, asking: ‘’Once the $200 million is depleted, what happens?’’

    He said this necessitated the new position on how best to invest the $200 million so that it could grow. ”One of the areas is to set up a maritime development bank, and use the fund as seed money to develop the industry so that people who have sound bankable maritime businesses can access the fund,” he said.

    He contended that a maritime development bank give loans to investors to upgrade shipyards, where specific crafts could be built, thus creating more jobs opportunities.

    “So, we will not only be developing ship purchase, the need for us to invest in ship repair, then, other areas of need that we can develop the industry instead of dishing out the money to a few lucky people.

    Read Also: Reviewing navy’s maritime security efforts

     

    “That is the area we need to look out for, because we are not the only nation that has developed its industry using the maritime development bank route. So, it is something we need to look at again and say how we use that fund constructively to develop the industry.

    “And I don’t think sharing it among a few people is the best way. I think the Minister raised this in the past that he is not inclined to share the money among people. Let us talk of the Ship Acquisition Fund of the past given to people. How were they able to recover it?  It went down the drain.’’

    He further argued that a maritime development bank would drive investment interests, making it less difficult to have ship-building companies to set up in Nigeria.

    “What sort of ships do we need within the Nigerian waters? If we can determine the vessel needs of Nigeria, you can then use that fund though a development arrangement, to say we will invest this money in developing; so number of vessels to be built in Nigeria, invite the ship building company to come and set up in Nigeria. These are the number of  vessels that we need for trade in our waters, “ he said.

    “That is why we are saying we need to revisit the issue of access to funding. That is why we are advocating that if you use the CVFF as the seed money for the maritime development bank where people can access fund at a very low rate, it will not only attract local investors, it will attract foreigners investors to invest in Nigeria,” he added.

     

  • Congestion: Stakeholders call for vessel diversion

    The congestion at  the seaports has led to stakeholders calling for the utilisation of lesser ports. However, owing to the state of such ports, this call, laudable as it is, may not be actualised at the moment. But the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), says it is working hard to make the ports become more efficient, MUYIWA LUCAS reports.

     

    THE Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA)  has reiterated the need for ships on Lagos, Port Harcourt and Onne anchorages waiting to berth, to be diverted to other ports.

    ANLCA’s National President, Tony Nwabunnike, who made the call, said the situation is attracting trucks and other heavy duty vehicles to these areas, which unfortunately, lack infrastructural capacity to cater for this development,

    This reason, he further revealed, has not only hampered free movement of cargo laden trucks, but also impacting adversely on the ongoing port access road construction. He regretted that in addition to causing loss of revenue to the government, the situation has the capacity to create unemployment and slow national economic growth.

    “We hereby call on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct that ships waiting at the Lagos and Port Harcourt anchorages be diverted within three months to ports in Warri, Delta State and Calabar, Cross River State. Nigeria-bound cargoes are being diverted to Duala Port Cameroun due to the long waiting periods and cargo owners desire for quick turnaround time for vessels,” Nwabunike said.

    According to the ANLCA boss, such diversion will not only support the government’s Ease of Doing Business objective but will also reduce the number of trucks on some port’s access roads and allow speedy execution of the ongoing construction along the corridor.

    Besides, he added, it would also help in averting avoidable congestion with adverse effects in Lagos and Port Harcourt ports.

    He warned that this measure required some urgency before the next rainy season when construction might be slowed down. Shippers and cargo owners, he explained, were conscious about ships turnaround time and would likely embrace opportunities for quicker discharge of cargoes.

    “It will also make for even distribution of maritime trade among cities where ports are domiciled while opening the economy to fresh business opportunities,” Nwabunnike said.

    To this end, the ports of Warri in Delta State and that of Calabar in Cross River State, are believed to bring relief to this problem if they are made efficient.

    Read Also: Congestion: Truck drivers accuse Navy of sabotage

     

    But this call may not materialise in the shortest time being appealed for by the freight forwarders. At a meeting with members of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Ports and Harbours recently, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Hadiza Bala-Usman, had explained that three key reasons were responsible  for vessels’ avoidance of Warri,among others.

