The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • Marine engineers, surveyors hold summit

    The Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES), in partnership with the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), will hold its  second Maritime Technical Summit in Lagos.

    The event, according to its organisers will hold on May 22, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island.

    NSC Executive Secretary Mr Hassan Bello said his agency was partnering the association to promote the industry.

    Bello, who acknowledged the importance of the summit, said he was particularly impressed by the theme: “Ship Operations in Nigeria Policy, Technical, Financial Challenges and Prospects”, hence, his willingness to ensure the Council’s active participation.

    He assured stakeholders that the government’s vision for a national fleet in shipping was not only on course, but stronger with the support of the Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM), which is providing a more efficient foundation for the vision takeoff.

    It would be recalled that the first Summit, which held on April 21, 2016, resulted in the setting up of two ministerial committees on Nigerian fleet development and  NIMASA’s Technical reform.

    The Group’s President, Charles Uwadia, said the Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi will be the chief host at the event, urging the stakeholders in the maritime in the industry to attend and chat a new direction for the sector.

  • Publish vehicles charges, importers urge Customs

    How much does it cost to clear a vehicle at the ports? This is the question terminal operators, importers and Nigerians in Diaspora are demanding an answer to from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

    They have asked the Customs Comptroller-General (CCG), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), to publish the cost in newspapers and on the website.

    The measure, they said, would end excessive human traffic and corruption at the ports.

    Customs, importers said, must collaborate with operators and shipping firms to arrive at a uniform tariff to reduce human contact and boost efficiency at the ports.

    They noted that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), among others, should display their charges on their portals.

    The publication, they said, would help the Federal Government to plug revenue leakages and make Nigerian ports the leading ones in West and Central Africa.

    An importer, Mr. Festus Akande, said no one could predict what importers would pay when they bring goods to the ports. He urged the government to address the problem to improve service delivery and generate more revenue.

    The ports, he said, were competing with others in the sub-region, fueling the need to make charges public.

    Akande urged the NPA management to design a plan for a model terminal to promote competition, boost efficiency and make the ports attractive. He noted that in the last 10 years, the NPA operated the landlord model of port operation without the much-needed competition among private operators.

    “Nigeria loses cargoes to ports of neighbouring countries because many importers don’t know the actual amount they are going to pay when they bring their goods to the ports.

    “The era of imposing arbitrary charges that have often been described by importers, exporters and clearing agents as uncharitable will end if all the agencies and the operators are mandated by the Federal Government to make their charges public.

    “NPA as the landlord must check excessive charges against importers to reduce prices of imported goods and make the ports competitive and attractive for business.

    “We want Customs and agencies operating in the ports which include the NPA, the  Plant Quarantine, NIMASA, and others to up their game,” Akande said.

    A senior official of one of the terminals in Lagos, who craved anonymity, bemoaned high rate of human interface in Customs offices at the ports and urged Col Ali to address the issue.

    When The Nation visited the Apapa port, clearing agents were everywhere, moving with their files from one office to another for most of the businesses that can be transacted online without leaving the comfort of their offices for the port.

    Col. Ali, importers said, must curb the excesses of his men and ensure the adoption of a duty benchmark on fairly used vehicles, popularlly called Tokunbo.

    “For years, the Customs has operated without a benchmark for used vehicles. The agency fixes duty at will, depending on who is importing.

    “Some officers are exploiting the absence of a clear-cut policy on benchmark to extort importers and their agents, despite Ali’s warnings against corruption.

    “For selfish reasons, some Customs officers are also working against making the ports attractive for business. Therefore, the Federal Government needs to design anti-corruption policies that will stem the loss of cargoes from Nigeria to neighbouring countries.

    “The absence of a benchmark has created opportunities for Customs officials to take bribes from importers and their clearing agents.

    “Despite the age limit imposed on imported Tokunbo vehicles, it is sad that no Nigerian bringing any type of the approved vehicle into the country knows the actual amount he or she is going to pay as Customs duty.

    “But the situation is not so in our neighbouring ports. At Apapa and Tin Can ports, direct interaction between clearing agents and Customs officials is high since most clearing documentation on used vehicles are not processed online,” the source said.Clearance documentations, according to the source, are submitted physically.

    The source continued: “This high level of corruption in our ports will affect the efforts of the current management of NPA to reposition the ports for better efficiency and the hub in the sub-region. Corrupt practices are also jeopardising the ability of the NSC to secure commercial opportunities in cargo transport to nearby landlocked countries.

