The Nation Newspaper

Category: Maritime

  • NPA to boost safety, security at ports

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has expressed concern over the safety and security of operations at the ports and on territorial waters.

    Speaking when the Federal Government’s team for the implementation of the Harmonised Standard Operating Procedure on the arrest, detention and prosecution of offenders in the maritime sector,  visited her at the NPA office on Marina, Lagos, Ms Usman, who was represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Mohammed Koko, pledged to work with the committee to address all issues in the industry.

    The committee Chairman, Rear Admiral F. D. Bobai, said the committee’s visit was part of efforts to synergise with stakeholders to ensure adequate understanding and cooperation to achieve a safe maritime harbour in line with best global practices.

    He said the committee would partner regional and sub-regional governments on safety and security.

    Bobai commended the NPA for the milestones it has achieved in various facets, urging the authority  not to rest on its oars as the task of lifting the nation is for all.

     

  • Declare emergency on Lagos roads, Buhari urged

    Declare emergency on Lagos roads, Buhari urged

    • Importers, agents laud NPA for injecting N1.8b into fixing the road 

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to support the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in finding a solution to the gridlock on the Apapa/Tin Can Island roads to reduce the hardship the road users encounter.

    The problems of moving in and out of the ports and their environs were high, importers, motorists and the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) said, had increased, urging Buhari to declare emergency on the road

    The stakeholders said there was an urgent need to fix the Tin Can Island road as the NPA, Dangote Group and Flour Mills Plc embark on reconstructing the entire Wharf Road.

    They said the deplorable state of Apapa roads was hampering access to the seaports and affecting businesses around the area.

    They commended the board and the management of the NPA for injecting N1.8 billion in fixing the Apapa road, which hinders access to the ports.

    Successive administrations have been criticised for being non-challant to the gridlock on the roads.

    The importers and clearing agents said they were happy that NPA was working on the road to make it motorable.

    An importer, Mr. Adeyemi Adeleke, said the Federal Government should complement the effort of the NPA.

    “To tackle the problems, which we attribute to the poor port access road and the nefarious activities of tanker drivers and operators of articulated vehicles, the Federal Government needs to declare an emergency on the road so that we can enjoy the support of other government agencies like the NPA.

    “Although the roads leading to the ports are in bad shape, we must also understand that the problem on that road comes from the tankers and containerised truck drivers who go to the ports to lift fuel and others. So, it is necessary to appreciate the bold step being taken by the NPA because it is not the only government agency generating money from the ports. We have Customs and others. Therefore, it is inaccurate and uncharitable for anybody to say that NPA is not doing enough to solve the problem road users face on that road or that the agency has lost the battle.

    “The problem from the port was that vehicles that used to park in the port have been driven out by the concessionaires and they have no option than to park on the road to gain access into the port,” Adeleke said.

    ANLCA President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu, said the bad roads were causing avoidable accidents and man-hour losses.

    He said the bad roads were affecting economic activities and the health of the road users.

    “Everyday, importers, clearing agents and other port users sit for hours trying to get in or out of Apapa and this is causing a lot of stress that can lead to various health problems.

    “Apart this, the additional cost the importers pay to terminal operators and the revenue the Federal Government is losing due to these unnecessary delays are serious issues that need to be addressed o make the ports attractive in the sub-region.

    Mr. Sunday Collins, a banker, urged the government to repair the road.

    “Everyday, we spend several hours on this road before we get to our offices and by the time we get there, we are already exhausted; we are really suffering.

    “It is  difficult for commuters to access Tin Can  due to the road.

    “Buses coming from Oshodi stop stop before Coconut bus stop because of the failed sections of the road.  Commuters from Oshodi pay N150 or N200 instead of N100 and are dropped off at West Minister bus stop from where they take bikes to first gate of Tin-Can port and beyond. The monetary issue is one, but the danger people face on this road is a matter of life and death as many people, including journalists, have been either killed or injured by truck drivers on the road.

    “Apart from the risk of taking commercial motorcycles through those gullies, road users also face the risk of accidents because containers fall around there frequently,” Collins said.

    Also a senior official of one of the terminals at the Tin-Can port, who craved anonymity, urged President Buhari to fix the road.

    “It was reported few days ago that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tin Can Island Port Command generated N183 billion from the port between January and August. The figure excludes the amount generated by the Apapa Customs Command and other government agencies at the port,” the official said.