    These, she  said, include insecurity, poor access roads and lack of rail linkages as well as shallow drafts of the channels. The shallow draft of the channels, she explained, hinders the infrastructure capacity of the Port Harcourt port. This is based on the approval of the contract for this by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last year.

    Besides, Onne Port is functioning at full capacity, while the NPA management is said to be working with relevant stakeholders to address the challenges in this area towards having a more robust port operation.

    To address the issue of port access roads, Hadiza Bala-Usman explained that the NPA has drawn a basket of such roads across the country and written to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing about the need to prioritise the rehabilitation of these roads.

  • Agents cry out against FOU

    By Muyiwa Lucas

     

    Clearing agents and local produce traders, under the auspices of All Ports Unified Freight Forwarders Practitioners Association (APUFFPA), have accused officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit Zone A lkeja of systematically killing their businesses.

    Its President,  Mike Okorie, lamented that operatives of the unit lay seige at the precincts of the Apapa Port where they divert cargo vehicles accessing the port for export transactions on frivolous allegations of engaging in illicit export.

    The group, whose membership comprises exporters of local produce including treated woods, vegetables and beverages, said those arrested are subjected to delays sometimes lasting a day or two, intimidation and extortion.

    He explained that oftentimes the FOU operatives waylay trucks inside the entry gate of Apapa Port and force them to detour outside of the area where they initiate negotiations even when nothing illegal is found in the vehicle.

    At other times they are forcefully taken to their Ikeja office where they lose time and incur additional costs.

    He lamented that the atmosphere was not only detrimental to trade facilitation and ease of doing business, but was killing trade and impacting negatively on port trade cost efficiency.

    He said: “We are appealing to the CG to prevail on the FOU leadership to call his men to order.

    “There are resident officers and men of the strike force to intercept questionable exports in the ports.

    “For the smallest infraction, they collect from N200,000 to N300,000 to N400,000. Some of us trade with bank loans, this overzealousness is killing our businesses. “

    Read Also: Freight forwarders decry extortion at sea ports

     

    Also speaking on the matter, a trader and exporter who pleaded anonymity said the FOU operatives’ action became worse since  the border closure, noting that such actions may not be unconnected with strategy for survival, since survival opportunities at the land borders had been blocked.

    He lamented that a situation where the Service  encouraged duplicity of oversights and disregard of command and territorial authority could not produce administration integrity or enhance system image.

    But the FOU Zone A Public Relations Officer, Jerry Attah, in a chat with The Nation, described the allegations as untrue. Attah said the body making the allegation should have channeled its complaints through the appropriate means if it was sincere.

    “As at this minute, nobody has ever brought such complaints to the attention of management. We as Customs are well motivated to discharge our duties, so our men and officers have no reason to extort anybody. Besides, our officers and men are aware of the dire consequences if found wanting, so nobody will engage in such illegalities,” he explained.

    Attah further said the Apapa axis in question was not a permanent station for the FOU team, as it worked based on information at its disposal. He added that anyone not engaged in illegal trade had nothing to fear.

     

  • Why Nigeria lost Category C slot

    The failure of Nigeria to clinch the Category C position in the council of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has further kept her outside the global decision making organ for the industry. Industry stakeholders argue that Nigeria should have seen the defeat coming. Asst Editor MUYIWA LUCAS examines the implications of the defeat to Nigeria.

     

    His forlorn look was explanatory enough. And as he stood up from the Nigerian Maritime Press Centre, Apapa, where he had gathered with other colleagues to monitor the events of the day, Ismail Aniemu, publisher, journalngonline.com, a maritime industry-focused online publication, could not but give vent to his anger.

    “Nigeria is endowed enough to be in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Council, even at the Category A level.

    We have vast maritime environment, spanning over 800km of coastline with highest volume of maritime trade in Africa. So what could have made us lose election into the council?” he wondered aloud.

    More worrying, Aniemu said, is that Liberia, a smaller West African state with lesser maritime potential, had been a Category A council member of IMO for many years before losing it’s membership due to the civil war that ravaged the country.