    “Despite the successful ports concession programme, the concession benefit is hampered by corruption, poor infrastructure and the high cost of doing business.”

    The source blamed  the ports’ bureaucracy for the problem, saying: “The bribery takes two forms, for example: Collusive corruption,1 where the clearing agents and Customs officials benefit from an illicit deal, such as paying to evade duty, and coercive bribery or extortion, which benefit only corrupt Customs official.”

  • Agents to govt: promote ship repairs

    The Federal Government has been urged to promote indigenous ship repairs and dry docking.

    Nigeria, it was learnt, needs ship repairs and dry docking facilities to boost maritime, create employment and generate more revenue

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) immediate past president Prince Olayiwola Shittu, who made the call, said it was regrettable that Nigeria had no functional ship repairs and dry docking firms.

    Shittu said Nigeria accounted for over 70 per cent of the ships coming to Africa, adding that no fewer than 5,000 vessels called at the seaports yearly.

    He said with modern repairs’ facilities, the sector could rake in billions of naira and also create jobs. Most of the vessels on Nigeria’s territorial waters, he said, go to the neighbouring countries for dry-docking and other routine maintenance, adding that this is at a huge loss to the country.

    Shittu bemoaned the rate of pollution in the nation’s territorial waters and commended the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for addressing the issue of illegal fishing and dumping of hazardous wastes in the waters.

    He said the dumping of toxic wastes  and the increasing crimes on the coastline require the collaboration and commitment of the Federal Government and NIMASA, with foreign partners to build a safe maritime sector.

    The ANLCA chief pointed out that security experts in Africa have developed theories to check the increasing dumping of hazardous wastes and the menacing piracy, adding that Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand have set the stage for cooperation between states, both in information exchange and mobilisation of resources.

    He observed that the insecurity on Africa’s waterways forced insurers to hike rates for ships passing through the region.

    Shittu said: “This significant maritime presence requires that ship repairs with dry docks of varying capacities be established to cope with the maintenance requirement of these vessels. Classification society rules and the good maintenance of ships require that ships be dry docked every 30 months on the average for routine surveys.

    “Special surveys are required at every alternative docking that is once in three years. As the age of a vessel increases, so does the amount of repair work needed. Aside from routine docking, vessels need to come to propeller and ship hull, or damages caused by ropes or debris, and also mechanical breakdown.

    “Sadly, the ship repairs industry in Nigeria is under-developed and its potential untapped. This is largely because the government has not paid meaningful attention to this sector of the economy.

    “As a result of the shortage of adequate ship repair facilities, most of the vessels in Nigerian waters proceed to neighbouring countries for scheduled dry docking and other routine maintenance works. This is at huge financial loss to the country, while at the same time denying employment opportunities for Nigerians,’’ he said.

  • NPA MD seeks infrastructure development

    Nigeria can become a hub of maritime operations in West and Central Africa by developing port infrastructure and facilities, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has said.

    In an interview, Ms Usman said it was imperative for the NPA and the Federal Government to develop port infrastructure and promote the industry so the country could benefit from the increasing cargo traffic across the globe. The new initiative on the review of the concession agreement, she said, would be designed to meet the logistics needs of the industry in anticipation of future development.

    Folas Motors Chairman, Mr Felix Owoeye,  called on the government to support the NPA and other agencies in funding researches, saying the sector lacked in-depth investigation due to poor funding.

    “The maritime industry has experienced an appreciable development in recent years. That development is set to stay. World trade continues to shift global markets and production lines make new demands on transport systems and on ports in particular.

    ‘‘Ports serve the national interest, supporting the competitiveness of national and regional economies. It is in the nation’s interest that our ports remain able to handle cargo trade and its potential development efficiently and sustainably,” he said. The industry, according to Owoeye, is in dire need of reforms.

    “New port facilities would help to bring the industry to international standards.”

    He lamented that previous administrations, like most practitioners in the industry, did not live by the rules guiding the profession, which, he said, had resulted in many problems in the sector.

    “The maritime industry requires reforms; reform by way of standardising, educating, informing, sanitising the practice and making it global because the mere mention of the words import and export trade means we are not doing it locally, but across borders. Therefore, there are set rules, information and knowledge that operators must possess.

