Folake George is the Chairman, Association of Corporate Fleet Owners. In this interview with our correspondent, she bares her mind on the recent flag off of the implementation of minimum standard for trucks operating in the Western Ports by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the N10, 000.00 entry permit fee, reconstruction of ports access roads and many more. Sit back and enjoy the piece. Excerpt;
What is your take on the recent implementation of the minimum standard for trucks plying the Western Ports by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)?
Initially, the other arms of the association like the other trucking associations had issue with the entry permit in terms of the monetary aspect attached to it, some were kicking against the N10, 000.00 saying that it is too much for them and then my own members of the Association of Corporate Fleet Owners, what we agreed was that if we are going to get rid of the extortion on the roads so that our drivers will have easy access to the ports after meeting the minimum standard required, we are okay with the levy.
We have complied, we have our stickers on our trucks and they have been going into the ports unhindered and when the exercise was flagged off recently, I met with the individual truck owners and explained to them that supposing NPA says we should be coming to pay N200.00 to enter, it is going to cause hiccup at the entry point. Okay if they say we should pay this lump sum annually and have your sticker and nobody will stop you from going into the ports, why don’t we for peace’s sake comply and let us move ahead. Some of them saw reasons, some of them are still kicking against it, it is up to them and NPA on however they sort themselves out. But for us, we have gone past that.
Your counterpart, the independent truck owners had complained of high cost of running trucking business in the country arguing that the N10, 000.00 entry permit fee though small but cumulatively high going by the number of monies they had to pay to various agencies of government per year. How do you react to this position?
You know in this life, everybody has his own take regarding life, I have my own take. My own take is that while we were deliberating, we told NPA management the problem we were facing in terms of entering into the ports, in terms of what our drivers and staff come back to the company to say that at different point they collect money from them and NPA said they were never aware of anybody collecting money, they were never part of those collecting money, the Police Area Commander said the same thing. Now they have given us the option of letting them know the name of anybody that collects money from us and what we agreed is that, okay your truck is of minimum standard, you have registered, which means you have complied with NPA, let anybody come and ask you for anything, bring him to our attention.
So, what I have decided with my colleagues is that as our drivers are going into the ports don’t give them one Naira, let us see whether they will be stopped and for once they were not stopped. So, for me, the minimum of N3,000.00 that I give to my drivers to enter into the ports has stopped and since they have stickers and have met minimum standard, nobody has stopped them to ask them for one Naira. So, is N10, 000.00 not better for me per annum than N3, 000.00 per truck per day? So, that is what I see about this thing.
Government is saying you should this thing, when you do it, we will see to whomever that is causing you problem, if we are not having problem, it is okay by me.
You have been accused of keying into this project easily because most of have stakes at the ports as terminal operators. How true is this?
How many of us are terminal operators? Am I a terminal operator? It is only ENL, Dangote and Flour Mill that are terminal operators; just the three are terminal operators. We have 50 members of the association that are fleet owners but they are not terminal operators. We are looking for a way to make our business hitch-free, let us remove all the encumbrances on our way and have easy business environment and a conducive one as it is, that is what we are saying.
You cannot fight government always and win. The other time when we had genuine issue about restriction of time, we all joined with AMATO, with NARTO, with all those in other associations, we stood up and put our feet on the ground and explained to government reasons why they should not give us those time frame considering all the other businesses that surround trucking inside the ports. The time is not just enough for operation. That was a good fight and we are happy that government listened to us and shifted their ground.
Okay, supposing they said it is entry permit, my trucks work at Apapa ports, to enter into the Apapa ports, they pay to enter into Apapa ports. I will now from Lagos and go and fight them at Port-Harcourt to say I am not going to pay to enter into the ports, that the consignee of the goods that I want to carry has paid for this thing I want to carry and I will start fighting the Port-Harcourt Ports Authority.
I said supposing this fee they said it is entry permit and they said Okay, you want to enter into our premises, pay a certain amount, supposing they put it at N200.00 per day per truck per entry, it is going to be more expensive than this N10, 000.00 per annum. If that is what they want and they have given their reasons for doing so, can I fight government? I cannot fight government because my business has to do with the ports, I must enter into the ports to do my business. If I don’t want to cause hiccups for myself and cause myself heartache for a situation I cannot check, we have tried, this thing has been on for a long time, going up and down, now they are ready to enforce, who am I to say no?
