Justices of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal and judges from the Federal High Courts converged last week on Lagos for the Mainframe Seminar. Hassan Bello, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, says the learned men called for the implementation of the municipal laws to stem piracy on our waters. Legal Editor JOHN AUSTIN UNACHUKWU met him.
WHAT is your assessment of the just concluded Maritime Seminar for judges?
The 13th edition of the Maritime Seminar for Judges has been adjudged yet another success, what is frightening is that every time we have this seminar, the bar keeps on rising , what was unique about the 13th edition of the seminar was that it was organised by a couple of young men in Nigerian Shippers Council who were my successors in the Legal Department and you could see the difference they brought in, the innovation and this time we had the highest participation of judges.
What do you mean by this?
Yes, we had the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Transport, President Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, so all the heads of our superior courts of record were there. We had six Supreme Court Justices, 31 Judges of the Court of Appeal, and 30 Judges of the Federal High Court, but more instructive is that we about 80 Judges from the States High Courts. We also had about 54 members of the public, mostly lawyers who paid a token fee to participate in the Seminar. We also had a representation from the Judiciary of Ghana, the Union of African Shippers with headquarters in Cameroun and also Niger Shippers Council. So it was attended by both Judges and lawyers all over the Country. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine transport, Senator Zainab Kure was also there and we had representation from a cross-section of the maritime industry.
What issues were canvassed and how do you think they will move the maritime sector forward?
The issues that were discussed at the seminar were quite relevant and germane for the growth of Nigerian economy. The issues were of significant, we talked about piracy which is a burning issue, and called for the implementation of municipal laws to govern piracy because there is a lacuna there, we talked about the liability of terminal operators, insurance of oil and gas carriage and the Admiralty Jurisdiction Act (AJA). More significantly, we also looked at the introduction to maritime law and admiralty Jurisdiction for the new judges who were there in the over all, I think that we had a very successful seminar by all dimensions.
The Federal Government has appointed the Shippers Council as economic regulator in the maritime sector. How far have you gone with this assignment and what are the challenges of this responsibility?
The appointment is a confirmation of the fact that Shippers’ Council has always had some regulatory powers. The Federal Government has shown so much concern about activities at the ports, it has realised the importance of the ports to the economy of this country. So, it has made concerted efforts to make sure that our ports are efficient, they are competitive and that our ports should be positioned so that the contributions of the maritime sector to the national economy will be substantial. According to the concession agreement, there ought to be an economic regulator right from the onset, but coming right now, it is not too late but you will agree with me that we have a peculiar task because the game had already started when we were introduced. But all the same, because of our pedigree and experience at the NSC, we have been able to brace to address the situation.
How are you going about this responsibility?
The first thing that we did was to have wide consultation with all the stakeholders and this consultation has yielded a lot of positive results. Because we have been welcome warmly, are now an arbiter, we are the referee, we neutral and we are transparent. But most of all we are scientific, all we want to do is to sanitise the ports to make sure that our ports are friendly and efficient.To make sure that our ports are competitive and to ensure that Nigeria becomes the hub of the trade in the region. Since that time, we have been on it and we have met with all the segments of the ports system and even beyond. We are talking with the truckers, the freight forwarders, the terminal operators, we are talking with the shipping companies, the Nigerian Ports authority (NPA), we are talking with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Authority (NIMASA), the Nigerian Customs Service, Immigration and so on. We have gone to them and explained our role in the system and now we are consolidating.
How are you consolidating?
Yes, we have started actual negotiation with the Shipping, what we want to remove now is arbitrariness, a situation where people or some section fix prices any how without reference to the Nigerian Shippers Council be you NPA, terminal operator of a freight forwarder it must now be understood that there is an economic regulator. We are on the right path, it is not a quick fix and I also know how impatient Nigerians are, they should give us time to firm up our activities before the results will manifest. Already, we have abrogated certain charges and this will go a long way in consolidating our position but our own is not just to abrogate charges, our own is make sure that each participant or player in the port industry does its work properly, efficiently, with high level of transparency within the ambit of the law in the overall interest of Nigerian economy.
What are the major problems of the ports?
What is really lacking is co-ordination; there are so many interests at the ports; so many players, so you will need to have co-ordinator, you need to have a supervisor, you need to have a referee, you need to have somebody who will introduce balance and symmetry, because these things must be done in unison and in a perfect order. What we have now is a les affair, brigandage or chaos at the ports and that we are not going to accept.