    Owoeye added that the industry has project for rapid and sustainable growth. “Based on this development and the strategic position Nigeria occupy in the industry and the sub-region for the development of human capital for an enhanced economy, it is expected of the government to train our youth to develop interest in maritime education,” the importer said.

    To meet the manpower requirement for the nation’s fleet, Owoeye canvassed robust, consistent, versatile and dynamic maritime policies, which are in tandem with global issues to ensure efficiency. He lamented that the country, despite its huge population, has no standard maritime institute compared to countries, such as the Philippines, which he said, has over 40 maritime academies.

    The Philippines, he said, supplies over 30 per cent of the world’s seafarers’ requirement. He noted that the Philippines earn over $1.6 billion from reparation from seafarers.

     

  • No compromise on ports efficiency, says Bello

    The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) is committed to ensuring efficiency at the ports to enable them compete with those in neighbouring countries, its Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello, has said.

    Speaking during his visit to three shipping companies, Maersk Line, Grimaldi Shipping Line, and CMA-CGM, in Lagos, Bello said the government would ensure that the ports remained attractive and competitive.

    He said importers and clearing agents had petitioned his office, accusing shipping firms of not refunding their container deposits within the days stipulated by the government.

    Bello said automation of the ports’ services was necessary to drive the change to reform the sector to attract more cargoes into the country. He said ports automation and the establishment of the Truck Transit Parks would increase efficiency and decrease waste, adding that openness would facilitate cargo clearance.

    He said:  “If it is five days in port A and it is one day in port B, I will rather go to port B because it is the economies of scale that determines which port is used. We have made it possible for us to make that comparison within the sub-consciousness of the national discourse on the economy.

    “It is important for our ports to be efficient and our ports are picking up now. Corruption is what we have been talking about and there are many ways to kill corruption and one of them is automation because the moment you have automation, corruption will just disappear. With the introduction of their electronic payment platform, what took place in six days then, now takes place in six seconds.

    “Some of the delays have been eliminated by NPA and the agency is also trying to introduce other electronic system of doing things, the same thing with Customs.’’

    The NSC boss urged the government to take a deliberate action to address many challenges confronting the port system through consistent and predictable policies. He said that investors needed certainty and ease of doing business in Nigeria which could be brought about by government intervention, especially in the gridlock at Apapa.

    According to him, no matter how efficient a terminal is, if you don’t have the road to evacuate cargos, how can you do it? So, there must be some level of intervention, he added.

    “The ideas are to have an electronic passage to ensure that a truck is only in Apapa when it is needed to pick or drop cargo. Then the tank farms, we don’t need trailers tanker to go to tank farms because we have the pipeline which is also a means of transportation.

    “The moment we have these pipelines pumping to Mosimi and other flow stations, then we don’t need tankers in Apapa.

    “We cannot rely only on one access like road; port should be accessible by road, rail, inland water ways and pipelines because the port is not a storage place for cargo at all,’’ he added.

    Bello also said NSC was also establishing Truck Transit Parks along major highways to help address the challenges of trucks parking on major road. He said the project was Public-Private Partnership (PPP) aimed at reducing incidences of road congestion and loss of cargos due to indiscriminate parking by truck drivers.

    The executive secretary explained that the council, in partnership with state governments, would build modern parks that would have hotels, restaurants, filing stations and garages for repair and maintenance of vehicles.

  • NIMASA DG: foreign domination of crude oil lifting to end soon

    THE Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is set to end foreign domination of crude oil lifting, its Director-General, Dr Dakuku Peterside, has said.

    This, observers said, will stimulate indigenous participation in the exercise, which could generate about N900 million daily.

    Peterside, it was learnt,  is pushing for indigenous shipowners to take over the lucrative enterprise to boost the economy and create employment for over 5,000 profes-sionals in the sector.

    The NIMASA boss told The Nation that local participation in the trade would be in the nation’s interest as it would create jobs, reduce crime, generate more revenue and ensure security at sea and the ports.

    “There is no iota of doubt that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Transportation is determined to involve indigenous shipowners in crude oil lifting to provide jobs for Nigerians and put an end to foreign domination of the trade. Everybody knows that it would be more profitable for a Nigerian ship to lift our crude and the  Director-General of NIMASA Dr Dakuku Peterside can be trusted to deliver on that mandate,” a source at the Federal Ministry of Transport told this reporter.