    The IMO is the United Nations specialised agency responsible for ensuring the safety and security of maritime transport and preventing marine pollution from ships.

    It comprises 174 member-countries and three associate members with each country having one equal vote.

    The election produced a 40-member council with Nigeria losing out for the fifth time. Category A members comprise 10 countries  providing international shipping services.

    They are China, Greece, Italy, Japan, Norway, Panama, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Category B has 10 states that are mostly involved in international maritime trade. Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, India and the Netherlands clinched seats in this category.

    Category C is for 20 states which have not been elected under subparagraphs (a) or (b), which have special interests in shipping, or navigation and whose election ensures that major geographical areas of the world are represented on the council.

    South Africa, Bahamas, Belgium, Chile, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey are members under the category.

    For those that understand the industry, Nigeria’s loss at the IMO election did not come as a surprise. This is, because, in the last 10 years, the country has failed to clinch a seat in the desired category, notwithstanding that the election holds every two years.

     

    Closed border

    Stakeholders in maritime and international politics contend that given the closed land borders by Nigeria, the country incurred the wrath of fellow African countries. The borders, closed since August 18, has brought untold hardship on neighbouring countries. With this, it was always going to be “payback time” for Nigeria.

     

    Shoddy preparation?

    Nigeria’s preparations and campaign was outwardly loud but lacked depth. The campaign lacked cohesion and was incapable of swaying votes in her favour as countries chose other options offered them even when they have cause to do maritime trade with us.

    Within the West and Central African regions, there are 25 IMO member countries that share convergence under the aegis of Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA) with headquarters in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

    The country failed to utilise this maritime bloc covering the two regions as a launch pad for its campaign. Instead, it concentrated efforts on bigger countries without fully campaigning to or securing the support of neighbouring countries in the West and Central African sub-regions.

    Despite being the chair of the Association of African Maritime Administrations (AAMA) with Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General Dr. Dakuku Peterside as head, Nigeria failed to attract the expected goodwill at the IMO council poll.

    Stakeholders blame Nigeria’s lukewarmness towards MOWCA activities and failure to motivate some countries, including those indebted to IMO, to secure their voting rights as partly contributing to the loss.

    This is because MOWCA was supposed to promote member states’ maritime interests, including working to ensure the bloc is represented at the council of the United Nations specialised agency on maritime.

    But with the outcome of the election, it means no West and Central African country will be in the council for the next two years when discussions and decisions on sensitive matters in the world would be discussed and passed to the General Assembly.

    Four African countries made it into the C Category. In the North African region, Egypt and Morocco got elected, South Africa was elected from the South African region and Kenya made it in the East African region

     

    The Liberian factor

    Nigeria’s efforts at bringing stability to Liberia, especially after her civil war, was not enough reason for the country to step down for Nigeria in the election.

    Insiders in the industry blame NIMASA for failing to reach out, get the support of and or persuade the former war-torn country to step down for her.

    To achieve this, experts say Nigeria should have capitalised on the MOWCA resolution to the effect that member countries are to approach international maritime matters, like the IMO, with a united front.

    Nigeria’s cargo is believed to be more than 60 percent of the whole West Africa. And with Liberia in the race, Nigeria’s support from the regional and African blocs was depleted.

    Read Also: How maritime sector can optimise AfCFTA regime

     

    Insecurity

    Nigerian waters have been declared a piracy hotspot. Records from the Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has not shown the country to be free of piracy attacks.

    For instance, this year’s piracy records by the IMB may not have improved upon that of 2018 as ship owners expressed fears of likely attacks while sailing along Nigeria’s coast.

    According to IMB  “in the last three months of 2018, 41 kidnappings were recorded in waters off Nigeria alone. On October 27, 2018, 11 crew members were kidnapped from a container vessel 70 nautical miles off Bonny Island, Nigeria.

    Two days later, pirates in a speedboat hijacked a tanker underway 100 nautical miles off Point Noire, Congo. Eight of the 18 crew were kidnapped.

