Mired by the recent ban on vehicle importation through the land border, the National President, Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria, (AREFFN), Dr. Frank Ukor had express his displeasure over government’s policies which he said were anti people.
Speaking in interview with Primetime Reporters, Ukor decried the spate of ban of importation of traded goods from the borders which he said had put the government on the losing side as it ended up making money for security agents who he accused of making brisk business from the bans.
According to him,” Government came up the other day and said that all importation through the land borders, first it was rice, that rice should not come in through the land borders. But all the rice entered through the unapproved routes, they are all smuggled in. government lost revenue, the revenue it would have gotten from there went into private pockets. Whether we liked it or not, those rice that came in did not fly, they came in through somewhere, people were watching as they passed and when they passed, they collected something and allowed the product to come in.
“So, why won’t government listen? Anytime government bans any item, some people are happy because it means money for them, both for the importers and for the security agencies because the security agencies will be there when those people pass.
“Government came and said it has banned vehicle importation through the land borders, I know government wants to encourage local farmers but it is not done a day, we cannot do it in one year. It will take a gradual process. Encourage these people, while they produce locally, you allow importation to cushion the demand because people eat rice a lot. The ones they produce locally will not meet up the demand. That is why a bag of rice sells for N25, 000 in the market.
“The next is that the government came up and said it has banned cars coming in from the land borders, come on! Don’t these people have sense? People that make this policy, don’t they have sense? You put up conditions that are very stringent for people to clear their vehicles at the ports, you said 70%, 35% duty and 35% levy. We know people feel it is cheaper for them to come through the borders, they said no, it must not be like that, don’t come through the borders. If they don’t come through the borders, they come through the unapproved routes; government agencies will collect the money and put in their pockets. Who is losing?”
While calling on the government to be proactive, he however advised the government to fashion out people oriented policies, policies that would have human face.
The AREFFN boss further blame the operators at the nation’s seaports for making things difficult for the importer and their agents adding that when vehicles come into the pots for clearing, the operators would insist on collecting the 35% levy and 35% duty even as he accused the Valuation Unit of the Nigeria Customs for giving importers and their agents tariffs that are outrageous even when they had a benchmark.
“They (Customs) have a benchmark and even though the exchange rate has been increased, they are not looking at the exchange rate vis-à-vis the amount they are giving you. By the time you calculate it with the exchange rate, it is high and they expect you to pay and when you go ahead and pay, how many people will buy the product? That is what is discouraging people from bringing goods to the ports is”, he explained.
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