    Also, Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA) member, Mr Fola Badmus, said there were many qualified Nigerians in this field, but that they had no jobs, adding that using foreign vessels was not in the best interest of the nation because when the dependent country has crisis, Nigeria may have challenges lifting its crude. He said at the last count, indigenous investments in the sector have created over 40,000 jobs across the hydrocarbon value chain.

    “We will gain about N900 million a day, if we use our indigenous ships to lift crude oil. This is because the country carries million of barrels of crude a day at the rate of $2.50 per barrel,” he said, adding that the huge sum would have accrued to the country and created employment for at least 5,000 professionals in the sector.

    ”The advantage is that indigenous ships will get their foods, water, tug boats, chandelling, engineers and rags from Nigerians,” he noted.

    Vehicle importation

    Badmus added that the volume of vehicles being imported through the seaports had reduced drastically due to the introduction of the automotive policy by the past administration.

    He said the hike in Customs duty on imported items had created jobs for neighbouring Benin Republic.

    He alleged that over 80  per cent of fairly-used vehicles, popularly known as Tokunbo, being imported  through the Lagos ports were now destined to the Port of Cotonou, Benin Republic based on what he called the failure of the auto-policy

    “The volume of imported vehicles into the country has reduced drastically since the Federal Government banned the importation of used vehicles through the land borders to enhance the implementation of the auto policy,” he noted.

    A senior official of one of the terminals at Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos, who craved anonymity, said the policy had increased the volume of vehicles being imported through  the seaports.

    He, therefore,  urged President Buhari not to halt the policy’s implementation to bring succour to terminal operators.

    “Before the introduction of the auto policy, we were discharging 5,000  to 6,000 vehicles every month. It is a pity that we were doing less than 1,200 vehicles before the government banned the importation of vehicles through the land borders and the new policy has assisted us in servicing our equipment, pay NPA and salaries at the end of the month.

    “We have noticed that the number of vehicles coming into Cotonou has reduced dramatically. Everyone can understand what this means to the economy.This policy is surely affecting the port industry and this is affecting the economy of the country positively because we read in one of your reports that smugglers were using many un-approved routes around Idiroko border in Ogun State to bring their vehicles into the country. That  has been reduced to the lowest ebb with the embargo placed by the Federal Government,” he said.

    He, however, said many Nigerians could not afford to buy the imported used vehicles because of the 35 per cent duty placed on them, urging the Federal Government to review the auto policy.

  • 196 resume at Maritime varsity

    The Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, has started lectures for the 2017/2018 academic year.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, said lectures began last Thursday.

    According to Akande, 196 students have been admitted into the university.

    The Maritime University was granted approval in January by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to start degree programmes from the 2017/2018 academic session.

    The statement explained that academic activities would only take off in three faculties approved by the NUC.

    The statement listed the faculties to include Transport, Engineering and Environmental Management, with 13 departments and specialisa-tion in Marine Engineering, Marine Economics to Climate Change, Fisheries and Aquaculture.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had approved an increase in the take-off grant allocated to the university from N2 billion to N5 billion.

    The amount was included in the 2018 budget presented to the National Assembly last November.

    Similarly, an additional N1 billion was approved to support essential infrastructure and staff recruitment last November.

    Following the take-off, the university invited applications from academic staff through advertisements in some  newspapers.

    The Delta State government donated two 500KVA generators to the university.

    Following Buhari’s meeting with leaders of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) in November 2016,Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) was later delegated to undertake a tour of the oil producing communities.

    The take-off of the university was one of the requests tabled during the visit.

    Meanwhile, the  Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA) has signed a Memorandum of Under-standing (MoU) with the World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden to develop human capacity.

    After the signing of the MoU, NIMASA’s Director-General Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who led a delegation to Malmo, expressed optimism that the deal would help the agency to reposition the sector for greater efficiency, adding that it was in line with the reforms being championed by Buhari and the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.

    “This MoU is an important element of the strategic reforms and repositioning of NIMASA to be the leading maritime administration in Africa. This is also part of ongoing reforms of the maritime sector in Nigeria which the President of Nigeria and Minister of Transportation are championing. The partnership with WMU is in line with the four pillar of NIMASA’s medium term growth plan which addresses capacity building and particularly raising a new generation of forward looking Maritime policy makers and regulators,” Dr. Peterside said.

