The Associate Convenor, Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA), Barr. Valentino Buoro has predicted that the maritime industry would experience a boom this year especially in the area of cargo interest.
Speaking in a chat with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, Buoro stated that with the coming on board of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as the economic regulator, all of those unorthodox practices of giving bills that had no bearing in the smooth transaction in the maritime industry would no longer obtain.
While adding that the activities of the freight forwarders would be more regulated this year as there was a regulator who would look into what they were doing, he observed that the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) should endeavour to put its house in order so that it does not step out of the line.
He said,” everybody is going to be more organized, when you are more organized, prices of goods and services will drop because whatever happens in the shipping industry reverberates, whatever I do here in Lagos reports in Bama and all those places that the Boko Haram is operating because we are an import dependent country”.
“So, now that we have a regulator in place, things will be better managed and then because of the economic situation that we are going to experience in this country this year, some people will still try to play smart. The Council should be in place to call them to order and like you already know, the Shippers’ Council is already at the forefront of promoting mediation, ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), so, I do not see the Shippers’ Council acting like a village headmaster with a big stick to thrash anybody that has gone wrong, no.
“It has given an indication that it is going to use the alternative dispute resolution whereby the erring party will be called at the mediation to come and explain what has happened and why they have done what they have done to the other party and so, while those parties explain their positions, a common ground can be reached”.
On the one year given to the Shippers’ Council to act as the port economic regulator, Buoro maintained that by the time the one year period given to the Council by the Federal Government expires, it is left for the government to say whether it should continue or not.
“But ordinarily, I think it has not been as bad as it was, at least, there is now hope, at least, there is now a body to which the operators can look up to complain. You know, one of the best things in life is to have a recourse to a third party, somebody you can complain to who can just say one word, sorry or would definitely step into it could resolve a lot of things”.
“But when you are in position where there is nobody to complain to, then, the human aspect of you can come on scene”.
“So, I think that the regulator status which the Shippers’ Council has gotten is most appropriate at this time and I do not see any reason why government will want to withdraw that except something else could be brought forward”, he stated.