    NPA’s Assistant General Manager Corporate and Strategic Communications Division, Ibrahim Nasiru, said the dilapidated condition of the road, which has been like that for about two decades, was a thing of concern to  the Authority, whose prime facilities are located in Apapa axis.

    “This accounts for the Authority’s decision to collaborate with other stakeholders who agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing to reconstruct the entire Wharf Road. These stakeholders include the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dangote Group and Flour Mills Plc.

    “Although the repair of roads is not the statutory responsibility of the Authority, it has committed N1.8 billion to the reconstruction and contractors from Messers AG Dangote Construction Company were mobilised to site in July 2017.

    “As a result of this, the stretch of road for the outbound lane (Ijora Bridge-Barracks Junction) has been condoned off as work has commenced.

    “It was in anticipation of the congestion that the reconstruction would cause that NPA Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, set up a committee chaired by the General Manager, Western Ports on the decongestion of the port’s access roads.

    “The committee include representatives of the Lagos State government, the Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Ports Police Command, and Department of State Security Services and other major stakeholders, including truckers as mainly represented by the Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMARTO)

    “To further alleviate the envisaged congestion, the Authority awarded the contract for palliative works on Creek Road to Messers CGC Nigeria Limited.

    “Palliative works was carried out on the damaged portion of the roadway and is designated as an alternative route in and out of the Lagos Port Complex. Further repairs were carried out on other alternative routes around the corridor

    “In addition, realising the need for a bleeder route to relieve pressure on Wharf road during construction, the General Manager, NPA Western Zone heads a committee of all terminal operators, millers and other stakeholders, which worked to fashion out ways of fixing the Tin Can axis route with enduring palliatives works while the wharf road construction is ongoing.

    “The Authority is aware of the situation on the access roads and assures all users of the ports that everything possible is being done to alleviate the situation,” Nasiru said.

    But a truck driver, Emma Okwudili,  said the government  knew what to do if they cared about the sufferings of people in the area.

    “This road is very important to the government because of the ports and the government is making a huge amount of money from the ports, which they can use in fixing the road and that is why we, the truck drivers, are supporting those calling on President Buhari to declare emergency on the road.

    “You can see that this road is bad and there is no way to avoid accidents here because of the gullies,” he said.

     

  • Council to promote review of maritime laws, others

    •To construct Truck parks in Ogun

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) is to ensure that the nation comes up with maritime laws, Executive Secretary, Mr. Hassan Bello, has said.

    Top on its list, he said, was is to ensure that the nation’s old maritime laws were reviewed and  taught in the universities.

    Speaking with The Nation, Bello appealed to maritime lawyers to support the NSC in its quest to introduce Maritime Law  in the universities.

    He said Supreme Court Justice Muhammed Tanko, had directed the NSC to collaborate with the National Universities Commission (NUC) in championing the introduction of basics of Maritime Law into the curriculum of all universities, especially in law faculties.

    “We were asked to wake up to the challenge by ensuring that Admiralty law becomes part of our school curriculum.

    “We would like to collaborate with the association to ensure that some moribund maritime laws were reviewed to enhance the growth of the industry and improve the ease of doing business in Nigeria. There are Maritime laws that are moribund. We will change these laws to provide laws that are dynamic and predictable and make for economic expansion.

    “The engine room of reforms in the Maritime Law in Nigeria has always been the Nigerian Maritime Law Association. The group has reformed a lot of laws and NSC wants to latch onto this resourcefulness to align the Maritime Law to Nigeria’s economic development,” he said.

    Bello also said the Council was partnering the Ogun State Government for the development of a Truck Transit Parks Project (TTP).

    He described the TTP is a modern system where there would be a parking space off the main way with fuel station, shops, restaurants, among others, aimed at having a secure and convenient rendezvous for truck drivers.

    He said the TTPs, when completed, would be linked with all facilities in the inland ports.

    Describing transportation as a driving force of the economy, Bello  said the NSC would also partner the Ogun government to make the state  a hub in the nation’s development.

    According to him, NSC is also working with other government agencies, such as the Federal Road Safety Commission, and  the Nigerian Police Force to make the TTPs a success.

     

  • NIMASA deploys world-class equipment to fight piracy

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) would eliminate piracy on the territorial waters, its Director-General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said.

    Peterside told The Nation that the agency was determined to stem the  criminalities on the nation’s  territorial waters by deploying world-class equipment and synergies with other agencies.