    The MoU covers academic, collaborative and reciprocal activities in training and research to be provided by WMU geared towards building capacity to grow the maritime industry.

    Arrangements on fellowship funding for WMU’s M.Sc programme are included as well as M.Phil program-me offered in cooperation with the IMO International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) in Malta.

    Further, the MoU provides for NIMASA officers to take advantage of WMU’s distance learning portfolio as well as Executive Professional Development Courses to boost worker’ capacity.

    Peterside, who expressed gratitude to the President and WMU mana-gement for their assistance, also  assured that NIMASA would imple-ment the provisions of the MoU.

     

  • Ex-minister seeks support for free trade zones

    Former Interior Minister Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho has urged the Federal Government to support free trade zones.

    Speaking in Lagos, he said well-developed free zones would generate jobs.

    Importers, exporters and other stakeholders in the maritime value chain, he said, would also benefit  from free trade zones.

    Iheanacho, who is Genesis Shipping and Integrated Oil and Gas Company Cchairman, decried the low level of awareness about free trade zones, adding that their promotion by stakeholders and  President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was important for their development.

    He told The Nation that Genesis Worldwide Shipping Company has gone far in the development of the $450 million Tomato Industrial Free Zone in Lagos and that the facility will aid ship building and fuel distribution.

    The former minister added that the facility would have a shipbuilding yard for ships taht are over 10,000 deadweight tonnage (dwt).

    ”Nigeria has for a long time wanted to be a builder of ships; now we are making this a reality. The jetty for berthing and loading vessels will be ready in nine months,” he said.

    Iheanacho told The Nation that his company had earlier secured a grant of $1 million from the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to facilitate market study for the detailed engineering master plan of the island. He said the Island would also host a 20,000 barrels per day modular refinery and over 30 fuel storage tanks with about 500 million liters capacity.

    He said with such facility, the nation could get 15 days uninterrupted supply of petroleum products. Already, the company has completed the construction of the base park, which serves as office complex, while the base for the tank farms are being completed with more under construction.

    Iheanacho said the tank farms are  structured in such a way that they supply and pump fuel to ships on the Island.

    “This tank farm is different from every other tank farm that relies on arrangement where ships supply tank farms and then lorries come and pick up the supply. But because we are located on an Island and because of the function that they are designed for, we supply by ship then actually pump back by ship to the tank farms that are located to the West,” he explained.

    He stated further that the company would start erecting more structures in the next few months to accommodate government agencies on the Island.

    Iheanacho identified some businesses that are being planned at the free trade zone, which will add  value to the economy in terms of industrialisation, employment and revenue generation.

    The project, estimated at $450 million, includes a ship fabrication yard, a modular refinery, access slipway, oil storage tank farms, water treatment plant, power generation plant, container lay down/transit, and crude oil distillation unit, fire station, and a heliport and helicopter service facilities and  a five-star hotel, among others.

    The free port zone occupies 75 hectares of land in between the Snake Island and the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), which are enjoying free trade zone status. According to Iheanacho, some Chinese and British investors have shown interest in investing in the project.

    The Tomaro Industrial Park, which was last year granted a free trade zone status, is expected to generate 2,000 direct jobs on completion.

  • MD: NPA to complete deep seaports

    THE Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has assured stakeholders of its readiness to complete deep seaport projects across the country.

    Its Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman, made the pledge on the sideline of the visit of the management of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), led by its Acting Director-General, Chidi Izuwah, to her office in Lagos.

    She stressed that early completion of the project would not only facilitate efficiency, but also strengthen the Federal Government’s policy on  Ease of Doing Business.

    She stressed the need to fast-track the dredging of channels to accommodate bigger vessels to facilitate trade, generate more revenue and make the seaports competitive in the sub-region.

    The NPA chief said the approval of the five-year renewal being sought by Lilypond Terminal was almost concluded.

    Earlier, the Izuwah lauded the changes in the sub-sector  since Ms Usman took over. He commended the improved synergy among relevant stakeholders, adding that it has provided a level-playing ground for all, boosted efficient service delivery and  improved port operations, among others.

    Izuwah said the concession agreement entered between Josepdam Ports Services (JPS) and the NPA  had not yielded the desired results due to some challenges.

    He said JPS listed the challenges to include third party (Honeywell Group) plant and equipment occupying more than 25 per cent of the terminal land mass, and the litigation filed against the company by the third party.