What level of support have you enjoyed from the government and operators in the port system in pursuance of these objectives?
We have had tremendous support from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE); they have given us tremendous support, we also have had support from Nigerian Customs Service, the Immigration, players like the shipping companies and terminal operators, the freight forwarders. So, we are going scientifically, we going systematically, openly and transparently to do these things.
A corollary to good port system is a good and efficient transport system. Apapa road has become a night mare of a sort in recent times, how does this affect your regulatory role in the ports? What steps have you taken to make sure good are seamlessly moved to and fro the Nigerian ports.?
The Federal Government is so concerned about what is happening in Apapa that they have taken practical steps to find a solution to it. The Special Assistant to the President on Valuation and Monitoring of project, Prof. Monye Sylvester together with the Special Assistant to the President on Maritime affairs, Olugbenga Leke Oyewole, Shippers Council, NPA, other stakeholders had a meeting recently , this role has been given to us to co-ordinate because what is happening in Apapa first, I think the Port met the city and you will have some problems with that. Some part of the road also is motor able, there is no call system or any system at all put in place to make sure that these trailers are there only when they are needed. So what you have is chaos and chaos will not bring sanity at all, it makes the port environment unwholesome, so we cannot have that so Shippers Council has been given the same role of coordinating this and we are now talking to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), we are talking with a task force that has been set up, we are talking to Lagos State Government and some agencies. It is the whole system of traffic management that has to be overhauled. We all the trucks, most of them unserviceable trucks coming to carry goods, there are so many accidents on the way, the containers are not latched to the body of the trailers; these are some of the infringements. The containers fall on the roads and block everywhere, this cannot continue to happen. There must be a well regulated system and the Shippers Council is talking with the Federal Government about this.
How do you intend to do this?
We want to make sure that even the truckers must have a system. For example, you cannot, register unless you have so and so number of trucks, you must have an office, you must have a tracking system and some other facilities. What we have is one man with his motor boy, it is the motor boys between 17 and 18 that drive those trucks. The owner is somewhere sleeping and waiting for his motor boys to bring money to him, that kind of things can never happen again. So, we want to reorganise the truckers for their advantages and for their own benefits. We have to inspect the vehicles together with the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) and so on, there must be some conditions and criteria for them to operate, so Shippers Council is bringing the whole system together with the NPA and other stakeholders. Secondly, in respect of our traffic management and our truck management system, we ought to have a tracking base, we need to have an effective marshalling yard so that these trailers are well parked when they are not needed, up to the gate of the NPA, there ought to be some electronic platform, a call system so that trucks are called in only when they are needed it not like what obtains now where you see a lot of vehicles and people moving up and down doing nothing actually, we are advocating that there must be a system in place.
People have advocated for the relocation of the tank farms as a solution to the problem, what is your reaction to this?
The tank farms are also causing some obstruction at the ports; no doubt, we must also find the best way to manage the tank farms. It is not just like saying remove the tank farms or don’t remove them no, we are studying the system to see how best we can handle the situation. Apapa ports are city ports and access to the ports are mainly by roads. A port should have other modes of transport; they should have a well defined expansive rail system; they should have linkage with inland water ways so that goods are effectively evacuated but here, we have roads and these roads are not exclusive to the ports, they also lead to other places and are equally used by individuals. All of us use the port roads, so do the trucks and the tankers; so you could imagine the chaos and the attendant challenges; that will not happen in other ports that we are developing in this country.
How are you handling the new ports?
The situation actually is modern deep sea ports, they have expansive roads, railways, and other facilities that are exclusive to the ports only. Even when you come to Apapa, you will see the difference, it really needs serious coordination. We are seriously meeting over this issue of access roads and I am sure that we are going to find a solution to it.
Before your appointment as the Executive Secretary of the Council, you had advocated for the expansion of the ports through the establishment of the Dry Ports, otherwise called the Inland Container Depots ( ICD).
What is the role of the ICDs in the chaos in Apapa?