Could you also confirm that most of your members are not NPA contractors who do businesses for their cronies at the ports and that majority of your trucks are not owned by NPA officials as alleged hence the reason for your swift identification with NPA on this project?
How can our trucks be owned by NPA officials? I don’t know any of my members that have trucks that has NPA backing, I don’t know. You know when issue come up people tends to speculate. I am not aware of any staff of NPA having truck that is in my own association.
These are businessmen doing their legitimate business, so how are they connected with NPA. You know when people don’t want to comply, they look for other means of running people down. I don’t know, I am not aware whether it is true or not but to my own knowledge, I am not aware of any issue like that or anybody being NPA staff owing trucks and what will they benefit if they are NPA staff and they have trucks? Will they not pay the levy?
That was the argument, that most of them would be given exemptions from paying this entry permit fee
No! Anyway, I have not seen anything like that. They gave us time, they gave us a phone number as fleet owners and said, when you are ready, call this particular number, they will come to your garage to inspect your fleet to make sure that they meet the minimum standard. After that, they give you debit note with which you will use to go and pay to the Nigerian Ports Authority’s account.
This Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) and the Tenure Parking Rate (TPR) that they were talking about as part of what they pay through the consignees to the terminal operators who in turn remit 5% of the total money collected from such to the federal government through NPA arguing that paying the entry permit s requested by NPA amounts to duplication of fee. Are you not aware of it?
If I tell you something are you going to believe it? Do you know that this VEP, they collect money in the office to sign it? So what do you say to that? They collect money in the office and say it is for signing of VEPbefore you work. You have a lot of things going wrong in Nigeria generally, about people looking for means to cheat people and that was why I told my members and said let us start from somewhere, that was what Chief Ajayi promised us. I told him while we were having these deliberations that from my office, they collecting N3, 000.00 to enter into the ports. When I asked them for breakdown, they were able to account for N2, 500.00, then other N500 they could not give account of it. That means that they could account for N2, 500.00, they too, they were pocketing N500.00.
This one is not even the drivers, you will have staff that go on patrol whenever they want to work, it is not possible for me to go and stand at the gate looking for trucks from the garage to come and enter, I cannot be everywhere. They were taking it as their own commission as well because of this issue that is on ground. Now that we have been able to overcome this issue, N500, N3, 000.00 or N2, 500.00, nobody is collecting any money from me. So, who is gaining and who is at advantage? The N10, 000.00 might be a little bit of inconveniences, at the end of the day, if I look at it, I just look at it as part of the things you have to do for your business to grow. It is part of the operational cost.
At the flag off ceremony, where you were addressing the press, you admitted that you had over 5, 000 trucks and the Independent truck owners claimed that you people normally hire trucks from them because you don’t have sufficient trucks. Who do we believe?
They should come and say whether I have gone to them to ask for their third party trucks any time I have my own jobs to do. To point to my own members that we come to them to ask of their own trucks, for what? For where? I am not aware of any of my members who go to them to hire trucks. For what reason? You know that in life you have to deal with different ideas and opinion that are coming to their brain when you have issues with them for you too to exonerate yourself and see that there is nothing they will not do. I am not aware of any of my members that would to them, it is risky to have third party. Most of the trucks that don’t have insurance, would I want to jeopardize my contract with the blue-chip companies by going to hire trucks that anything can happen and I will now lose faith and loose my reputation?
I am not part of that and am sure that none of my members will go and patronize them. For what reason?
Were you in anyway compromised by NPA to stand with it?
I am not doing anything for NPA oh! I am doing something for my business. What am I doing for NPA? Am I their staff? Doing what for NPA? I am complying with what they want, and I am complying because I feel that let us give a benefit of doubt and see whether it will work or not and we have done our own registration in the last two weeks and since then, we have collected our stickers and put on the trucks. They have been going into the ports without hindrance.
I am just selling what I have experienced to the people around me and to the people that are doing the same type of business. I am just selling it to them to see that if we join hands together and pay this N10, 000.00 then if they default, we can join forces to fight them and say this is what you have promised us and see what we are seeing. If the other associations have my backing and the backing most of my members that we are selling what is right and better. Is not better?