    Two weeks ago, pirates boarded a fully-loaded tanker ship at about 77 nautical miles from Bonny Island, a key loading point for crude. The vessel had only recently collected its cargo.

    Nineteen crew members were kidnapped and are still missing. The waters of the Gulf of Guinea have suffered from sporadic incidents of piracy for a few years, but an attack on a supertanker is a rare event.

    Nigeria suffered a spate of militancy that crippled its oil industry in 2016, but it rarely strayed into shipping. Of 95 attacks worldwide where hijackers boarded the vessel in the first nine months of 2019, 17 took place on Nigerian waters, according to data from IMB. As a region, the Gulf of Guinea accounts for almost 82 percent of crew kidnappings globally.

     

    Commercialised security?

    A private company, Ocean Marine Services Limited (OMSL) in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy presently operates a controversial Secure Anchorage Area for vessels coming to Lagos. Ships using this facility are required to pay $2,500 per day for the first day and $1,500 for subsequent days. This commercialised collaboration involving the country’s navy is viewed as adding to cost of doing business with the country.

    Ship owners posit that naval functions that should be provided for free is being paid for under the guise of a private company buying vessel for the navy with the ships painted in naval colour and manned by the naval personnel. This in international maritime circle has contributed in reducing Nigeria’s popularity with other countries.

     

    Eye opener

    Peterside, while addressing the media on the sidelines of the just-concluded National Transport Summit organised by the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIoTA) Nigeria, clarified that though it would have been great for Nigeria to win, losing the IMO Council elections was not a reflection of poor maritime administration for the country. He said that the Nigerian maritime administration was doing more in terms of maritime activities compared to other African maritime nations who won the elections.

    “The election of any country is a function of international politics. It is not a function of IMO or as a result of what the administration of the country does or didn’t do. Liberia has been at the IMO Council for a long time but Liberia doesn’t have a strong maritime administration. Kenya doesn’t have a better maritime administration than Nigeria.

    “I’m proud to say that in Africa, Nigeria is the maritime administration that you can reckon with. You may argue that Liberia has the largest tonnage in Africa, but Liberia has an open registry. This means that most of the vessels in their registry aren’t owned by Liberians.

     

    “Nigeria owns the highest tonnage and this is verifiable in the continent of Africa. Nigeria is ahead of South Africa, Egypt and all other African nations. In every area of maritime administration we are ahead of most countries, if not all African countries.”

    Nigeria’s recent experience at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Category C Council elections losing by just a vote, has given the nation broader understanding of how politics dictates countries positions in the Council.

     

  • Attah wins Public Sector Communication award

    By Muyiwa Lucas

    Spokesman for Nigeria Customs Service, Joseph Attah, has emerged the overall best in information dissemination and communication with the public among other public institutions.

    An award ceremony put together by a coalition of civil society bodies under the aegis of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in Abuja, the Customs Service also bagged an Award of Excellence for its contribution to national security.

    Organisers of the award disclosed that among agencies of government, the Customs, aside bagging a Certificate of Excellence, came up as overall best in disseminating relevant information to members of the public on its activities and addressing several unanswered questions.

    The organisers also noted the effective manner in which information on the ongoing partial border closure is seamlessly being disseminated by Nigeria Customs.

    While making presentation to Attah, Air Vice Marshal Yusuf Ana’s, (rtd) of the Crises Communication, described Attah’s and Customs award as well deserved.

    Speaking after the award, Attah said the increasing revenue collection, unrelenting anti-smuggling activities and higher dedication to duty by officers are results of an integrity-driven management of the service. He said the award is a sign that the efforts put to work by his unit and the entire service were being observed and noted.

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    “I thank the organisers for this recognition and we see this as a motivation to do more in the collection of revenue, protect Nigerians from dangers associated with smuggling and step up our enlightenment activities.

    “The ongoing Exercise Swift Response has recorded gains that includes creating good business environment for Nigerian farmers, increased revenue collection at the ports and reduced our overall fuel consumption by curbing transborder smuggling of petroleum products

    “It has also improved on the security situation of the Northwest States and other parts of the country covered by Exercise Swift Response” Attah said.