The ICDs are also long term solution to the congestion at the ports and the unwholesome activities of that we have in respect of access to Apapa because if you have an off dock facility in Ibadan for example, the trucks will stay in Ibadan, all of them have no business coming to Lagos to go and line up in Apapa. At the Dry Ports, the goods will be inspected there, duty paid. They are ports just like Apapa port or Tincan Island port, only that you don’t see water there. This definitely reduce congestion, for trucks to come all the way from the north to Lagos to carry goods, nobody does that anywhere in this world, so we have to rely on these Dry Ports. The Minister of Transport is on top of it and you know he set up a committee which has provided a legal solutions. These ports are ports of origin and ports of destination, which means that you can consign your goods to these ports, you can have your bill of lading reading Liver- pool to Isiala Ngwa and they will be inspected there. So, you don’t need all these trucks coming to Apapa, we are on it and very soon, pa ublic declaration will be made.
The idea of 48-hour clearing of goods in the country was canvassed, how feasible is this and what is your take on it?
This is feasible and it is one of the things which we are pursuing. We had a discourse where all the stakeholders came around and we were discussing the 48- hour clearance; we are building a lot of bridges to make sure that Nigerians are able to clear their goods within the shortest possible time without stress. This will definitely promote trade and enhance economic growth. We cannot have the primitive way of clearing goods any more, it cannot happen and that is why we said that freight forwarders will have to be re educated, they should be able to stay in their offices and clear their goods without coming to the ports. We don’t need a multitude or an army of freight forwarders loitering around the ports, no, it is not going to happen, it will soon to an end.
How are you going to achieve this?
The shipping companies must provide platforms, the terminal operators must provide electronic platforms just like the custom is doing, leading the way and the Shippers Council will coordinate. We will have a high command where we will co -ordinate information, where we will co-ordinate trade facilitation, with this arrangement, you will clear your goods within 48 hours. It is the human content that has made our ports nauseating, it is the human content that has made our ports corrupt. The Shippers Council will not allow that to continue, so we are working on several fronts, the work is enormous. I want Nigerians to trust the Federal Government, to trust the Shippers Council and to trust all the other agencies working at the ports because we are all working for the same purpose but what is lacking is co-ordination and the Shippers Council is providing that now.
It was reported that you met with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Is the bank part of the agencies working at the ports. What is their own role in the scheme of things?
The CBN, in fact, all banks are critical to port operations. Since 2008, the Nigerian Shippers Council has been confirming the reasonableness of trade freight rates as a precondition for the purchase of foreign exchange from the CBN by commercial banks on behalf of shippers for the payment of freight rates or Charter party fees. This is done to stem capital flight from the country and to ensure that these freight rates are reasonable, because some people inflate this freight rates and the Nigerian Shippers Council is statutorily enabled to make sure that these freight rates are reasonable, they are obtainable in the market, what we have is the use of freight rates as capital flight. Shipping companies operating in Nigeria are supposed to have disbursement account through which their principals abroad will finance them for any payment that is not done in local currency.
All local port charges are supposed to be paid in Naira, not in U.S. Dollas, many deposit banks were not aware of the illegality of sourcing foreign currencies locally for the payment of freight related charges. The payment of such fees with Nigeria’s foreign exchange amounts to capital flight that affect the nations balance of payment negatively. So, we have collaborated the CBN and our position is that we have statutory powers regarding monitoring and stabilising of freight rates in Nigeria which by extension gives us the power to know how much a shipper has paid to the shipping companies for the purpose of negotiation of freight rates or charter party fees.
What was the purpose of this?
The purpose of this was to stem capital flight and also to make sure that these freight rates are reasonable because some people inflate rates and Nigerian Shippers Council is statutorily enabled to make sure that these rates are reasonable, they are obtainable in the market. What we have is the use of freight rates as capital flight, all shipping companies operating in Nigeria are supposed to have disbursement account through which their principals abroad will finance them for any payment that is not paid in local currency. All local port charges are supposed to be paid in Naira not in US Dollars, money deposit banks were not aware of the illegality of forcing foreign currency locally for the payment of freight related charges, the payment of such charges with Nigeria’s foreign exchange amounted capital flight that affect the nation’s balance of payment negatively. So, we have collaborated with the Central Bank and our position is that we have statutory powers regarding monitoring and stabilising freight rates in Nigeria, this by extension gives us the power to know how much a shipper pays as freight to shipping companies for the purpose of negotiation of freight rates.
