Secretary-General of the Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr. Hassan Bello, was quoted as saying last Monday at a seminar for stakeholders in the sector in Warri, Delta State that arbitrary charges on services across Nigeria’s seaports are behind the poor patronage scourging the nation’s maritime sector. Bello stated in addition that sharp practices and charges for services not rendered are other major ills setting back the sector; stressing that the anomalous escapades needed to be urgently corrected to enable the ports enjoy sufficient patronage.
Early in the year, February to be precise, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry lamented that the 48-hour target set by Federal Government for the clearing of cargo at the ports in Lagos was far from being realised. The body said high demurrage charges arising from the delays constitute one of the major shortcomings of the investment climate in Nigeria. Apart from leading to high demurrage charges, the delays disrupt the production schedules of manufacturers as raw materials are not delivered in good time to factories; and are responsible for high level of corruption at the port as importers struggle to clear their cargo through harsh bottlenecks; as well as exacerbate inflation as goods are not quickly cleared from the port to meet relevant needs in the economy.
Some of the shortcomings identified include delays in the positioning of cargo at port terminals as a result of inadequate equipment for cargo handling, high incidence of cargo block-stacking, decrepit and embarrassing access roads to the ports, poor network and quality of roads within the ports themselves, frequent breakdowns of the server of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), delays in cargo releases from Shipping Lines and tight deadlines for the booking of cargo examination, said to be 10 am for AP Moller and 12 noon for others.
Indeed, the FG, for over two decades, has made several failed attempts to achieve 48-hour cargo clearance at the nation’s seaports. The latest of such is being facilitated through the Ports Economic Regulator (PER). The NSC, a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Transport, was recently appointed as the PER. Before the coming of the PER, however, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration had at a time constituted a presidential committee under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Finance, with some co-opted members from the Ministry of Transport, to address the perennial problem of long cargo dwell time at the ports. But what could rightly be termed the achievement of the government intervention, unfortunately, was that it merely succeeded in getting a backlog of cargoes cleared to ease port congestion. Thereafter, it became business as usual.
It does appear, however, that the latest port regulation measure through the PER is in response to the worsening problem of cargo delivery. Importers complain of waiting for between two and three months before their goods get to them; and the situation was said to have become compounded the more with the introduction of the issuance of Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR) by the Customs service; without which an importer cannot clear his goods. The new document (PAAR) replaced the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) which was introduced by the former service providers who administered the Destination Inspection regime. Therefore, the nightmare continues.
But we share in the optimism expressed by the Transport Minister, Senator Idris Umar, at a recent public function, that achieving 48-hour cargo clearance was achievable. According to Umar, this is being achieved in many ports worldwide, including some ports in emerging economies like Nigeria’s. In truth short, cargo dwell time or speedy clearance of cargo is what has been luring many Nigerian importers to the ports of Nigerian neighbours; as well as promoting smuggling of the dare-devilry type, all to the detriment of the Nigerian economy. Long cargo dwell time not only bloats the cost of doing business, retards global competitiveness and economic growth, etc., but drastically reduces the huge economic potentials of the ports themselves, industrialisation and socio-economic development in general terms as well. Therefore, it is not enough for the FG to be merely committed to its 48-hour goods’ clearance mantra. It should put to effect the necessary reforms needed, monitor their implementation and clear all clogs on their way. This may involve dealing drastically with some government agencies and their officials who are sabotaging the dream for corrupt or rent-seeking reasons.