    The Nigeria Police was also honoured at the ceremony for Excellence in overall national security while Nigerian Air Force came to Community Services. Also honoured at the ceremony were two identical twin officers who displayed gallantry and achieved the arrest of over 100 kidnap suspects.

     

  • NSC seeks support for haulage regulation

    By Muyiwa Lucas

    The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) has sought the support of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIoTA) for a law on carriage of goods by road. The Executive Secretary of the council, Hassan Bello, made the proposal at the opening session of the just- concluded CIoTA summit in Abuja.

    Bello, who said a bill for the proposed law will be sent to CIoTA for inputs, said that it is intended to ensure harmonised standards in cost and guarantee efficiency in the nation’s road haulage system.

    According to him, the bill to be titled “Carriage of Goods by road,” will determine the status of carrier’s liabilities with intention to improve on service delivery and addressing possible disputes emanating from carriage by roads contracts or accidents.

    “We must adjust our transport system in Nigeria. How much does it cost to convey a container load of goods from Maiduguri to Kano? Nobody knows because there is no indication to show how much it would cost. There is no regulation, no standardisation or liability regime if there was an accident

    “The reason we don’t have certified trucking systems with modern truck transit parks is as a result of absence of professionals. Nigeria is in competition with the rest of the world.

    “We can’t live in isolation and our transport system says a lot about the nation. Modern transportation system affect the economy just as lousy transport systems also affect the economy

    “Transportation is central to every nation’s economy. However, the contribution of Nigeria’s transport sector to economic growth isn’t acceptable. CIoTA should look at the nation’s economy and situate transport solutions to address the challenges” Bello said.

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    He added that NSC produced the bill to support the carriage of goods by land and eliminate the numerous challenges in the system, assuring that CIoTA would have a role to play in this advocacy and several others in partnership with Shippers’ Council.

    The NSC boss also lamented that most challenges in the nation’s transport sector including Lagos port access chaos and obsolete port infrastructure would have been addressed if Nigeria had a focused professional transport body with legal framework like CIoTA.

    Meanwhile, the CIoTA President, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has pledged to utilise its charter to create massive employment in the nation’s transport sector.

    The CIoTA boss noted that the institute would maximise its status as the only chartered professional body to explore strategies to augment employment opportunities in transportation while eliminating touts and unprofessional across all modes of transportation in the country.

    Jamoh described the attainment of CIoTA Act as a new era for transportation in the country, assuring that the institute would engage the Ministry of Education to standardise the curriculum of transport courses to guarantee professionalism among transport practitioners.

    While commending President Mohammadu Buhari for ground breaking ceremony of the University of Transportation to be cited in the Daura, Katsina State, he stressed that the development was apt and timely as it underscored the need to enshrine professionalism across all modes of transportation in the country.

     

  • WACT donates quarters, waste disposal skips to Rivers communities

    By Muyiwa Lucas

    The West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), Onne, has donated a building of 10 units self-contain apartments for use as Teachers Quarters to Ogu Town in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State. The company also donated 20 waste disposal skips to Onne community, Rivers State.

    The Managing Director of WACT,  Aamir Mirza, said the donations were part of the leading terminal operator’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme.

    He said: “As a company, we take pride in the relationship that we have with our host communities. Onne and Ogu communities have been very supportive to the growth of WACT, not only in providing good quality staff, but also in assisting us whenever there is an issue to resolve.” Mirza, was represented at the commissioning of the projects on Wednesday by WACT’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Lewis Sarpong.

    On the donation of the Teachers Quarters to Ogu Town, the WACT Managing Director said: “Education is very important and thought it wise as part of our CSR to build this accommodation to make sure that teachers that are posted to Ogu have good accommodation.

    “When the teacher is sound, he goes to the classroom happy and when the teacher is happy he can impact knowledge into the children. That is the most important aspect that we looked at. We need teachers to come to this place. They need to feel comfortable coming to this place, then they can impact the next generation with knowledge.”