    “We have a close working relationship with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) to foster an integrated approach to dealing with the menace.

    “We have also increased surveillance and have deployed world-class with the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Ports Authority to monitor our maritime environment,” he said, adding that the country has deployed Maritime Patrol Aircraft’s (MPA) with the Nigerian Air Force as well as other naval assets to patrol and monitor the waterways.

    Peterside noted that as a signatory, Nigeria is committed to complying with all International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulations to eliminate piracy and criminality on the high seas.

    He said the country was mindful of the risks posed by piracy and maritime crimes to life, navigational safety and the environment, saying this was why NIMASA was strengthening the regional rescue coordination centre in the country as well as enhance information sharing.

    He urged the maritime community to separate criminality from piracy and militancy, reiterating that Nigeria is safe for shipping and other  activities in the sector.

    Peterside appealed to international development agencies to work with Nigeria in resolving maritime insecurity because of its strategic position to the maritime development on the continent given the size of her economy, population and geographical location.

     

  • Multiple levies, others make Nigerian ports expensive, says survey

    Multiple levies, others make Nigerian ports expensive, says survey

    Despite everything being done to make them attractive, the nation’s ports are still the most expensive in West Africa, it has been learnt.

    Finding showed that the cost of doing business at the ports remains high because of multiple charges and operational technicalities.

    Importers pay different customs’ duties and levies among which are seven per cent development  levy; one per cent comprehensive import supervision scheme; 0.5 per cent  ECOWAS Trade Liberation Scheme (ETLS); NIMASA/NPA Sea Protection Levy (SPL); haulage cost – transportation per TEU and terminal operator progressive stage charges.

    They also pay terminal operator documentation; terminal operator examination; terminal operator scan; terminal operator scan loading; terminal operator delivery; terminal operator terminal handling and terminal operator labour.

    Shipping line demurrage; shipping line agency; shipping line documentation; shipping lines’ telex release; shipping line container; shipping line container deposit; terminal operators’s two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line’s two weeks additional advance rating period; shipping line minimum of one month grace for container deposit refund and freight forwarders’ professional fee – unstreamlined.

    The charges, according to stakeholders, are hindering the government’s trade facilitation programme.

    Besides, tracing capability and speed, poor yard planning and spacing, online accessibility of pricing and quick debt note reconciliation, among others, also make the ports expensive.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) President, Prince Olayiwola Shittu said importers were subjected to many charges before taking their goods out of the ports. He urged the government to reduce the cost of doing business at the ports.

    Lagos Shippers Association president Mr Jonathan Nicol said the five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) and the one per cent Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) charge was some of the charges.

    Others are the 35 per cent Automobile Levy and the Common External Tariff Levy.

    According to him, the combined charges on one consignment affect shipper’s profit. He urged the government to address industrialists’ cry to reduce the charges.

    He said the Federal Ministry of Finance should provide leadership in managing the problems of the shipping community.

    The shippers’ boss said the government should think about the huge investments in building the seaports and maritime prospects in the next 20 years to attract more cargoes.

    Nicol also suggested that plans must be made to secure and promote local industries, the manufacturing sector and the shippers.

    He noted that it was the duty of the government to encourage private entrepreneurs to contribute to the economy’s growth.

    “When you add the costs of generating power in a factory to salaries, these costs cannot be by-passed whether you like it or not.

    “You must provide power for your factory and you must pay staff salaries,” he said.

    Nicol said the bottlenecks at the ports were largely the reasons behind government’s appointment of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator.

    He condemned the government’s inability to enforce the Coastal and Inland Shipping Act 2003 (Cabotage Act) to enable indigenous ship owners participate in crude oil lifting.

    The government, he said, should implement the law to allow indigenous shipping companies participate in oil business.

    A maritime lawyer, Mr Dipo Alaka, berated the government for not streamlining the charges.

    “To make matters worse, importers and clearing agents are compelled to pay demurrage on containers for the numbers of days containers remain at the port, even when there is system breakdown caused by the service providers.

    “Importers used to pay for terminal handling charges, container cleaning charges, manifest amendment upon request by an importer, container deposit (refundable) and container demurrage,” he said.

     

  • GMs moved as NPA gets new structure

    Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Chairman Emmanuel Adesoye has approved a new structure for the agency to enhance its efficiency.