So, I am not doing anything for NPA, I am not on NPA’s payroll and I am not NPA staff. I am just a businesswoman that is using NPA’s facilities.
You told the press recently that your association has over 30 members and now you are telling me that you have over 50 members. How many really are your members?
You know that our association is made up of those that have good trucks that are more than 10, if you have more than 10 trucks, you could be a member and the association is not an old association as AMATO and NARTO. We had to form this association to have our voice. It is just a new association that is newly formed. We formed it after this restriction problem with the government.
When we had the restriction problem with the government, you know before we used to do our businesses on our own, there was no association but when we had the restriction problem and it was dragging, we now called about 5 of us that we should come in and see how we will resolve this problem. When the problem was resolved, we now took on ourselves that we should have our stand, we cannot be truck owners, we invest so much money in this business and sit aloof and leave our investments and business into the hands of most these people in the association that you have around, some of them don’t have a single truck. So, how would we now leave our investments in those people’s hands?
That was when we thought about this association, you know we have a lot of people interested in joining.
And you cannot confirm that you were cajoled by anybody to come up with this association just to break the ranks of the original truck owners?
No! We are not breaking the rank of anybody oh! This is life, the market place is free and open for everybody. I am not breaking any rank or bringing any rancor with anybody, I am just doing what I think is good for my business. That is what I am doing.
I have given you my reason for towing the line of N10, 000.00, for me, it is sensible, for other members of my association, it is reasonable. So, any other association might think otherwise, it is up to them. Recently, we were together at CP’s office with the other members of other associations, they tabled their own side for not wanting to pay the N10, 000.00, I said my own part for why I have accepted to pay N10, 000.00 with the other members of my own association and I told them there that if they were able to win the war of not paying N10, 000.00, NPA will return my money which is good for all of us. But if they have decided that this is what they want, I cannot allow anybody jeopardize my own business because this money.
N10, 000.00 for me for one truck, if my 10 or 15 trucks are going into the ports to work, N3, 000.00 multiplied by 15 per day. So, this N10, 000.00 for me is what NPA wants and I would do it so that I do my own business unhindered.
During the flag off ceremony, NPA Managing Director exonerated himself of any responsibility in reconstructing the ports access roads. What is your take on this?
NPA Managing Director is a civil servant; I don’t expect him to say more than he has said. Within every organization or parastatal, you have your dos and your don’ts, they have things that are doing according to them that they will not make public. Nobody is happy that the road is bad. The road is bad; we have been shouting it to the government. This Apapa Wharf road, I know that there is something in the offing concerning the repair. The Creek road part of it is in this year’s budget of 2016. By the time we make ourselves good workforce and if we say we have done this, help us to do certain things, you know by the time we are shouting to them, they too will shout to the relevant authorities for them to do what they ought to do.
But if we say we want to fight them to get result, when we were doing transfer, those days when there were potholes along the roads like this coconut side, there used to be one bad ditch where containers normally fall, in our association that time, we contributed money to buy stones and put them there. You know we did certain things as part of our own Corporate Social Responsibility. I remember there was a time we were doing that thing, someone from the Ministry of Works attempted to stop us and we just told him hold on, that we are helping you to do your job so that we will stop incurring loss and traffic congestion on the road will be easing out, if we can do this little surfacing.
So, the MD has said that his responsibility starts and ends inside the ports, he is MD of NPA; he is not Minister for works.
You were privileged to have your truck terminal at Berger Kirikiri, these other truckers have no such opportunity and the government had not designated any for them. Don’t you agree with that this is one of the major setbacks to your business at the ports?
You were trained as a journalist, if you are going to work, is it government that will buy you instrument that you will use to interview people? That is my answer to your question.
Your advice to other truck owners who are yet to key into this project
I don’t know, it is up to them, you know I advised them that they should join hands, let us team up and get things right. You know in our industry, there is a lot of proliferation of associations, you have NARTO, you have AMATO, you have JCOST, you have coalition, you have all over. You cannot speak with one voice.
Now, as I was coming from my garage to the office, traffic to get into my office was caused by tankers, their association is so strong that they can fight government. Our own association is so proliferated that we can’t even get anything done. So, if we want to fight a good a fight, we must learn how to fight a good fight. That is my advice to other members.
Send your news, press releases/articles to info@primetimereporters.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @reportersinfo and on Facebook at facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526.