    Also speaking at Onne during the handing over of the 20 waste disposal skips donated to the community, Mirza said, “We discussed with the community on how we could be of help and we agreed on providing them with 20 skips to tackle waste disposal and promote environmental cleanliness.

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    “We are handing over 20 skips paid for by WACT to the community so that the community can place them at strategic locations to manage waste disposal issues.”

    Expressing appreciation to WACT on the donation of the teachers’ quarters, the Amanyanabo of Ogu Kingdom, King Nicholas Dickson Ibiebele Niminebo Loko IX, said the new building will be of tremendous help to the community and serve as a boost to the educational system in the area.

    Also speaking, the Paramount Ruler of the Onne, King Dennis Osaronu, said WACT has demonstrated a high sense of responsibility by providing waste disposal skips to the community.

    “There are a lot of things to learn at every stage; like these skips we are seeing today. If these skips are properly used, we shall notice few cases of cholera in the community because the refuse will be contained and will be dispose accordingly.

    “There are some communities and Local Government Areas in the state that don’t have one single skip but today we have 20 skips,” the royal father, who was represented at the donation of the skips by WACT by the Chairman, Council of Chiefs, Chief S.N Jiala, said.

    West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), which is the first green field container terminal built in Nigeria under public private partnership, started commercial operations in 2007 and has become the most efficient Nigerian gateway to markets outside the Lagos area. It has an annual throughput capacity of 314,000 TEUs, with 375 reefer plugs and a draft of 10.5 meters alongside.

     

  • Stakeholders canvass border reopening

    At a recently concluded interactive session on border closure, stakeholders, experts and others called for immediate reopening of the country’s closed land borders in the interest of legitimate trade, MUYIWA LUCAS reports

     

    Stakeholders and experts have demanded reopening of the country’s land borders for legitimate international trade. For these category of people, the entire country, especially businessmen, cannot be held hostage forever.

    Arising from a one-day interactive session, the management and board of the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) made an appeal to the Federal Government to reopen the land borders in order to allow legitimate goods gain access into the country.

    The Registrar, CRFFN, Samuel Nwakohu, told the press, that the call was not intended to encourage criminality, but for legitimate goods to be allowed to be traded across the borders. For him, the problem leading to the closure of the borders was a systematic failure especially on the part of Customs. He, therefore, called for better training and equipping of the Nigerian Customs Service to meet global standard.

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    “The freight forwarders are not in any wise encouraging criminalities, but they are of the view that ETLS compliant goods should be allowed to go; they are of the view that what went wrong at the borders, is as a result of system failure especially on the part of Customs.

    “They are of the view that the Customs should be better equipped, better trained and adopt global best practice, they are of the view that compliance should be adhered to on the Protocol of Agreement in the west African region. “These are some of the resolutions that we have reached during the interactive session,” he said.

    The Chairman, Monitoring and Enforcement, CRFFN, Timothy Awogbemi, said the programme was aimed at acquainting the Federal Government with the stance of freight forwarders on the border closure. He said the resolution at the session include, improving on the scanner as well as platforms so that Nigeria can compete with international standards.

    “This is a programme initiated to make a presentation to the Federal Government on the position of freight forwarders in Nigeria. The essence is to listen to critical stakeholders, hear their views, their opinions and what they feel about border closure and to make a joint communique to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    “What we are saying here is that the platform, the gate, the scanner should improve. They have to be able to be compared to international standards and every small route should not be a border in Nigeria.

    “There should be a major border and all other borders closed and there should be facility improvement and training and retaining of our security personnel.

    Also speaking, Otunba Kunle Domain, Chairman, Port Consultative Council, said it was an open discussion by concerned persons seeking the way out of the border closure, adding that necessary frameworks should be put in place to forestall future occurrence of having to close the borders.

    “From the discussions, it is clear that those who are affected feel that we should revisit the issue and the border should be opened and if not, there must be some framework to be done so that in future, we shall have no reason to close borders, particularly the issue of Customs administration. They have to reform, restructure all the treaties and the protocols for compliance,” he said.