    A Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), it was learnt, is also part of the new deal.

    General Manager (GM) were redeployed under the law structure  regime instead of 25, NPA now has 22 GMs.

    Its Principal Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, Ibrahim Nasiru, said the review became imperative “because NPA’s structure has remained the same in spite of the 2006 concession which changed its  status from owner/operator to landlord.

    “This change in status brought about the concession of cargo handling operations to the private sector; outsourcing of dredging, towage services and vessel maintenance, use of contractors to build infrastructure.

    “Changes approved by the board include: the reduction in the number of General Managers from 25 to 22; the upgrade of the Hydrography and Dredging Department into a Division status to be headed by a General Manager in recognition of its strategic importance to the Authority;  the upgrade of the Information and Communications Technology Department  into a Division to take more responsibilities from a Department like Utilities; the creation of a new Monitoring and Regulations  Division; the merger of the Capital Projects and Maintenance Divisions into a single Engineering Division to eliminate redundancies; the scrapping of the Special Duties Division; scrapping of the zonal office structure such that departments in the ports will now report directly to the head office.”

    The former General Manager, Eastern Ports, Goje Abudulahi Aliyiu, is the new image maker of the NPA. Aliyiu is to take charge of the newly created Corporate and Strategic Communications (CSC) Division.

    Also affected is Capt. Ebubeogu Iheanacho, former General Manager, Monitoring and Compliance, Western Zone, now serves as General Manager in the Managing Director’s Office.

    Erstwhile General Manger, Special Duties, Mrs. Ugo Madubuike, is now in charge of Monitoring and Regulatory Services.

    Other changes are Abdulahi Buhari, General Manager, SERVICOM, is now in charge of Administration, while Mohammed Nasir Anas from Administration to Security.

    NPA’s Abuja Liaison office will be overseen by Kabir Edward Dauda, erstwhile General Manager, Monitoring and Compliance of the Eastern Zone. Peter Obinomen, General Manager, Capital Projects, is GM, Public Private Partnership (PPP), and Mohammed Ahmed Rufai, GM PP and D, is General Manager, Engineering.

    A statement from the Corporate and Strategic Communications Division also lists Mrs. Ufere Carolyn, GM, Superannuation, takes charge of SERVICOM, and Gbadamosi Rafiu Abiodun, GM, Operations, Western Ports, moves to Superannuation.

    In  a similar vein, the General Manger, Maintenance Engineering. Jatto Adeiza, is now in charge of Land and Asset Administration, while Onueyenwa Simeon Obumneme, General Manager, C and SP, is General Manager in charge of ICT.

    All handover formalities are expected to be completed by September  8.

  • ‘Use Cabotage Fund to create maritime bank’

    Indigenous ship owners are pushing for the establishment of a maritime bank with the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) to address funding.

    At a cocktail party organised by the promoters of the Nigeria Ship Finance Conference and Exhibition (NIFSCOE) in Lagos,  Nigerian Ship Owners Forum Chairman, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, said the establishment of the bank, has become imperative because only few banks were responding to their appeals for maritime desks to address their needs.

    Mrs. Orakwusi, over 12 years after the passage of the Cabotage Act, the maritime sector is still under-funded.

    The Federal Government, she said, must use the Cabotage pool of funds domiciled with Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to empower Nigerians wishing to partake in the acquisition of vessels

    She called on Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi and the Director-General of NIMASA Dr. Dakuku Peterside to facilitate the establishment of the bank.

    She said the establishment of the bank would eliminate the funding problems in ports development and operations, ship building and acquisition, ship repairs, marine safety and environmental protection, among others.

    Orakwusi pointed out that the reason Nigeria could not compete in the supply of shipping services in the  ports and in multi-modal transport services in the sub-region had yet to be addressed.

    She said despite the consolidation of banks, they were yet to appreciate the maritime sector’s peculiarity and adequately support its funding.

    One of the promoters of the  event, Mrs. Ezinne Azunna, said it was time for the Federal Government in collaboration with stakeholders to drive the right policies that would enable Nigeria become a hub of ship finance investment companies as was presently the case in Singapore.

    She stated that a confluence of critical stakeholders, government, shipowners and the finance sector, was imperative to induce the much-needed development in indigenous shipping.

    Azunna said that many stakeholders, government, banks, shipowners, who ventured into ship-financing now either shied away from it or traded blames having had their “fingers severely burnt.”