    According to him, they also include lack of access road to the port, 100 per cent physical examination of containers, which has resulted to undue delays in cargo clearance and multiplicity of agencies around the port area.

    Izuwah said the NPA also raised concerns against JPS, including delay/partial payment of lease fees, which are in the concession agreements.

    “It is on this premise that the ICRC decided to embark on this monitoring to brainstorm with your management and the NPA on the way forward.

    “As the regulator of the lease agreement, we cannot fold our hands and leave you to struggle it out alone.

    “Under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, there is a will to address this issue and effort is being made to resolve it to create a win-win situation for all parties,” he said.

    Izuwah maintained that disagreements on ports’concessions must be resolved to make ports the hub for international shipping trade in the West and Central African sub-region.

    JPS Managing Director, Mr Simon Travers urged the commission to assist in finding a solution to the issue of the third party presence at the terminal, adding that it is hindering its operations.

    He suggested that the NPA should review and extend the lease agreements for the years lost due to the third party interference and appealed to the government to repair the access road to the port.

  • Customs realises over N157b in 3 months

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) raked in over N157 billion in three months at Lagos ports, it was learnt.

    The amount, findings revealed, was generated by the Apapa and Tin-Can Island Customs commands between January and last month.

    At Apapa Port, the Service collected over N81 billion; the Tin-Can Island Command generated over N76 billion.

    This is an increase of about N4 billion by the Apapa Command compared to the same period last year, and N14 billion by the Tin-Can Command.

    NCS Public Relations Officer (PRO), Apapa Command, Mrs. Nkeiru Nwala, said with the introduction of the Nigeria Integrated Customs Information System II (NICIS II) in Apapa, expected to block revenue leakages as well as the repair of Apapa access roads, the Command would boost its revenue profile.

    She said on the command’s anti-smuggling fight in the first quarter, four 4×40 ft containers of controlled drugs, including tramadol in excess of approved milligrammes with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N110,016,524.00, were seized.

    She also said the Command in the first quarter of the year recorded about 280,000 metric tons of exports with a FOB value of $115,093,562.

    Mrs Nwala said the Customs Area Controller in charge of Apapa Command, Comptroller Jibril Musa, has continued to renew strategies and mechanisms for the effective implementation of the ease of doing business.

    “The Customs Area Controller, Jibril Musa has continued to reinvigorate all strategies and mechanisms put in place for the effective and efficient implementation of the Federal Government’s Executive order on the Ease of Doing Business. It is worthy of note that the NCS is the lead agency in the implementation of the presidential mandate and Apapa Area Command selected as the pilot command had since created the Central Examination Centre (CEC) where all stakeholders involved in cargo clearance conduct examination at an agreed time with reports imputed almost immediately. This synergy/interfacing had paid off remarkably as consignments with no record of infractions are released within 24 hours while those with infractions are referred to dispute resolutions committee for further interventions/investigations.’’

    She said Musa pledged to strengthen the relationship with relevant agencies in Apapa.

    “The CAC has pledged his resolve to keep strengthening the already robust working relationship/collaboration among all agencies of government for enhanced international trade facilitation. Within the period under review, he played host to different high-level government delegations from within and outside the country with a view of promoting efficiency and facilitation of trade in the country,” she said

    Tin-Can Island Command Public Relations Officer Uche Ejesieme said the Command had put in place measures that would enable the it to carry out its statutory mandate.

    Apart from Stakeholder Engagement, he said the service had embarked on training and re-training of its officers in line with the Federal Government’s trade facilitations policy.

    The image maker said efforts were being made to ensure the policies and programmes of the Command were tailored towards achieving efficiency and competitiveness in the trade value chain.

    “The command is at the vanguard of implementation of the Presidential Directive on Ease of Doing Business as the lead agency and have strengthened the relationship with other security/regulatory agencies for actualisation of the Presidential Directive on creating Enabling Business Environment at the Ports.

    “In the narrative of Revenue Collection for 2017 and 2018, the Command in the First Quarter of 2017 (January – March) generated a total of N61,839,825,487.91, whereas in the corresponding period of 2017, the command generated  N76,789,721,107.34.

    “Signifying a positive difference of  N14,949,895,619.43. Though the first quarter of each year is usually synonymous with low volume of trade, the migration to NICIS II platform by the Command, also contributed to some hiccups that affected declarations, but which we have surmounted,” he said.