A frontline licensed customs agent, Sir Tony Anakebe has hailed the move by the Federal government to automate all its agencies at the nation’s seaports describing it as a wonderful idea.
Recall that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Maritime Services, Mr. Leke Oyewole late last year announced the federal government’s plan to fully automate all its agencies in the ports so as to eliminate human contacts in the clearance procedures in the ports and enhance efficiency in the clearing processes.
Anakebe who spoke with newsmen in Lagos recently noted that he had been calling for the creation of a central data system where all the goods coming into and going out of the nation’s seaport would be domiciled.
He pointed out that with this development; it would facilitate quick clearance of cargoes from the nation’s seaports and reduce the amount of money payable by Nigerians as demurrage.
“That is wonderful. For the past ten years, I have been campaigning for that, I have been shouting that there should be a central data for all goods coming in and going out of the Nigerian seaports and that central data connects to the customs, the terminal operators and the shipping companies”.
While noting that Nigeria has good manager s who could manage the affairs of the country effectively, he added that the country should have surpassed the automation stage.
The ANLCA Chieftain observed that unlike in other climes where they have made it possible for consignments to leave the ports one hour after the ships have berthed, the terminal operators and the shipping companies would fashion out ways to delay the goods so that people would come and pay demurrages to them describing it as abnormal.
He advised that since there were lots of bonded terminals that were empty even with their standard equipment, those terminals that have ships berth in them but lacked some modern equipment should go to them and hire those equipment to facilitate quick release of goods from the ports or close down their operations in the country.
“The best thing is for us to have a data system that immediately a customs officer releases goods from the ports, in the next one hour the container must go out. I think it will be a good idea if the government has started thinking in that direction”, he said.
He also called on the federal government to gear efforts toward making Nigeria a transit centre for all the goods going to the neighbouring country adding that the action is capable of yielding more revenue for the government.