    To move the maritime industry forward, she said  parties must return to the drawing board, which NISFCOE was providing, for holistic, unbiased appraisals, deliberations and resolutions geared towards the advancement of the sector.

    “In Britain and the United States, they have maritime development banks that give out money to the industry at almost one  per cent interest rate. But contrary to what is obtainable in those countries, in Nigeria, you have banks giving loans at interest rates of between 20 and 25 per cent per annum,” she said, adding: “Nigerian banks must forgo short-term profits and support long-term maritime projects.”

    Banks, she  said, must take long-term view of funding projects and recognise the value that sustained investment will have on the sector.

     

  • Customs, importers quarrel over seized containers

    Customs, importers quarrel over seized containers

    Is it proper for Customs officers to seize containers shortly after being cleared by their colleagues at the Lagos Ports? This is the puzzle importers are asking the government to unravel following what happened at the ports last week.

    Some cargoes were said to have been seized at the ports’ gates after being cleared.

    The importers are claiming that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A’, Ikeja is carrying out such operation in defiance of a presidential directive dismantling all illegal checkpoints nationwide.

    Besides, the FOU, they allege, is violating a circular by the Deputy Comptroller-General (DCG) on Enforcement and Investigations, A. Dangaladima, stating that only the two check-points at Agbara and Gbaji on the Lagos-Badagry-Seme Road were approved.

    The circular reads: “For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby emphasised that checkpoints mounted outside 40km to the border are illegal while information patrols outside this point should not last more than 24 hours at any given time.”

    “The 40km radius applies to the borders and consequently there should be no checkpoints within the port areas.

    Importers and truck drivers have accused the FOU officials of  ”non-compliance”, “extortion of money” and “second clearing”, but the unit says it is doing its job.

    “We are complying with the directive. But if we get information that there was manipulation in the document presented for the release of the cargo from the port, our officers will go there and intercept the item because of the security situation of the country and the affected officer will be asked to report to FOU and subsequently to the Customs Headquarters in Abuja,” FOU Public Relations Officer (PRO) Joseph Attah said.

    FOU officers are mounting checkpoints a few metres away from the ports, and stopping truck drivers for another clearance.

    Some of the officers, the importers allege, demanded between N100,000 and N150,000 and, at times, more from them.

    Last week, about 25 officers in mufti and others in uniform with three operational vehicles were at the Leventis Bus Stop, close to Ijora Bridge, stopping container-laden trucks released from the port and compounding the Apapa gridlock.

    On Friday, another set of Customs officers was at Mile 2, stopping containers.

    Importers and drivers have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and Customs Comptroller-General Col Hameed Ali (rtd) to call the FOU officers to order.

    Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) President Prince Olayiwola Shittu said the FOU officers had no right to seize containers on the road leading to the ports.

    He said: ”The directive from the Federal Government and the Customs Headquarters is very clear that there must not be checkpoints within the port areas. So, what are they doing very close to the two bridges leading to Tin-Can and Apapa ports? They’re staying there shows that some of them are not interested in the trade facilitation programme of the Federal Government but their pockets.

    “We hope the President and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will call the FOU officers to order and see to the full implementation of the initiative on the ease of doing business within the country.

    Also, an importer, who asked not to be named, alleged that his truck was stopped by FOU officers at Leventis Bus Stop in Apapa. He claimed that they money from him before allowing him to go.

    A top Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) official said the Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman, and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, had advised the Customs to map out strategies that would ensure that only certified goods were allowed to leave the ports by its officers. He wondered why a Customs officer would release a cargo from the port only for another to intercept it a few meters away from the port.

    “Who released the goods? Why must a Customs officer release the cargo from the port in broad day light and another officer would say the owner of the goods or the truck driver has questions to answer,” the official said.

    ANLCA’s Public Relations Officer Dr Kayode Farinto accused the officers of violating the ban on checkpoints in port areas because of what they gain from it.

    He said if an importer disobeyed any law, he should be stopped by the superior mechanism put in place by the Customs, from taking the goods out of the port.

    Describing the allegations as untrue, Attah said the unit’s operation was more of intelligence-driven, adding that its operatives could only impound containers that were wrongly released from the ports.

    FOU officers, Attah said, had the power to intercept any container that flouts the government’s fiscal policy.

    He said: “FOU is an enforcement unit of the Nigeria Customs Service and our job is to complement the efforts of every Customs command in the zone.”

    The motive, he said, is to ensure that no importer or clearing agent succeeds in short-changing the government.

    He appealed to Nigerians to give the unit information that could lead to the arrest of fraudulent importers.

  • Nigeria to join EU bee exporting countries

    The Federation of Beekeepers Association of Nigeria has assured that it will start exporting bees.

    Its President, Dr Bidemi Ojeleye, said the country was working towards being listed among the European Union (EU) bee-exporting countries.

    A delegation from the EU, according to Ojeleye, who is also the director, Centre for Bee Research and Development, Ibadan, visited the country for training and guidelines on the residue monitoring plans for bee export.

    “For a trade in bees within the European Union, the general conditions that apply to ‘other’ live animals apply as the conditions are laid down in the EU Council Directive,’’ he said.

    Ojeleye said Nigeria was blessed with clean organic honey which  ranked among the best in the world.

    According to him, the Federation of Beekeepers also hosted a free training on bee production for interested youths across the country.

    He said the Federal Government had made available bee-keeping equipment to interested youths at subsidised rates to popularise its production.

    Ojeleye said in addition to making honey, bees also pollinated all sorts of fruits, wild plants and vegetables.

    “Bee products are used as raw materials for the production of medicine, cosmetics and lost wax casting.

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of food worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees.

  • Stop cashew smugglers, traders urge govt

    Stop cashew smugglers, traders urge govt

    The National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has raised the alarm over the invasion of the cashew nuts business. It urged the Federal Government to stop smugglers of the product for the traders’ sake.

    The group said some unscrupulous businessmen had been depriving the country of huge revenue, urging the government to curb the trend.

    According to NCAN, smugglers were making cashew nuts business difficult for traders.

    Investigation revealed that over 50 per cent of cashew nuts produced in the country were being smuggled through Kwara, Oyo and Ogun states to Benin, Ghana and Mali, from where the nuts are exported to India and Vietnam.

    A member of the group, Mr Ajayi Emmanuel, said Benin Republic, Ghana, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire had become major markets where the crop fetches a premium in the international market for smugglers.

    He alleged that the merchants receiving the smuggled commodity were branding Nigerian cashew as their own farm product, saying the illegal trend had weakened the nation’s export.

    “Based on the activities of smugglers, the country lacks adequate tonnage of cashew going out  through the land borders and because of the illegal trade, Nigeria has been losing huge sums of revenue.There is high concentration of smuggling of the product at the porous borders in Ogun, Oyo and Kwara states.

    “The volume of the smuggled product is larger than those passing through the seaports legitimately,” he said.

    He noted that this had affected the price structure of the commodity in the country.

    He urged the government to intervene and block all the loopholes.

    The exporter said the Federal Government should ban the smuggling of the product and asked the NCS and the NIS to enforce the law  to create jobs for the youths.

    Emmanuel explained that the neighbouring countries were earning the revenue from the product, which is supposed to come to Nigeria.

    “The government should rise up and improve on the country’s border control. If there is proper control at the borders, the country would have proper data of the tonnage produced yearly, but right now, it is difficult to know the volume of cashew produced in the country,” he said.

    Emmanuel said NCAN had its own taskforce to assist Customs and immigration in enforcing the law.

    He recalled that in 2015, the country earned $253 million from 160,000 tonnes and, last year, cashew generated about $280 million to the economy.

    Nigeria has capacity to produce 160,000 tonnes of cashew valued at N115.2 billion ($320 million).

    Findings revealed that Vietnamese traders are interested Nigerian cashew nuts because they are of the highest quality in the West African.

    But, there are indications that the country may only be able to supply more than 40 per cent of the total demand due to low capacity.

    The price of the nuts has increased from $1,850 per ton to $2,000 since the beginning of the year.

    The nuts are being demanded for the production of anti-bacterial preparations, varnishes, insecticides and car brake pads.

    According to Vietnam Cashew Association (VCA), the global output dropped from three million tons to 1.5 million tons.

    The association said at the moment, about two-third of the nuts in Vietnam’s cashew industry were imported.

    A member of the association, Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, said: “The domestic cashew supply was not sufficient for processing needs in the first half of 2017, so the industry had to import from Nigeria and other West African countries.”

    He noted that cashew processors were complaining that imported nuts were expensive, while the processed product prices remained unchanged, leading to low profit for them.